Publisher's Weekly
Tennessee Williams and Maria Britneva met in London in 1948 and remained close friends and correspondents until the former's death in 1983. The Russian emigre, later Lady St. Just, was someone he could confide in and laugh with. Few of her letters to him have survived, but hundreds of Williams's letters to her are printed here with her comments, recollections and diary entries. He discusses his plays and their characters, productions at home and abroad, travels, relatives, colleagues, lovers, friends--Claire Bloom, Marlon Brando, Carson McCullers, Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn, Vanessa Redgrave and Gore Vidal among them--and also talks about his dependence on alcohol and drugs, his fears and satisfactions, depressions and passions. Williams, however, was not one of the great literary letter-writers, and this collection will likely appeal only to his enthusiasts. Photos.