{"product_id":"thornton-wilder-collected-plays-writings-on-theater-loa-172-library-of-america-thornton-wilder-edition-9781598530032","title":"Thornton Wilder: Collected Plays \u0026 Writings on Theater (LOA #172) (Library of America Thornton Wilder Edition)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCollected Plays and Writings on Theater  the most comprehensive one-volume edition of Thornton Wilders work for the stage ever published  takes the measure of his extraordinary career as a dramatist by presenting the complete span of his achievement  beginning with his early expressionist experiments and daring one-act plays  such as The Long Christmas Dinner and The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden (one of Wilders personal favorites)  ranging through the full flowering of Our Town  The Skin of Our Teeth  and The Matchmaker  and encompassing the intriguing dramatic projects of his later years  such as his adaptation of the ancient story of Alcestis (The Alcestiad) and plays written for dramatic cycles based on the Seven Deadly Sins and the varied ages of an individuals life. Complementing the selection of plays is an illuminating group of essays that captures Wilders reflections on his plays and contains a revealing epistolary account of the film adaptation of Our Town.  This volume also includes material never before published: scenes from The Emporium  an ambitious unfinished play that  emerging out of Wilders intense engagement with existentialist philosophy in the postwar years  imagines a Kafkaesque department store whose enigmatic activities are as inscrutable as the mysteries of life itself; and the complete screenplay Wilder wrote for Alfred Hitchcocks film Shadow of a Doubt just before reporting for military service in 1942. Although faithful to the spirit of the film  the screenplay presented here restores Wilders original dialogue  some of which (to Wilders dismay) was altered for the movie. A study of family life  youthful illusions  and the desperation of a criminal on the run  the Shadow of a Doubt screenplay is a masterful exhibition of the art of suspense and taut dramatic storytelling  and is an essential part of Wilders oeuvre.  LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nations literary heritage by publishing  and keeping permanently in print  Americas best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date  authoritative editions that average 1 000 pages in length  feature cloth covers  sewn bindings  and ribbon markers  and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45665894826037,"sku":"ByrdShop_1598530038","price":39.02,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781598530032.jpg?v=1782413297","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/thornton-wilder-collected-plays-writings-on-theater-loa-172-library-of-america-thornton-wilder-edition-9781598530032","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}