“Tennessee Williams” by John Lahr – Theater of Tortured Souls

It is said that artistic creativity, the kind true geniuses are bestowed with, never comes for free, always taking some sort of toll on the person... and as it happens, in some cases that toll ends up being their entire life, as was the case with Tennessee Williams, arguably one of the most prominent and influential playwrights of our time, perhaps even the greatest one the United States had ever seen.

In Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, John Lahr provides us with a rather detailed and in-depth biography into a strange and tormented life, a review into a fascinating fate. one that dragged its owner through hell and back and gave birth to an eternal star.

As you can well imagine, John Lahr certainly didn't lack any materials to make this read quite an entertaining one, regardless of whether or not you are familiar with Williams or his place in the world of literature.

His personal life was full of turmoil, and just to give a brief overview of what storms it was anchored around, he had a brutal and belittling father, a cruel and controlling mother, a demented sister who was lobotomized at the age of thirty-three, and that's without even touching on all the homosexual relationships he had and the public scandals they entailed.

In other words, at every step, twist and turn, Williams had his work cut out for him, and in the end, the permanent torment that was his life allowed him to create the plays we all know and love him for today, and painstakingly bringing them to life like no one else could.

It goes without saying that this is not the kind of book that only enumerates facts and calls it a day. Rather, like so many biographers have taken to it, the book weaves a tale out of the man's life and those who surrounded him, almost making it into some sort of a novel.

There is plenty of interesting information to be found here about society as a whole during that time, the state of affairs in the world of theater and acting, not to mention all the interesting personalities who make an appearance, including Audrey Wood, Marlon Brando, Maureen Stapleton, Diana Barrymore, and many others.

 We really get to feel the creative freedom they experienced in their days, with an ability to push in virtually any direction, as well as reliving the countless nights of debauchery that could inspire invincibility in even the most strong-willed of us.

As far as biographies go, Tennessee Williams is, in my opinion, right up there as one of the more entertaining ones, combining the essential elements which make this kind of work enjoyable: the subject at hand and the people studied are themselves interesting and have a rich personal and public history.

The writing flows smoothly and disperses bits and pieces of excitement and humor around the place, and of course, it has some pertinence to our modern lives (although it can be argued that technically, anything *could* be pertinent to someone's life today).

In any case, whether you wanted to learn specifically about this individual or were just looking for an entertaining and informative biography about someone from the literary world, I don't think you'll go wrong with this choice.

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John Henry Lahr Personal site John Lahr is an American theater critic based in Great Britain, and as it ought to be mentioned, the son of the renowned actor Bert Lahr. As a writer he has taken to penning various biographies and profiles, and those include the fantastic Sinatra: The Artist and the Man as well as Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh.