Winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Our Town is a play by Thornton Wilder that chronicles the passage of time in a small, fictional New Hampshire town called Grover’s Corners. Set in 1901, the play focuses on two neighboring families—the Webb family and the Gibbs family—as they go about their seemingly humdrum, daily activities; however, throughout the course of the play, we realize that these humdrum activities are the very things that give life purpose and sweetness. From conversations over the morning milk delivery to a wedding between young George Gibbs and Emily Webb, the two families intersect in big ways and small over the years, and the play captures these moments in three acts—“Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity”—jumping forward about ten years at each transition. The Stage Manager, an omniscient character who speaks directly to the audience, narrates the play with a dry, New England sensibility that sets the tone for this understated, brilliant work.
If you happened to catch last week’s newsletter, you’ll know I recently fell in love with the novel Tom Lake, and because the book speaks so highly of Our Town, I was inspired to read the play (isn’t it the best when one book leads you to another?). I expected a period piece with some interesting views about America at the turn of the century, but I was unprepared for just how beautiful Wilder’s words would be. At one point, a character has died and, from beyond, lists all the things she’ll miss—“Good-by to clocks ticking… and Mama’s sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths… and sleeping and waking up”—before asking the Stage Manager, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?” He responds, simply, “No. The saints and poets, maybe—they do some.” Wilder hit me right in the heart with that passage, and I still feel a rush of bittersweet gratitude rereading it just now. I loved the way Wilder folds poetry into simple language; nothing is dramatic or overblown, but the emotions come through just as powerful. According to the foreword, Our Town was “an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life,” and I think Wilder accomplishes just that. I absolutely loved rediscovering this classic.
I’d recommend this book to…
- Anyone interested in small-town America and life-affirming stories… it’s similar in theme to the movie It’s a Wonderful Life
- Anyone looking for a book narrated in a nontraditional, surprising (and entertaining!) way… it’s similar in style to Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- Anyone craving something nostalgic and somewhat philosophical… it’s similar in tone to East of Eden by John Steinbeck
