![]() We discover right away that Lahr’s primary interest is not in gossip but in 20 th Century American Theater. ![]() ![]() In Lahr’s capable hands, life always informs art. Yes, the subtitle lives up to its name, but what makes this biography exceptional is Lahr’s talent in weaving William’s life–including his sex life–into his writing. (A few of the chapter titles don’t do much to dissuade that assumption: “Blood-Hot and Personal,” “The Heart Can’t Wait,” “The Erotics of Absence.”) But thank goodness John Lahr is no Kitty Kelly. Has there ever been a more erotic subtitle to a mainstream biography than Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (Norton)? If I didn’t know the respected former New Yorker theater critic John Lahr was the author (he’s written ten theatrical biographies, including those of Noel Coward and Joe Orton), I might very well have expected a rollicking narrative of the Kitty Kelly variety, with sordid descriptions of one sexual dalliance after another. ![]() ‘Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh’ by John Lahr ![]()
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