With the centenary of Wilder's birth in 1997, the Yale Repertory Theatre mounted a production of "The Skin of Our Teeth," probably the first professional one it had seen (in this country, anyway) in twenty years. Encountering the play for the first time since reading it in high school, I was struck by its notorious alleged similarities to FINNEGANS WAKE, which got Wilder in trouble when Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson pointed them out upon the play's first production. Although Wilder scholars have always been heatedly hostile towards Campbell and Robinson, there is no doubt that the two men were right: "The Skin of Our Teeth" is obviously inspired by and much indebted to FW (it is probably going too far to call the play an adaptation of Joyce's novel), and anyone doing what Wilder did today would be accused of plagiarism and be sued (and lose).

That said, the play can still hold the stage, although it is not as good a play as "Our Town," which uses the same modernist, fantastical conventions to much stronger effect. Does anyone actually read "The Skin of Our Teeth" these days, or do they buy the three-play book just for "Our Town"?

Thorton Wilder is one of the best playrights of his generation. This book brings together three of his best plays. "Our Town" which is a play centered around one town, and the way life can change within it. "the Skin of Our Teeth", which centers around one family that is going through all the changes that have ever happened in the world, including the ice age, world war 2, the depression, and so on. And finally "the Matchmaker" which is not the best play, but is still worth reading. Thorton Wilder does an amazing job with character developments and sub-plots, and these three plays really show his genius.

Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town both were prize-winning plays. The Matchmaker became one of the most popular musicals of all time - Hello Dolly. Thornton Wilder's plays are in production at countless high schools across the country, and that's a pity - few students have the maturity or insight to bring these words strongly to life.

Skin of Our Teeth, the story of the Antrobus family in stone age Atlantic City, NJ, deals with indomitable humanity, and how we can prevail against all odds, but especially against our own impulses. It also brings up the consolations of literature and of past times.

Our Town is a simple little play about love and death, and how life is composed as a series of moments. It is so important to live in every, every, moment.

The Matchmaker is about living life to the fullest, even in the midst of grief and aging.

This makes these plays sound dreadfully simplistic, and full of high-school style morality. Thornton Wilder's writing is full of irony, wit, grace, kind humor, and style. His writing has a deceptive simplicity and rhythm. Read these plays to bring some beauty into your life.

This was a wonderful book. It reads a bit like Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, but more modern. There is humor and heroism, as well as grand thoughts of life. "Great happiness was given to me once, yes... but shall I forget that now? And forget the one who gave it to me? All that has happened since came from the same hands that gave me the happiness. I shall not doubt that it is good and has a part in something I cannot see..."

Say there, young man: Are you feeling Unfit for Society? Battling with Depression? Socially persecuted because of your ideals? Well, take heart because you are not alone! George Brush has walked down that lonely path in life himself.

Both as playwright and novelist, Thornton Wilder captures the essence of human nature--revealing its hesitant yearnings and poignant humiliations in the daily struggle for recognition in an indifferent world. Despite the almost humorous cover illustration (Bard Pbx) and occasional outbursts of wit, this story is more pathetic than comic. George Brush is a young man sure of salvation in the next world, but woefully ill-equipped to cope in this one. Fiercely determined to live a righteous life of voluntary poverty during the Depression, he manages to antagonize or frustrate most of his non-business contacts. Haunted by an unfortunate romantic incident in his recent past, he feels obligated to make reparations, yet pursues various female acquaintances with overzealous devotion.

George
is considered a success only by his employers, since he proves a competent traveling salesman for his textbooks company. So what is it about this unusal young man which turns normal folks off at first encounter? Is it his relentless religious discussions, his strict rules of self conduct, or his odd manner of viewing his own role in society? Somehow he just does not fit in with mainstram America of the 30's. His road travels are a series of bizarre circumstances and gross misunderstandings which result in brushes with the police and judges--even though he is honest to a fault. People can't figure out his motives, for it is difficult to put into practice the theories of Ghandhi in the "modern" mercenary world. The country was simply not ready to welcome this sincere but persistent young man as a regular member, even though he longed for his own hearth. Can a brutally honest fellow find happiness with the girl of his dreams in rugged, disillusioned America?

I found the style disjointd, with many loose threads instead of a clearly woven plot; this made the book hard for me to wade through. But the courtroom scene was a delightful section, cleverly plotted with witty remarks--Wilder in top comic form. How can poor George find justice in our plebian nation and personal happiness at home?

I was finished with this book before I really knew that I'd started it. It has a light, easy flow and a gentle sense of humor. It features George Brush, who is profoundly religious and tries his best to live up to the standards he sets for himself. What makes the story worth reading is that you always want to see what he is going to say next; despite his odd way of looking at the world, at heart George truly wants to help people and live a life of love and goodness. He speaks out against injustice and wrongdoing and is quick to defend his own traditionalist views. The fact that so many people are so quick to judge and misunderstand him, and that the people who do understand him benefit from knowing him, seems to be what the book is trying to get across. No matter how crazy or misguided he seems, he is a better person than the average Joe who never takes the time to think about his impact on the world.

There is a very subtle ironic humor pervading this book; it is impossible to miss, but Wilder never makes a clown out of his protagonist. Instead one is left with the feeling that George really does make the world a better place, though he has an eccentric way of accomplishing this goal. What I had thought was going to be a stinging kind of satire about an evangelical young man ended up being a wistful satire more about the people who judge such a man than about the man himself.

This is a story of one man finding himself amidst what he percieves as a world of coruption. It centers on a man that is compleatly absorbed by his religion but it is not nessasarly just a book about religion, though I believe many christians would enjoy this book for its christian flavor. As I am not what many would call a formal "Christian" I still believe that it has both power and meaning for those not of that faith. Heaven's My Destination is a story which one man's faith is tested. His beliefs are questioned and I believe that that story, no matter what it is he believes in, is something that all of us share at one time or another.

this book gives you a full list of characters, an in depth look at their lives and lifestyle in grovers corners, the facts that are needed to analize this book with attention to great detail and all the information that is needed when doing research or just to give you a taste of his writing and to get you interested in the book itself.

This publication is a helpful tool to understanding Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town". Written during the Great Depression, "Our Town" tells the story of people in a small New England town at the end of the 19th century. Taking a look inside the minds and hearts of the "young ones" as well as the "oldtimers", gives the reader a good feeling of how simple, yet wonderful life in "the good old days" was. -- The play is very dated, full of references long lost in American vocabulary. "Barron's Book Notes" explains (or should I say TRANSLATES) such unfamiliar terms, along with customs and other traditions no longer known to us. This book is an excellent source of information about the play. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town". I find it boring and rather unsuited for today's theatres. Foolishly I agreed to play "Howie Newsome" the milk man in a local production years ago. Six weeks of my life I'll never get back! My advise to you: read "Barron's Book Notes" for research if you are studying "Our Town" (for an English grade), but if you are interested in the play itself, let me assure you that there are MANY, MANY better ones out there!