I'm eagerly looking forward to tomorrow night's discussion of Tennessee Williams' Memoirs. In anticipation of that, I decided to refresh my memory as to books we've read by and about that great playwright.
Somewhat to my surprise, I discovered that we've only read one play by TW, A Streetcar Named Desire (discussed in 2011), along with his first novel, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2022). As we prepare to nominate books for next year's reading list (a process that kicks off next month; stay tuned for details), it seems to me that there is some scope for tackling more of his plays.
We've also read Christopher Castellani's 2019 novel about Williams, his lover Frank Merlo and a cast of real and fictional luminaries, Leading Men. I recall hearing a wide range of reactions to that one during a very lively (even by BookMen standards) discussion, but I found it captivating.
Last but definitely not least, I highly recommend John Lahr's biography, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, which we discussed in 2016. Because of its length (600+ pages), this was the first book not intended as an anthology that I split up over two sessions--a practice we've continued to make it more feasible to discuss mammoth tomes. It also drew one of our largest turnouts both times, I'm happy to say.
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