Great work by horton foote. A must buy!

This is a really great book for people who like Foote's work. If you do not especially enjoy reading Foote (or watching his plays), I would not suggest this book. The character devolopment in each of the stories is fanatical and the introductions show what was happening at the time when he wrote each play. Also, you get three plays in one book. For a Foote fan, not much could be better.

I still remember watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the theater, absolutely stunned that the jury had convicted Tom Robinson when it was so clear, so perfectly clear and obvious to even a kid in grade school, that Atticus Finch had proved he was innocent. Horton Foote's screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of three collected in this volume, along with "Tender Mercies" and "The Trip to Bountiful." They represent three different types of screenwriting experiences since the first is adapted form a novel, the second from Foote's own stage play, and the third a work originally conceived as a film. Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that Foote won Oscars for the two adaptations. All three reflect Foote's emphasis on character development and dialogue rather than action and spectacle.

I taught Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" and screened the movie for an assignment in which students had to compare and contrast the novel with the film. Perhaps the best testament I can give to the quality fo Foote's script is that while students would always come up with favorite scenes from they book they wish had been in the film (number one choice was the hermaphrodite snowman the kids built), there was never a serious argument that Foote had left out something important. For me what stands out is how Foote picked up on one of my favorite parts of the novel, which was the nobility of Jem. The story is primarily about Scout and Atticus, not to mention Boo Radley, but it was Jem who also impressed me, and Foote captures that nobility in several key scenes. If you have a copy of the screenplay, then it is a lot easier to help students with that particular assignment, which always produces solid results.

I still remember watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the theater, absolutely stunned that the jury had convicted Tom Robinson when it was so clear, so perfectly clear and obvious to even a kid in grade school, that Atticus Finch had proved he was innocent. Horton Foote's screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of three collected in this volume, along with "Tender Mercies" and "The Trip to Bountiful." They represent three different types of screenwriting experiences since the first is adapted form a novel, the second from Foote's own stage play, and the third a work originally conceived as a film. Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that Foote won Oscars for the two adaptations. All three reflect Foote's emphasis on character development and dialogue rather than action and spectacle.

I taught Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" and screened the movie for an assignment in which students had to compare and contrast the novel with the film. Perhaps the best testament I can give to the quality fo Foote's script is that while students would always come up with favorite scenes from they book they wish had been in the film (number one choice was the hermaphrodite snowman the kids built), there was never a serious argument that Foote had left out something important. For me what stands out is how Foote picked up on one of my favorite parts of the novel, which was the nobility of Jem. The story is primarily about Scout and Atticus, not to mention Boo Radley, but it was Jem who also impressed me, and Foote captures that nobility in several key scenes. If you have a copy of the screenplay, then it is a lot easier to help students with that particular assignment, which always produces solid results.

I've recently used this Casebook for an article I'm writing about Foote. I found it to be very helpful and filled with solid criticism. I wish, however, that there was more discussion of Foote as a "Southern" writer, which I believe he is. Perhaps one of the Foote scholars will examine that aspect of Foote's work in a future study. Overall, though, the Casebook is an important contribution to Foote studies and American theatre studies.

"Horton Foote: A Casebook" is a superb scholarly study of one of America's most important playwrights. The essays by Gerald C. Wood are insightful and on the mark. The essay by Susan Underwood is also excellent. This is a must-have book for any person/library interested in a great American artist.

Among all the facinating characters of the small town, Mr. Foote must be the town gossip (but not a malicious one). Seems like Mr. Foote knew EVERYONE... and I don't think he left anybody out, either. Fun to read, good storytelling style, but it seemed more like a series of great characters sketches than a "real" memoir. At the end I was frustrated that I didn't find out more about how he got started as an actor/playwrite/etc. But that's nothing a sequel won't solve.

Think life in a small town is idyllic? Think again. Horton Foote gives us a portrait of his home town, complete with the details many wish to forget. Pettiness. Alcoholism. Racism.

At the same time, Foote describes his childhood in tones that leave a lasting impression of roots and home. Of growing up and new responsibility. Of family.

Foote has shared with us his appreciation for small town life in such great works as "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Trip to Bountiful" and now "Farewell". Enjoy.

I just finished re-reading this book, and enjoyed it more this time than previously, probably because I literally devoured the first read. I come from a rather limited circle of family and was enchanted by the seemingly endless supply of relatives and their stories. To be embraced by such an environment as a child and to relate this to the reader is to share a very precious gift. Thank you Mr. Foote,and please give us a sequel.

I felt that this book was a very elementary work by an inexperienced author. It did little to help me research the work of Horton Foote. I found several inconsistencies in the book according to my own research.I would give it a one star at best.It does make great bedtime reading.

I can safely say that Mr Woods has produced a coherent body of work that will be of great benefit to professors, students and readers. Buy this book and see for yourself!

For the person who gave this book one star, I have only one thing to say: learn how to read intelligently. Gerald Wood's Horton Foote and the Theater of Intimacy is an excellent study. The negative about allowing anyone to post reviews is that sometimes the crackpots do it. Ignore "A Reader" and read Wood's book for yourself.

Carter's first collection is a pretty good collection. I wasn't overly fond of this work (he has done much better), but there were some pieces that reach out and grab you, plus Carter's skill as an artist makes this book worth buying.

I have not actually read this book, but I can offer you some input to it. My son was in one of the plays, "Vernon Early", in it's premier production. I can honestly say that Mr. Foote is an amazing writer. He has a real talent for capturing life with a true flavor. He has a way with the word, that will make you love, hate, pity, and sypathize with his characters. I know from our personal experience that it was a pleasure working with Mr. Foote and experiencing one of his plays from the inside.

Heads Up-This is not a novel or book. It is a small paperback, stapled-together screen play edition. Print is very small and difficult to read. I do not recommend this edition, even though it is a wonderful story and movie.

I loved "Trip to Bountiful" it was GREAT! it was soo emotional. When i saw the movie i cried soo much. it was soo sad. This is GREAT book and a great movie. i would recommened it to all you sentimental types.

We all long to return, even for a moment, to the places we grew up. Sometimes the memories are harsh and unpleasant and sometimes the memories are wonderful and heartwarming. Horton Foote's Trip to Bountiful takes us on a powerful journey to the past, of lost loves and nostalgic memories. Foote is able to place us in the position of his characters so gracefully you hardly know you are there but at the same time feel deep emotional ties. You can actually trade places with them. In all, a wonderful book and a beautifully acted motion picture.

The Book had a good Plot. The way the characters where represented where horrible. You should have gotten to know them better, the author should have spent more time on the description of the characters personalities, and details of the story then just concentrating on the plot.

Horton Foote is everything that today's culture is not -- thoughtful, sensitive, insightful. His works are rich, but can be accessed only by taking the time to listen and reflect, skills not well practiced these days (as evidenced by the dimwitted reviewer of the previous entry). If you cannot see his plays, please read them slowly and carefully (Both 'The Young Man from Atlanta' and 'The Last of the Thortons' are excellent choices) and the rewards will be tremendous.

Dramatic writers are like orchestral conductors; advancing age serves to enhance the talents of the truly gifted in their ranks. Octogenerian Horton Foote, who imprinted the visual memory of the 1960's generation with his screen adaptation of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for "The Young Man from Atlanta". In this one-act drama, Foote embeds within a structure of six simple scenes a gentle and unsettling tale of 1950's Houston. Will Kidder is the 65 year-old man from Houston whose fortunes grew up with the city -- his prosperity always rendered in large cash sums. "Because I want the best. The biggest and the best. I always have." -- Will alerts co-worker Tom early in the first scene, unaware that he addresses his replacement at the firm he's helped build for almost four decades. Will's simple hope is that constructing the city's biggest house for his highly strung but deeply religious wife Lily Dale will help her overcome the peculiar death of their only child. Non-swimmer son Bill's short stroll into a Florida lake has bequeathed a void to the couple's life along with a young companion from Atlanta -- the never-seen title character -- whose calls Will avoids even as he forbids the grieving mother further contact with the visitor. With the opening of the second scene, Lily Dale, unaware of her husband's firing, occupies her place in their large new house, but the hoarding of her grief and the baggage of her relationship with the unseen Atlantan occupy her thoughts. She confides to her step-father Pete that she has funneled to the stranger most of seventy-five thousand dollars accumulated from Will's past Christmas gifts in gratitude for his comforting testimony about her son's religious devotion at the Atlanta boarding house where they were roommates. Also, Lily Dale -- whose very name conjures proper Southern Baptist assemblages, floral hats, and lily-covered caskets -- admits that she has responded with m! onetary pity to her son's friend's stories of life without loving family. She prays Will himself can come to accept the young man from Atlanta as an important part of her son's life. Then Will admits to her the loss of his job. Discovery that Pete's own nest egg cannot replace the money given to the stranger as outright gift (for now Will needs funding to start a new business) -- along with knowledge that the one hundred thousand dollars Will gave their son over the years is no longer accounted for -- undermines the household's tranquillity. "You've been taken for a fool, woman." Will cries on the way to his heart attack. It is the couple's groping toward "truth telling" to one another that gives impetus to the drama, even as they deal with the more mundane matters of recovering financial stability and failing health. Horton Foote's mid-century characters in "The Young Man from Atlanta" embody a "memory" of American Southern propriety that dared not openly allude to situations outside of prevailing social norms. The preservation of privacy and its refusal to examine reality from different perspectives enabled construction of a societal fortress that defied plundering, even if substantial financial and emotional resources were at stake. As long as the resources remained intact -- or seemingly so -- the Will Kidders could continue functioning as they desired, while deluding themselves into the bargain. "Will Kidder" was a perfect name for the old man from Houston.