{"product_id":"2026200012680-secondhand-five-plays","title":"Five Plays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Worn\/faded, no tears\u003cbr\u003ePages: Tanning and foxing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdmund Wilson, one of the twentieth century's most formidable literary minds, steps beyond his celebrated role as critic and chronicler to present Five Plays — a compelling collection that reveals the full dramatic range of a writer who understood the stage as both a mirror and a scalpel. The volume gathers five distinct works — Cyprian's Prayer, The Crime in the Whistler Room, This Room and This Gin and These Sandwiches, Beppo and Beth, and The Little Blue Light — each one a sharply observed study of American society, moral ambiguity, and the restless tension between idealism and disillusionment.\n\nWilson brings to his drama the same intellectual ferocity and stylistic precision that defined his essays and criticism, crafting dialogues that crackle with wit, irony, and an unflinching psychological acuity. These plays span decades of his creative output, illustrating the evolution of his social and political preoccupations — from the bruised romanticism of his early work to the near-apocalyptic vision of The Little Blue Light. For readers who know Wilson only through Axel's Castle or To the Finland Station, this collection will arrive as a revelation: proof that one of America's greatest literary intelligences was also a dramatist of rare and unsettling power.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49130982899931,"sku":"2026200012680-SECONDHAND","price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/2b5e16d4-2261-4b08-88dc-7c650efd17a4.png?v=1786593643","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200012680-secondhand-five-plays","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}