"As ever, Gene" : the letters of Eugene O'Neill to George Jean Nathan /

The letters of Eugene O'Neill to George Jean Nathan reveal much valuable information about his hopes and plans for his plays and for the American theater. As John R. Finnegan Jr. points out in a helpful foreword, theater critics like Nathan were crucial in molding the tastes of maturing middle-class audiences with a new appetite for serious drama. O'Neill worked hard to impress Nathan and consequently revealed to the critic many intimate details about the composition of his plays. O'Neill's letters provide glimpses of his efforts to turn the American stage away from what Nathan called ``trick melodramas, fussy farces, mod mush, leg shows.'' Nancy and Arthur Roberts carefully annotate the letters and supply helpful introductions to each phase of O'Neill's career. Several photographs reveal the different personalities of the morose playwright and the genial critic. ``The punch line that would call forth an explosion of mirth from Nathan would often elicit only an enigmatic smile from O'Neill,'' the editors remark. This is a significant collection for the theater specialist and the beginning student. Recommended for academic, secondary school, and public libraries.-C.E. Rollyson Jr., Bernard M. Baruch College, CUNY

This collection of letters from Eugene O'Neill to critic George Jean Nathan, written between 1919 and 1949, provides a wellspring of insight into the playwright's personal but especially his professional activities of that period. O'Neill had already gained notoriety as an original American dramatic voice when this correspondence ensued, and he was not inconsiderably helped by Nathan's unabashed trumpeting of his talents. What started as the letters between mutual admirers became the correspondence of close friends, as in these missives O'Neill often provides blow-by-blow accounts of the creation of his many masterworks, seeks Nathan's advice on artistic direction, frankly documents his thoughts regarding the public response to his works, ruminates on theatrical activities at large or his personal definition of realism, and candidly grouses about poor health and financial matters. Unfortunately, Nathan's letters to O'Neill disappeared long ago; however, these 130 epistles a few exceptionally long, others equally terse provide insight into a rare relationship and an important era of American drama. Informative essays introduce each chronologically arranged section of letters, and each letter is fully footnoted. To include 21 black-and-white illustrations and an index. MAB. 812'.52 (B) O'Neill, Eugene Correspondence / Nathan, George Jean Correspondence / Dramatists, American 20th century Correspondence [CIP] 86-45800

From first (1919) to last (1949), these progressively intimate letters to the influential drama critic represent the span of O'Neill's playwriting career. They show that he relied on Nathan, first, to help publicize his career; later, to inform him of Broadway news; and always to read his manuscripts with an educated, discerning eye. Essentially shoptalk, they reveal O'Neill's frustration over commercial detail and debilitating illness, and the agonies of writing and rewriting plays that helped establish a serious American drama. For collections emphasizing serious literature. Charles C. Nash, English Dept., Cottey Coll., Nevada, Mo. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.