O'Neill

Fülszöveg

QNEILL
SON and PLAYWRIGHT
11 h


Based on many sources hitherto unknown or inaccessible, in addition to all the established standard sources, Louis Sheaffer's biography is the most authoritative one ever written of Eugene O'Neill. Informed by the biographer's fresh views and original insight, it illumines as never before a complex, elusive man whose life was as colorful, dramatic and storm-tossed as any of his plays.
Mr. Sheaffer spent seven years on research alone, in the process digging up a wealth of new data. For his research and other preliminary work, he was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and, from the American Council of Learned Societies, two grants-in-aid.
O'Neill, says Mr. Sheaffer in his foreword to this brilliant biography, "was one of the most autobiographical playwrights who ever lived, and knowledge of his life cannot but contribute to our understanding of his plays. Moreover, we can gain some insight into the workings of a creative mind, into the nature... Tovább

Fülszöveg

QNEILL
SON and PLAYWRIGHT
11 h


Based on many sources hitherto unknown or inaccessible, in addition to all the established standard sources, Louis Sheaffer's biography is the most authoritative one ever written of Eugene O'Neill. Informed by the biographer's fresh views and original insight, it illumines as never before a complex, elusive man whose life was as colorful, dramatic and storm-tossed as any of his plays.
Mr. Sheaffer spent seven years on research alone, in the process digging up a wealth of new data. For his research and other preliminary work, he was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and, from the American Council of Learned Societies, two grants-in-aid.
O'Neill, says Mr. Sheaffer in his foreword to this brilliant biography, "was one of the most autobiographical playwrights who ever lived, and knowledge of his life cannot but contribute to our understanding of his plays. Moreover, we can gain some insight into the workings of a creative mind, into the nature of crea-
(Continued on second flap)
(Continued from first flap)
tivity itself, by studying O'Neill's usage of his subjective raw materials, the liberties he took with the clutter of reality in his endeavor to reveal some of its inner truths."
Rich in "firsts," this is the first biography to clarify O'Neill's equivocal and all-important relations with his parents; the first with a profile of Sarah Sandy, Eugene's nursemaid for years and, in effect, his second mother — a major force in shaping him; the first with an accurate, comprehensive account of O'Neill the seaman and waterfront drifter; the first to explain his preoccupation with the subject of insanity. The reader will find new and significant information on every period and aspect of O'Neill's life covered in this book, which closes in 1920, when he reached Broadway with Beyond the Horizon. There will be a second and concluding volume.
From Louisville, Kentucky, the biographer, whose full name is Louis Sheaffer Slung, worked on the Brooklyn Eagle for many years, first as a reporter, finally as the play reviewer, until the Eagle's demise in 1955. He later was press agent for José Quin-tero's memorable off-Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh, which launched the O'Neill revival in the American theater.
Jacket design by Martha Lehtola
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