Synopses & Reviews
This extraordinary new biography fully captures the intimacies of Eugene ONeills tumultuous life and the profound impact of his work on American drama. Robert M. Dowling innovatively recounts ONeills life in four acts, thus highlighting how the stories he told for the stage interweave with his actual life stories. Each episode also uncovers how ONeills work was utterly intertwined with, and galvanized by, the culture and history of his time.
Much is new in this extensively researched book: connections between ONeills plays and his political and philosophical worldview; insights into his Irish upbringing and lifelong torment over losing faith in God; his vital role in African American cultural history; unpublished photographs, including a unique offstage picture of him with his lover Louise Bryant; new evidence of ONeills desire to become a novelist and what this reveals about his unique dramatic voice; and a startling revelation about the release of Long Days Journey Into Night in defiance of his explicit instructions. This biography is also the first to discuss ONeills lost play Exorcism (a single copy of which was only recently recovered), a dramatization of his own suicide attempt.
Written with lively informality yet a scholars strict accuracy, Eugene ONeill: A Life in Four Acts is a biography that Americas foremost playwright richly deserves.
Review
andldquo;Dowling has written the single most complete and up-to-date account of Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s life that we haveandhellip;.To call his scholarship andlsquo;soundandrsquo; is vastly to understate it; his accomplishment in marshalling all this disparate and often obscure material into a well-organized and highly readable account is nothing less than astonishing.andrdquo;andmdash;JACKSON R. BRYER, co-editor of
Selected Letters of Eugene Oandrsquo;NeillReview
andldquo;A passionate, informed author, Dowling writes the story with his blood. His palpable affection and empathy for his subject allows him to expose the tortured journey of this complicated life, giving us profound insight into the incomparable dramas of Eugene Oandrsquo;Neill. What sets this biography apart from others on the playwright is that it comes from a gifted disciple who identifies with his subject and brings an Irish storytellerandrsquo;s sensibility that feels altogether authentic. Staging the works of Oandrsquo;Neill is my passion. I have now found my handbook.andrdquo;andmdash;CIARandAacute;N Oandrsquo;REILLY, Irish Repertory Theatre
Review
andquot;Dowlingand#39;s brilliant, unvarnished yet compassionate biography, written with verve and based on exciting new research, depicts how Oand#39;Neill transmogrified his personal agonies and triumphs into the greatest American drama of the 20th century. A definitive portrait.andquot;andmdash;J. MICHAEL LENNON, author of
Norman Mailer: A Double Lifeandnbsp;Review
andldquo;Itandrsquo;s astonishing to see that the life of Eugene Oandrsquo;Neill lives up to the plays.andnbsp; He charged through the first half of the twentieth century like a man on fire, lighting up the American stage with blistering, poetic dramas that won for him a huge and grateful audience, even the Nobel Prize for Literature. Robert M. Dowling is equal to the task here, a biographer who writes with a novelistandrsquo;s sense of narrative momentum. In fluid prose, he summons the wild, intense, sad, and comic world of Oandrsquo;Neill with empathy and profound critical intelligence. This life of Oandrsquo;Neill will last.andrdquo;andmdash;JAY PARINI, author of
The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoyandrsquo;s Final YearReview
“[A] sympathetic, comprehensive portrait.”—Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews
Review
andldquo;[A] sympathetic, comprehensive portrait.andrdquo;andmdash;Kirkus Reviews
Review
andldquo;Absorbing . . . insightful . . . unflinchingly explores the darkness that dominated Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s life.andrdquo;andmdash;Publishers Weekly
Review
andldquo;[A] clear-eyed, just-the-facts biography . . . Dowling brings all [Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s] herculean activity vividly to life.andrdquo;andmdash;Ray Olson, Booklist
Review
andldquo;Smoothly engaging . . . [the] Oandrsquo;Neill biography to read.andrdquo;andmdash;Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly
Review
and#39;Most writersandrsquo; lives are slow, deskbound things; Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s life, by contrast, was crammed with incident. Robert M. Dowling, a world expert on him, tells his story with pace and narrative skill, never getting bogged down in plot exposition or textual analysis.and#39;andmdash;John Walsh,
The Sunday TimesReview
andldquo;Fast-paced, highly readable . . . a powerful narrative, with a fresh perspective . . . building to a devastating last act.andrdquo;andmdash;Joe Dowling, Irish Times
Review
and#39;Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s struggle to wrench American theatre into splendour, fear and greatness is the subject of Robert M. Dowlingandrsquo;s excellent new life of the playwright, which elegantly balances knowledgeable readings of the plays and their social content with Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s famously turbulent life.and#39;andmdash;Sarah Churchwell, The Spectator
Review
andquot;[A] richly drawn portrait . . . neither a hagiography nor a takedown . . . As a biographer, Dowling is generous and inclusive.andquot;andmdash;Rachel Shteir, Bookforum
Review
andldquo;Robert M. Dowlingandrsquo;s thoughtful book restores balance to the slightly skewed twenty-first century reputation of Americaandrsquo;s greatest playwright. . . . [An] important story, perceptively recounted.andrdquo;andmdash;Wendy Smith, Washington Post
Review
andldquo;A well-rounded portrait of the playwright that can serve as a comprehensive introduction while also considering previously unknown facets of Oand#39;Neilland#39;s life and work.andrdquo;andmdash;John Frank, Library Journal
Review
andldquo;A biography that equals its predecessors and, in the eye of this reader, supersedes them . . . Dowling peels away hearsay in favor of proven accuracy and the result is a memorable portrait . . . An important addition to Oandrsquo;Neill scholarship.andrdquo;andmdash;James Fisher, TLA (Theatre Library Association) Online
Review
andldquo;Dowling . . . effortlessly guides the reader through Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s fascinating life . . . [A] complex, captivating narrative.andrdquo;andmdash;Caitlin Mattera, Key Reporter
Review
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Biography category.
Review
andldquo;This dutiful biography gives us more insight into the man, the women in his life, [and] the people who governed his place in American theatre.andrdquo;andmdash;Tony Vellela, Intermission Talk
Review
andldquo;A worthy successor to previous major biographies . . . Dowling has such a strong grasp of Oandrsquo;Neillandrsquo;s temperament and predilections and conveys a refreshingly demystified sense of his personal dealings . . . Along with some important new findings, Dowling has given us an Oandrsquo;Neill very much of his own time as well as one for ours.andrdquo;andmdash;Kurt Eisen, Eugene Oand#39;Neill Review
Review
andquot;Indispensableandquot;andmdash;John Simon, Weekly Standard
Synopsis
A major new biography of the Nobel Prizeand#150;winning playwright whose brilliantly original plays revolutionized American theater
Synopsis
A major new biography of the Nobel Prize winning playwright whose brilliantly original plays revolutionized American theater
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
This extraordinary new biography fully captures the intimacies of Eugene O Neill s tumultuous life and the profound impact of his work on American drama. Robert M. Dowling innovatively recounts O Neill s life in four acts, thus highlighting how the stories he told for the stage interweave with his actual life stories. Each episode also uncovers how O Neill s work was utterly intertwined with, and galvanized by, the culture and history of his time.
Much is new in this extensively researched book: connections between O Neill s plays and his political and philosophical worldview; insights into his Irish upbringing and lifelong torment over losing faith in God; his vital role in African American cultural history; unpublished photographs, including a unique offstage picture of him with his lover Louise Bryant; new evidence of O Neill s desire to become a novelist and what this reveals about his unique dramatic voice; and a startling revelation about the release of Long Day s Journey Into Night in defiance of his explicit instructions. This biography is also the first to discuss O Neill s lost playExorcism(a single copy of which was only recently recovered), a dramatization of his own suicide attempt.
Written with lively informality yet a scholar s strict accuracy, Eugene O Neill: A Life in Four Actsis a biography that America s foremost playwright richly deserves.
"
Synopsis
A major new biography of Eugene O'Neill, the Nobel Prize-winning dramatist who revolutionized American theater"Restores balance to the slightly skewed twenty-first century reputation of America's greatest playwright. . . . An] important story, perceptively recounted."--Wendy Smith, Washington Post
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
This extraordinary new biography fully captures the intimacies of Eugene O'Neill's tumultuous life and the profound impact of his work on American drama. Robert M. Dowling innovatively recounts O'Neill's life in four acts, thus highlighting how the stories he told for the stage interweave with his actual life stories. Each episode also uncovers how O'Neill's work was utterly intertwined with, and galvanized by, the culture and history of his time.
Much is new in this extensively researched book: connections between O'Neill's plays and his political and philosophical worldview; insights into his Irish upbringing and lifelong torment over losing faith in God; his vital role in African American cultural history; unpublished photographs, including a unique offstage picture of him with his lover Louise Bryant; new evidence of O'Neill's desire to become a novelist and what this reveals about his unique dramatic voice; and a startling revelation about the release of Long Day's Journey Into Night in defiance of his explicit instructions. This biography is also the first to discuss O'Neill's lost play Exorcism (a single copy of which was only recently recovered), a dramatization of his own suicide attempt.
Written with lively informality yet a scholar's strict accuracy, Eugene O'Neill: A Life in Four Acts is a biography that America's foremost playwright richly deserves.
About the Author
Q: You have long been a fan of Oand#8217;Neilland#8217;s work, but what prompted you to write a book about his life?
and#160;
A: In the final session of the first Oand#8217;Neill seminar I taught, I asked my students, "Which plays did you enjoy the most?and#8221; Without missing a beat, one raised his hand and said that Oand#8217;Neilland#8217;s life was his greatest play. Many others nodded in agreement. That moment planted the seed for this book. It turns out that the dramatic structure of Oand#8217;Neilland#8217;s life uncannily matches that of his best plays. And, even more fascinating for a biographer, nearly every fictional story Oand#8217;Neill told interweaves with actual stories from his own life.
and#160;
Q: Oand#8217;Neill won the Nobel Prize for Literatureand#151;the only American playwright to do so. How is his literary achievement viewed today, some 60 years after his death?
and#160;
A:and#160; Oand#8217;Neill also won four Pulitzers, yet he probably received more bad reviews than any other major American author. However, having scrutinized virtually every review of his premieres and books, I can say that even his so-called clunkers were still credited with breakthroughs that offered something unique, something never before attempted on the American stage.
and#160;
Oand#8217;Neill is enjoying a new and#147;renaissance,and#8221; with dozens of revivals over the past decade. American and international audiences alike show an unquenchable desire for his plays, and thereand#8217;s no end in sight for this playwrightand#8217;s potential to speak to contemporary audiences as he once spoke to his own.