Memoirs

“The Memoirs are structured so they flit back and forth, kind of like a Williams play, and the periods that he does decide to focus on are so salacious, so gossipy—he just lets it all hang out. He tells us about this lover and that lover, what he thought about this or that figure. You get the sense of a man unleashed. The American filmmaker John Waters described it as being like sitting down for drinks with an already-inebriated Williams, telling you stories. It’s incredibly brave for anybody to go so far and to be so candid about themselves. Yes, Williams was incredibly forthright in his plays, very articulate and outspoken about sexual relationships. But there is a distinct difference, I think, in what he could get away with on Broadway, which was dominated by its own very conservative rules and regulations, and what he could get away with on the printed page. This is an unparalleled frankness in a public figure.” Read more...

The Best Tennessee Williams Books

Ahmed Honeini, Literary Scholar