ALS, one page both sides, 6 x 7, personal letterhead, December 15, 1947. Handwritten letter to "Mrs. Coker" of the "X.X.M.D. Study Club," commenting on his works. In part: "Perhaps I can interest your members by putting down a few short characterizations of my works. The Cabala exhibits a young American's sense of wonder and fascination at first coming into contact with European civilization. At the end, he is moved to return to the U.S. with redoubled interest. The forces, once so vital in Europe, seem now to be defeating themselves.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is Europe-in-America. It asks a philosophical question: whether God intervenes in the big and little occasions of life—a question already raised in the 'Astrée-Luce' section of The Cabala.
The Woman of Andros asks: What did the noblest type of person in pre-Christian paganism have to cling to in life's extremest difficulty? Heaven's My Destination moves to America, and to the crudest levels of America. It is a very serious novel under a comic surface. Its question is: How does one reconcile the ideals of behavior with the conditions of the daily life, particularly among people who make no pretense of ideals whatever. Having written four plays I changed to the drama.
Our Town is intended to be much more than a picture of small town life. Its central emphasis lies in the last act which is based on an anecdote or myth already told in The Woman of Andros. The Story of the hero who after death is permitted to return to earth for one day. The Skin of Our Teeth was written just before I entered the army to take part in a world war for the second time. Again, many people have failed to see how serious it is because the treatment is comic. Its emphasis again is in the last act." In fine condition.
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