Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who witnesses the accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die. Is there a direction or meaning in lives beyond that of an individual's own will? Powerful and Compelling. Thornton Wilder is a masterful story teller and this was his most important novel.

In eighteenth-century Peru, a historic bridge connecting the cities of Cuzco and Lima collapses, plunging five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk, Brother Juniper, witnesses the tragedy and embarks on a spiritual quest to reconcile free will versus fate and the existence of God in the victims' lives: "Why did this happen to those five people?" This thought-provoking, Pulitzer Prize-winning second novel by American writer Thornton Wilder was called "a masterpiece" by The New York Times when it was published in 1927. Critically acclaimed, it remains a compelling literary classic exploring destiny, love, religion, and the meaning of life.

Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written," Our Town follows the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry and eventually - in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre - die. Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, Our Town depicts the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, through three acts: "Daily Life," "Love and Marriage" and "Death and Eternity." In the next step for a play that Wilder conceived from the beginning as a play about everywhere, Our Town is published here for the first time in three languages--English, Spanish and Creole. Infused with layers of culture and community, this new Acting Edition celebrates Grover's Corners as an international address.

This anthology by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder is acollection of twenty-two very short plays, three of which are published herefor the very first time. These snapshots of the creative spirit at play explorea variety of complex characters that range from the ordinary to the biblical, the haunted to the mystical. From the tale of a conflicted composer with astrangely familiar tune stuck in his head (The Song of Maria Bentedos) to apair of newlyweds who find themselves bizarrely affected by the color of theirhotel's tea room (Flamingo Red: A Comedy in Danger), all these tales - manytold with great wit and humor - ask the thought-provoking questions ofmortality, morality and faith that Thornton Wilder is famous for asking.Most of the plays run about four minutes in length, and can be presented withthree actors. The entire collection can be presented with a cast ranging fromsix to thirty-two actors.

The authorized, original edition of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic with a foreword by acclaimed author Russell Banks and an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder, with illuminating documentary material about the novel and its rich literary history."As close to perfect a moral fable as we are ever likely to get in American literature." --Russell Banks"There are books that haunt you down the years, books that seem to touch and stir something deep inside you. . . . Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey is of this kind." --The Independent (London)"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." This immortal sentence opens The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of the towering achievements in American literature, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a novel still read throughout the world.Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk, witnesses the tragic event. Deeply moved, he embarks on a quest to prove that it was divine intervention, not chance, that led to the deaths of the five people crossing the bridge that day. Ultimately, his search leads to a timeless investigation into the nature of fate and love, and the meaning of the human condition.

" Our Town] leaves us with a sense of blessing, and the unspoken but palpable command to achieve gratitude in what remains of our days on earth." -- The New YorkerThornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life in the mythical village of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire--an allegorical representation of all life--is an American classic. It is the simple story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about the meaning of love, life, and death. Our Town explores the relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. When Emily loses her life during childbirth, the circle of life portrayed in each of the three acts--childhood, adulthood, and death--is fully realized.Widely considered one of the greatest American plays of all time, Our Town debuted on Broadway in 1938 and continues to be performed daily on stages around the world. This special edition includes an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder, with illuminating documentary material about the playwright and his most famous drama.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize"Wilder has become a prophet again, searching for values that make humanity worth saving, in a world constantly on the verge of being destroyed either by pitiless nature or by human rage, selfishness, and folly." --Michael Feingold, Village VoiceA timeless statement about human foibles and human endurance, The Skin of Our Teeth brilliantly showcases Thornton Wilder's storytelling genius and extraordinary talent for delving deep into the human psyche. This edition includes an updated afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder, with illuminating material about the author and play.Written by Wilder less than a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, The Skin of Our Teeth broke from established theatrical conventions of nostalgia and sentiment and walked off with the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Combining farce, burlesque, satire, and more, Wilder depicts an ordinary family as it narrowly escapes one end-of-the-world disaster after another. Meet George and Maggie Antrobus (married only 5,000 years); their two children, Gladys and Henry (perfect in every way ); and their maid, Sabina (the ageless vamp), as they overcome ice, flood, and war--by the skin of their teeth.

Characters: 4 or 5 male, 4 or 5 female, plus many small parts w/doubling Scenery: Interiors and Exteriors Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this is the groundbreaking satiric fantasy follows the extraordinary Antrobus family down through the ages from the time of "The War" surviving flood, fire, pestilence, locusts, the ice age, the pox and the double feature, a dozen subsequent wars and as many depressions. Ultimately, they are the stuff of which heroes and buffoons are made. Their survival is a vividly theatrical testament of faith in humanity. "Wonderfully wise...A tremendously exciting and profound stage fable."-Herald Tribune

"Loud, slap dash and uproarious...extraordinarily original and funny."--New York TimesNow, for the first time in a standalone edition, Thornton Wilder's brilliant, hilarious play which was adapted into the hit Broadway musical Hello, Dolly with an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder.Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy old merchant residing in Yonkers has decided it's time to take a wife and hires a matchmaker. But Dolly Gallagher Levi is no ordinary matchmaker. She's a force of nature, with a plan of her own. Levi soon becomes involved in the affairs of the hearts of all those around her--including Vandergelder's niece, his store clerks, assorted young and lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant, where this swift farce inevitably runs headlong into hilarious complications. Indeed, after a series of slapstick situations involving mistaken identities, a secret rendezvous behind carefully placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court--everyone involved eventually finds themselves paired with a perfect match.A delightful, deliciously funny classic by Thornton Wilder, The Matchmaker is astonishingly modern and is sure to resonate with audiences and readers today.

Thornton Wilder referred to The Alcestiad as "a mixture of religious revival, mother-love-dynamite, and heroic daring-do." In it, he retells the ancient legend of Alcestis, Queen of Thessaly, who gave her life for her husband Admetus, beloved of Apollo, and was brought back from Hell by Hercules. When the brave and confused Alcestis returns from the dead, asking large questions about what matters most in life and how we lead it, we catch more than a glimpse of Emily in Act III of Our T

Recreates the final months of Caesar's life by using imaginary documents, letters, and journal entries from the major historical figures surrounding him, including Catullus, Cleopatra, and Cicero.

In New Orleans in 1869, M'su Cahusac, a charlatan of a lawyer, preys on vulnerable women, convincing each one that she is a legitimate descendant of the long-lost Dauphin, who fled Paris for New Orleans at the age of 10 during the French Revolution. Therefore, he tells each victim, she is the rightful Queen of France. Tantalized by visions of wealth, palaces and power, each victim responds in her own fashion to this preposterous revelation, which the lawyer claims is supported by the Historical

Thornton Wilder Comedy Characters: 2 male, 3 female In this provocative, sometimes chilling comedy, Wilder renders a child's-eye view of the grown-up world, as a father, a mother and their three children play a revealing game of make-believe in which the children pretend to be orphans. Startling truths emerge on both sides, as pretense challenges the family to discard the traditional roles of parent, spouse, child, and sibling--blurring the lines between perception and reality, artifice and innocence. "Wilder has a great fit for comic fantasy. Childhood is Wilder at his best." - New York Daily News

Spanning his entire life, The Selected Letters of Thornton Wilder is a comprehensive and fascinating collection of the great American writer's correspondence. The author of such classics as Our Town and The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder was a born storyteller and dramatist--rare talents on glorious display in this volume of more than three hundred letters he penned to a vast array of famous friends and beloved relatives. Through Wilder's correspondence, readers can eavesdrop on his conversations with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, No l Coward, Gene Tunney, Laurence Olivier, Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, Leonard Bernstein, Edward Albee, and Mia Farrow. Equally absorbing are Wilder's intimate letters to his family. Wilder tells of roller-skating with Walt Disney, remembers an inaugural reception for FDR at the White House, describes his life as a soldier in two World Wars, and recalls dining out with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. In these pages, Thornton Wilder speaks for himself in his own unique, enduring voice--informing, encouraging, instructing, and entertaining with his characteristic wit, heart, and exuberance.

" Wilder's] finest and most beautiful novel. . . . Spanning two continents and several generations, it begins as a murder mystery and goes on to tell a story, at once dramatic and philosophical, about the range of human courage, aspirations, steadfastness, weakness, defeat and victory." -- New York PostThis beautiful edition of Thornton Wilder's renowned National Book Award-winning novel features a foreword by John Updike and an afterword by Tappan Wilder, who draws on unique sources as Wilder's unpublished letters, handwritten annotations, and other illuminating documentary material.At once a murder mystery and a philosophical tale, The Eighth Day is a "suspenseful and deeply moving" (New York Times) work of classic stature that has been hailed as a great American epic.Set in a mining town in southern Illinois, the novels centers around two families blasted apart when the patriarch of one family, John Ashley, is accused of murdering his best friend. Ashley's miraculous jailbreak on the eve of his execution and his subsequent flight to South America trigger a powerful story tracing the fates of all those whose lives are forever changed by the tragedy: Ashley himself, his wife and children, and the wife and children of the victim.