Who Killed Virginia Woolf?


Book Description

Who, if anyone, was responsible when Virginia Woolf wandered across the water-meadows and threw herself in the river Ouse? By examining the various strains which led to Woolf's tragically ending her life — the true nature of her marriage, her complex relationship with Vita Sackville-West, the pangs of sexual insecurity, and the lack of self-esteem —noted psychoanalyst Alma H. Bond illustrates how these influences coalesced to bring Woolf's life to a logical ending. “…a masterpiece of its kind—a brilliant, original book that not only gives the reader new understanding of why Virginia Woolf committed suicide but also brings him new depths in the understanding of his own life…A flowing, emphatic style of writing that keeps you turning the page to learn more of the torment in Woolf’s life from infancy on that drove her to kill herself.” —Lucy Freeman, past President of Mystery Writers of America and author of The Beloved Prison: A Journey Through the Unknown Mind (St. Martin’s Press, 1989) “Alma Bond’s work on Virginia Woolf and the relationship between her early life experience and her profound creative talents is a tour de force.” —Natatlie Shainess, M.D., New York, New York “Outstanding—a profound and in-depth presentation.” —Barry M. Panter, M.D., Ph.D., President, American Institute of Medical Education, Burbank, California







Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?


Book Description

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? shocked audiences and critics alike with its assault on decorum. At base though, the play is simply a love story: an examination of a long-wedded life, filled with the hopes, dreams, disappointments, and pain that accompany the passing of many years together. While the ethos of the play is tragicomic, it is the anachronistic, melodramatic secret object—the nonexistent "son"—that upends the audience’s sense of theatrical normalcy. The mean and vulgar bile spewed among the characters hides these elements, making it feel like something entirely "new." As Michael Y. Bennett reveals, the play is the same emperor, just wearing new clothes. In short, it is straight out of the grand tradition of living room drama: Ibsen, Chekhov, Glaspell, Hellmann, O’Neill, Wilder, Miller, Williams, and Albee.




Everyone's Fine with Virginia Woolf


Book Description

A sharp-witted parody of a celebrated American drama, EVERYONE’S FINE WITH VIRGINIA WOOLF is, in turns, loving homage and fierce feminist takedown. Kate Scelsa’s incisive and hilarious reinvention of Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? slyly subverts the power dynamics of the original play’s not-so-happy couple. In the end, no one will be left unscathed by the ferocity of Martha’s revenge on an unsuspecting patriarchy.




Who's Afraid of Leonard Woolf?


Book Description

Was Virginia Woolf suicidal, or was she betrayed and driven to taking her own life? Irene Coates argues, with forensic precision, that Leonard Woolf was responsible for the unraveling of his wife's sanity and her subsequent suicide. These two people were at the heart of the Bloomsbury Group; one a mad genius, the other a so-called selfless husband. But underneath that caring veneer beat the heart of a pessimistic, repressed, bullying, and hypocritical man, one who may have been responsible for the death of Virginia Woolf




Afterwords


Book Description

Just when it may seem that nothing else could be said about Virginia Woolf and the ambiguous details of her suicide, "Afterwords" provides an entirely fresh perspective. It makes available to a wide readership for the first time letters sent to Leonard Woolf and Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf's sister) in the aftermath of the event. This unique volume brings together over two hundred letters from T. S. Eliot, H. G. Wells, May Sarton, Vita Sackville-West, Edith Sitwell, E. M. Forster, Radclyffe Hall, and many others, including political figures and religious leaders. In addition, informative annotations reveal the identities of many unexpected condolence-letter writers from among the general public.




Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?


Book Description

Written in an easy-to-read, accessible style by teachers with years of classroom experience, Masterwork Studies are guides to the literary works most frequently studied in high school. Presenting ideas that spark imaginations, these books help students to gain background knowledge on great literature useful for papers and exams. The goal of each study is to encourage creative thinking by presenting engaging information about each work and its author. This approach allows students to arrive at sound analyses of their own, based on in-depth studies of popular literature. Each volume: -- Illuminates themes and concepts of a classic text -- Uses clear, conversational language -- Is an accessible, manageable length from 140 to 170 pages -- Includes a chronology of the author's life and era -- Provides an overview of the historical context -- Offers a summary of its critical reception -- Lists primary and secondary sources and index




Richard Burton


Book Description

‘ After reading this affectionately candid biography, it is hard not to echo Olivier’ s response on hearing of Burton’ s death: “ He was so young, so young” ’ Daily Mail A man of contradictions, Richard Burton’ s life and remarkable career are revealed by a writer who knew him from 1968 up to Burton’ s last film. Recounting Burton’ s deepest and often darkest thoughts and secrets, as well as hell-raising stories quashed by the Hollywood system, such as affairs with Monroe and Lana Turner, being caught in a brothel with Errol Flynn and a fist fight with Frank Sinatra, Munn offers a stunning portrait of a great man. From nursing Burton through an epileptic seizure to witnessing Burton’ s part in East End gang violence, this is an intimate and deeply moving biography. Writer, actor, director and former journalist and Hollywood publicist, Michael Munn, has written twenty-one books, including the best selling John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth and the acclaimed Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend




Between the Acts


Book Description

In Woolf's last novel, the action takes place on one summer's day at a country house in the heart of England, where the villagers are presenting their annual pageant. A lyrical, moving valedictory.




A Room of One's Own


Book Description

Virginia Woolf's playful exploration of a satirical »Oxbridge« became one of the world's most groundbreaking writings on women, writing, fiction, and gender. A Room of One's Own [1929] can be read as one or as six different essays, narrated from an intimate first-person perspective. Actual history blends with narrative and memoir. But perhaps most revolutionary was its address: the book is written by a woman for women. Male readers are compelled to read through women's eyes in a total inversion of the traditional male gaze. VIRGINIA WOOLF [1882–1941] was an English author. With novels like Jacob’s Room [1922], Mrs Dalloway [1925], To the Lighthouse [1927], and Orlando [1928], she became a leading figure of modernism and is considered one of the most important English-language authors of the 20th century. As a thinker, with essays like A Room of One’s Own [1929], Woolf has influenced the women’s movement in many countries.