Presencecollected Stories

Description:
In his lifetime the great American playwright Arthur Miller published two highly regarded collections of stories, 'I Don't Need You Any More' (1967) and 'Homely Girl, a Life' (1995). Shortly after his death in 2005 a final collection, 'Presence' (2007), appeared. Now, all eighteen of these stories are gathered together in one volume for the first time, including the six from 'Presence', previously only published in the USA. In his plays Miller took on the big themes of the day, putting stories of the Depression, wartime deceit and the McCarthy era on stage with an energy and passion not seen before and rarely since. In these stories he turns his attention to smaller, more intimate themes, yet still brings to bear the profound insight, humanism, empathy and wit of his work for the theatre. Including the early, O. Henry Award-winning 'I Don't Need You Anymore', the original story of 'The Misfits' on which the film was based, and the beautiful late story 'Presence', this collection offers a fresh perspective on the great writer and his work, here informed by an unusual sensuality and delicacy. When 'Homely Girl, a Life' was published in America the critic for the 'New York Times' wrote of those three stories: 'The ability to sum up in clear, unequivocal prose the essence of emotion, a situation, a theme - characteristic of Mr Miller's best writing - makes the reader wish that these stories were longer, and that there were more of them.' At last there are.

Review:
'This collection reveals a maturing talent that never stopped growing and evolving' Sunday Times 'What makes reading the book feel like gaining privileged access to Miller is that we constantly appear to be getting glimpses of the private doubts behind the bracing certainties - or, for some critics, the preachiness - of Miller's public life and plays ... a fascinating and salutary companion piece to his stirring public utterances. ****' Daily Telegraph 'Whether exploring the anxieties of childhood and separation, as in the award-winning I Don't Need You Any More, or examining the weight of past relationships on present ones, as in Homely Girl, A Life, Miller manages to be both succinct and descriptively bold' Financial Times 'This volume of stories is an essential addition to the body of Arthur Miller's work, but it is more than that: it is an arresting self-portrait, unmediated by directors, actors, gossip columnists or biographers. The only thing wrong with it is that there isn't more of it' Guardian

Author Biography:
Arthur Miller was one of America's greatest playwrights, whose works include Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge and All My Sons. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In addition to the plays, his many other books included fiction, essays and the autobiography Time Bends. Bloomsbury will also publish his Journals in two volumes in 2011 and 2012.