BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW THE TERRITORY

by Meredith Willson ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Meredith Willson is the author and composer of the very successful musical comedy- The Music Man- as well as several jocular and not always funny books- And There I Stood With My Piccolo- Eggs I Have Laid, etc. While he has every right to be justly proud of his Broadway success,the sad fact is that only those who are intimately familiar with both the words and score of his show, or particularly interested in it, will be likely to get the most out of this book. It is a detailed and highly subjective account of the writing of the show from the moment of inspiration and inception to the opening night in New York-- and he is lavish with his own reactions as well as the reactions of others when faced with his material. He also writes a highly involuted backwoods baroque English- as though he had never known an unhappy moment in his life.... William Gibson did the same sort of thing for his Two for the Seesaw which might possibly indicate the offstage audience appeal. It seems marginal.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 0816667705

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION