Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh

In this exhaustive biography of Tennessee Williams, Lahr presents the life of the legendary playwright, warts and all, in enthralling detail, tracing him from his early life in a troubled Mississippi family (which gave him plenty of fodder for his plays), to his almost overnight success with The Glass Menagerie, to his death in 1983. The book also paints a fascinating picture of the theater world during Williams’s time, populated with such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, and others. Reader Ashley is a Tony Award–nominated actress who portrayed Maggie in the 1974 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and was also a longtime friend of Williams. She reads Lahr’s book in a southern accent, perfectly infused with bourbon and cigarettes, and though her rendering of the expository passages is perfunctory, she shines when quoting Williams and his friends, lovers, and colleagues. A Norton hardcover. (Sept.)