Our Town - (Perennial Classics) by Thornton Wilder (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"[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 Yorker

Thornton 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 a beloved American classic play. 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 family relationships 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.

This definitive edition of a true American classic contains everything that makes the play unforgettable:

• A Universal Story: Follow the lives of George Gibbs and Emily Webb in small-town Grover's Corners, a moving allegory for everyday life, love, and loss that resonates with audiences everywhere.
• Groundbreaking Minimalist Theater: Experience the play as Wilder intended--with minimal scenery and a direct address from the Stage Manager, a unique approach that focuses on the powerful, character-driven narrative.
• Timeless Themes of Life, Love, and Death: Journey through three acts--childhood, adulthood, and the afterlife--in a profound exploration of what it means to be human and the importance of appreciating every moment.
• Exclusive Bonus Content: Delve deeper into the world of Our Town with an insightful afterword by the author's nephew, Tappan Wilder, featuring documentary material about the play's creation and enduring legacy.

Review Quotes

"Taking as his material three periods in the history of a placid New Hampshire town, Mr. Wilder has transmuted the simple events of human life into universal reverie. He has given familiar facts a deeply moving, philosophical perspective. . . . Our Town is one of the finest achievements of the current stage." - Brooks Atkinson, American theater critic

"Its astringent distillation of life and death in the fictional early-20th-century town of Grover's Corners, N.H., is desperately needed. . . so Americans can remember who we are. . . . The true American faith endures in 'Our Town'." - Frank Rich, New York Times

"Wilder's unfashionable insistence on embracing wonders as well as woe is both gallant and exhilarating. . . . 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 Yorker

"Our Town demonstrates in the most gentle way, the most celebrational way, how difficult it is to be a human being." - Will Eno, American playwright

"Our Town is probably the finest play ever written by an American." - Edward Albee

"In Our Town, Wilder cautions us to recognize that life is both precious and ordinary, and that these two fundamental truths are intimately connected." - New York Times

"On a deeper level Wilder's play, with its tragic undercurrents, speaks to another fundamental virtue enshrined as an American ideal: the importance of honesty. Every kid learns the apocryphal story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and confessing: 'I cannot tell a lie.' Nor could Wilder in his greatest play: Life, he reminds us, is precious but evanescent, and all too often we move through it without grasping its value and its beauty. Wilder's drama, in its bracing clarity, exemplifies the role of the artist as truth-teller." - Charles Isherwood, WALL STREET JOURNAL