BookFrontier
Our Town by Thornton Wilder

Book

Our Town

A Play in Three Acts

Thornton Wilder

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · July 28, 2020

Reading lane: Playwriting

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Ordinary Days, Larger Questions

A spare, three-act drama turns everyday life toward questions of love, loss, and what we overlook.

Come here for

  • A love story framed by childhood, adulthood, and death
  • Theater that invites reflection on life’s ordinary moments

Expect

  • An American classic shaped as a play in three acts
  • An edition with an afterword and documentary material

Book Details

Authors
Thornton Wilder
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
July 28, 2020
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Playwriting · Theater History & Criticism
Reading lane
Playwriting

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • American Plays

  • Action & Adventure

  • The Classics

  • Family Sagas

Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Literary Fiction

  • Psychological Fiction

  • Coming-of-Age

  • Women's Fiction

About This Book

“[ Our Town ] leaves us with a sense of blessing, and the unspoken but palpable command to achieve gratitude in what remains of our days on earth.” — The New Yorker Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire—an allegorical representation of all life—is an American classic. It is the simple story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about the meaning of love, life, and death. Our Town explores the...

Read full description

“[ Our Town ] leaves us with a sense of blessing, and the unspoken but palpable command to achieve gratitude in what remains of our days on earth.” — The New Yorker Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire—an allegorical representation of all life—is an American classic. It is the simple story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about the meaning of love, life, and death. Our Town explores the relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. When Emily loses her life during childbirth, the circle of life portrayed in each of the three acts—childhood, adulthood, and death—is fully realized. Widely considered one of the greatest American plays of all time, Our Town debuted on Broadway in 1938 and continues to be performed daily on stages around the world. This special edition includes an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder, with illuminating documentary material about the playwright and his most famous drama.

Similar Books