Arthur Miller Popular Books
Arthur Miller Biography & Facts
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century. Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and married Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, he received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2001, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 1999. Early life and education Miller was born in Harlem, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, the second of three children of Augusta (Barnett) and Isidore Miller. He was born into a Jewish family of Polish-Jewish descent. His father was born in Radomyśl Wielki, Galicia (then part of Austria-Hungary, now Poland), and his mother was a native of New York whose parents also arrived from that town. Isidore owned a women's clothing manufacturing business employing 400 people. He became a well respected man in the community. The family, including Miller's younger sister Joan Copeland, lived on West 110th Street in Manhattan, owned a summer house in Far Rockaway, Queens, and employed a chauffeur. In the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the family lost almost everything and moved to Gravesend, Brooklyn. (One source says they moved to Midwood.) As a teenager, Miller delivered bread every morning before school to help the family. Miller later published an account of his early years under the title "A Boy Grew in Brooklyn". After graduating in 1932 from Abraham Lincoln High School, he worked at several menial jobs to pay for his college tuition at the University of Michigan. After graduation (c. 1936), he worked as a psychiatric aide and copywriter before accepting faculty posts at New York University and University of New Hampshire. On May 1, 1935, he joined the League of American Writers (1935–1943), whose members included Alexander Trachtenberg of International Publishers, Franklin Folsom, Louis Untermeyer, I. F. Stone, Myra Page, Millen Brand, Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett. (Members were largely either Communist Party members or fellow travelers.)At the University of Michigan, Miller first majored in journalism and wrote for the student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, and the satirical Gargoyle Humor Magazine. It was during this time that he wrote his first play, No Villain. He switched his major to English, and subsequently won the Avery Hopwood Award for No Villain. The award led him to consider that he could have a career as a playwright. He enrolled in a playwriting seminar with the influential Professor Kenneth Rowe, who emphasized how a play was built to achieve its intended effect, or what Miller called "the dynamics of play construction". Rowe gave Miller realistic feedback and much-needed encouragement, and became a lifelong friend. Miller retained strong ties to his alma mater through the rest of his life, establishing the university's Arthur Miller Award in 1985 and the Arthur Miller Award for Dramatic Writing in 1999, and lending his name to the Arthur Miller Theatre in 2000. In 1937, Miller wrote Honors at Dawn, which also received the Avery Hopwood Award. After his graduation in 1938, he joined the Federal Theatre Project, a New Deal agency established to provide jobs in the theater. He chose the theater project despite the more lucrative offer to work as a scriptwriter for 20th Century Fox. However, Congress, worried about possible Communist infiltration, closed the project in 1939. Miller began working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard while continuing to write radio plays, some of which were broadcast on CBS. Career 1940–1949: Early career In 1940, Miller married Mary Grace Slattery. The couple had two children, Jane (born September 7, 1944) and Robert (May 31, 1947 – March 6, 2022). Miller was exempted from military service during World War II because of a high school football injury to his left kneecap. In 1944 Miller's first play was produced: The Man Who Had All the Luck won the Theatre Guild's National Award. The play closed after four performances with disastrous reviews.In 1947, Miller's play All My Sons, the writing of which had commenced in 1941, was a success on Broadway (earning him his first Tony Award, for Best Author) and his reputation as a playwright was established. Years later, in a 1994 interview with Ron Rifkin, Miller said that most contemporary critics regarded All My Sons as "a very depressing play in a time of great optimism" and that positive reviews from Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times had saved it from failure.In 1948, Miller built a small studio in Roxbury, Connecticut. There, in less than a day, he wrote Act I of Death of a Salesman. Within six weeks, he completed the rest of the play, one of the classics of world theater. Death of a Salesman premiered on Broadway on February 10, 1949, at the Morosco Theatre, directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman, Mildred Dunnock as Linda, Arthur Kennedy as Biff, and Cameron Mitchell as Happy. The play was commercially successful and critically acclaimed, winning a Tony Award for Best Author, the New York Drama Circle Critics' Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards. The play was performed 742 times.In 1949, Miller exchanged letters with Eugene O'Neill regarding Miller's production of All My Sons. O'Neill had sent Miller a congratulatory telegram; in response, he wrote a letter that consisted of a few paragraphs detailing his gratitude for the telegram, apologizing for not responding earlier, and inviting Eugene to the opening of Death of a Salesman. O'Neill replied, accepting the apology, but declining the invitation, explaining that his Parkinson's disease made it difficult to travel. He ended the letter with an invitation to Boston, a trip that never occurred. 1950–1963: Critical years and HUAC controversy In 1955, a one-act version of Miller's verse drama A View from the Bridge opened on Broadway in a joint bill with one of Miller's lesser-known plays, A Memory of Two Mondays. The following year, Miller revised A View from the Bridge as a two-act prose drama, which Peter Brook directed in London. A French-Italian co-production Vu du pont, based on the play, was released in 1962. In 1952, Elia Kazan appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Kazan named eight members of the Group Theatre, including Clifford Odets, Paula Strasberg, Lillian Hel.... Discover the Arthur Miller popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Arthur Miller books.
Best Seller Arthur Miller Books of 2024
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The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
Oscar Wilde & Richard CaveLady Windermere's Fan/Salomé/A Woman of No Importance/An Ideal Husband/A Florentine Tragedy/The Importance of Being Earnest'To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to l...
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My Week with Marilyn
Colin ClarkImagine sneaking away to spend seven days with the most famous woman in the world. In 1956, fresh from Oxford University, twentythreeyearold Colin Clark began work as a lowly assi...
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Six Women of Salem
Marilynne K. RoachThe story of the Salem Witch Trials told through the lives of six womenSix Women of Salem is the first work to use the lives of a select number of representative women as a microco...
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Collected Stories
Bernard MacLaverty‘Characters all but leap off the page with believability in these marvellous stories of life (and death) in Belfast’ Sunday TimesMelding his native Irish sensibilities to those of ...
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The Penguin Arthur Miller
Arthur MillerTo celebrate the centennial of his birth, the collected plays of America’s greatest twentiethcentury dramatist in a beautiful bespoke hardcover edition In the history of postw...
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Kazan on Directing
Elia Kazan & Martin ScorseseElia Kazan was the twentieth century’s most celebrated director of both stage and screen, and this monumental, revelatory book shows us the master at work. Kazan’s list of Br...
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Sherlock Holmes - The Legacy of Deeds
Nick KymeA DARK PAST It is 1894, and Sherlock Holmes is called to a Covent Garden art gallery where dozens of patrons lie dead before a painting of the Undying Man. Holmes and Wat...
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Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors
James LovegroveAn exciting standalone Cthulhu Casebooks narrative, a thrilling tale of mystery and dread, from the New York Times bestselling author.It’s 1929 and an ageing Dr John Watson, consci...
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Mycroft and Sherlock
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anna WaterhouseThe new novel by NBA AllStar Kareem AbdulJabbar, starring brothers Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes.It is 1872, and a series of gruesome murders is the talk of London. Mycroft Holmesnow...
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Arthur Miller
John LahrA great theater critic brings twentiethcentury playwright Arthur Miller’s dramatic story to life with bold and revealing new insights “New Yorker critic Lahr shines in this s...
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Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller & Gerald WealesThe Pulitzer Prizewinning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of ...
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The House on Vesper Sands
Paraic O’DonnellAn Oprah Daily and CrimeReads Best Historical Novel of 2021Named a Library Reads Pick, Apple Books' Best Book, Amazon Fiction & Literature's “Best of the Month,” and a Powell's...
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Arthur Miller
ShmoopDive deep into the story of Arthur Miller's life anywhere you go: on a plane, on a mountain, in a canoe, under a tree. Or grab a flashlight and read Shmoop under the covers. Shmoop...
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Warlock Holmes - The Finality Problem
G.S. Denning"If you ever wondered how much better Sherlock would be if people could hurl hellfire at each other, well this one is for you." Starburst Magazine on A Study in Brimstone.The famou...
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Equus
Peter ShafferWinner of the Tony Award for Best Play A Broadway production starring Richard Griffiths and Daniel RadcliffeAn explosive play that took critics and audiences by storm, Equus is Pet...
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The Crucible
Arthur MillerA haunting examination of groupthink and mass hysteria in a rural community The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wild...
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Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller & Christopher BigsbyThe Pulitzer Prizewinning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of ...
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Marilyn Monroe
Charles CasilloBased on new interviews and research, this groundbreaking biography explores the secret selves behind Marilyn Monroe’s public facades. Marilyn Monroe. Her beauty still captivat...
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The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils
James LovegroveThe stunning new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Odin, in which the worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft collide.It is the autumn of 1910,...
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The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle
Russell MillerAs the creator of Sherlock Holmes, "the world's most famous man who never was," Arthur Conan Doyle remains one of our favorite writers; his work is read with affectionand sometimes...
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Salem Falls
Jodi PicoultFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult comes a compelling and “multilayered tale of smalltown intrigue” (Glamour) about a prep schoolteacher accused of rape by a gr...
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Marilyn Monroe
Barbara LeamingBarbara Leaming's Marilyn Monroe is a complex, sympathetic portrait that will totally change the way we view the most enduring icon of American sexuality. To those who think they h...
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The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Haunting of Torre Abbey
Carole BuggeA HAUNTED HOUSESherlock Holmes receives a request for aid from Lord Cary, whose family home, Torre Abbey, is seemingly haunted. While skeptical, Holmes believes that the Carys are ...
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The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Revenge from the Grave
David Stuart DaviesA brandnew Sherlock Holmes mystery from acclaimed Sherlockian author David Stuart Davies, featuring the return of the sinister Moriarty gang...When Professor James Moriarty plunged...
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Marilyn Monroe
Michelle MorganFor the first time in paperback, this valuable biography by the president of Marilyn Monroe’s UK fan club contains the most comprehensive collection of primary source material on M...
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The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Deathly Relics
Sam SicilianoAn atmospheric, intricately plotted new mystery in which Sherlock Holmes and Henry Vernier race to catch a villainous murderer at large in the Vatican and Rome.Sherlock Holmes and ...
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Dombey and Son
Charles Dickens & Andrew Sanders'There's no writing against such power as this one has no chance' William Makepeace ThackerayA compelling depiction of a man imprisoned by his own pride, Dombey and Son explores t...
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Warlock Holmes - The Sign of Nine
G. S. Denning"If you ever wondered how much better Sherlock would be if people could hurl hellfire at each other, well this one is for you." Starburst Magazine on A Study in BrimstoneWarlock Ho...
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The Girl
Michelle MorganWith an indepth look at the two most empowering years in the life of Marilyn Monroe, The Girl details how The Seven Year Itch created an icon and sent the star on an adventure of s...
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Death of a Salesman
Arthur MillerThe Pulitzer Prizewinning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of ...
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The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Gentleman Burglar
Sam SicilianoA daring and delightful crossover of Sherlock Holmes and his criminal adversity: Arsène Lupin, the Gentleman Burglar. These superb sleuths will solve intricate riddles and journey ...
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The Exorcist Legacy
Nat SegaloffThe definitive, fascinating story of the scariest film ever made and its enduring impact in Hollywood and beyondfrom the director’s biographer comes a mustread for horror fans and ...
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Sherlock Holmes - The Monster of the Mere
Philip Purser-HallardWhen Watson's holiday in the Lake District takes a sinister twist, he and Holmes must uncover the truth hidden by superstitious locals, folklore and rumours of prehistorical monste...
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The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities
James LovegroveIt is the spring of 1895, and more than a decade of combating eldritch entities has cost Dr John Watson his beloved wife Mary, and nearly broken the health of Sherlock Holmes....
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The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Instrument of Death
David Stuart DaviesA brandnew Sherlock Holmes mystery from acclaimed Sherlockian author David Stuart Davies, featuring the sinister Dr CaligariSherlock Holmes has just uncovered the truth about the t...
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Marilyn in Manhattan
Elizabeth WinderA city, a movie star, and one magical year.In November of 1954 a young woman dressed plainly in a white oxford, dark sunglasses and a black pageboy wig boards a midnight flight fro...
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The B Side
Ben YagodaFrom an acclaimed cultural critic, a narrative and social history of the Great American Songwriting era. Everybody knows and loves the American Songbook. But it’s a bit less w...
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Sherlock Holmes - Cry of the Innocents
Cavan ScottA HOLY MYSTERYIt is 1891, and a catholic priest arrives at 221b baker street, only to utter the words “il corpe” before suddenly dropping dead.Though the man’s death is attributed ...
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Sherlock Holmes - The Red Tower
Mark A. LathamThe brand new adventure from the author of A Betrayal in Blood, in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are faced with a fiendish locked room mystery.Dr Watson has been invited to C...