{"product_id":"exorcism-eugene-oneill-9780300181319","title":"Exorcism: A Play in One Act","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thrilling archival discovery and literary event--the publication, after ninety years, of a sharply autobiographical one-act play by the father of modern American theater\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Shortly after the debut of \u003ci\u003eExorcism\u003c\/i\u003e in 1920, Eugene O'Neill suddenly canceled production and ordered all extant copies of the drama destroyed. For over ninety years, it was believed that the play was irrevocably lost, until it was recently discovered that O'Neill's second wife had in fact retained a copy, which she later gave to the prolific screenwriter and producer Philip Yordan. In early 2011, Yordan's widow discovered the typescript of \u003ci\u003eExorcism--\u003c\/i\u003ecomplete with edits in O'Neill's own hand--in her late husband's vast trove of papers. The discovery and publication of \u003ci\u003eExorcism\u003c\/i\u003e, a relatively early play in the O'Neill corpus, furthers our knowledge of O'Neill's dramatic development and reveals a pivotal point in the career of this great American playwright.\u003cp\u003eRevolving around a suicide attempt, \u003ci\u003eExorcism\u003c\/i\u003e draws on a dark incident in O'Neill's own life. This defining event led to his first serious efforts to write. \u003ci\u003eExorcism\u003c\/i\u003e displays early examples of O'Neill's unparalleled skills of capturing deeply personal human drama, and it explores major themes--mourning and melancholia, addiction and sobriety, tensions between fathers and sons--that would permeate his later work. According to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library curator Louise Bernard, who acquired the play from a New York bookseller, \"\u003ci\u003eExorcism\u003c\/i\u003e might be read as a preparatory sketch that resonates powerfully with \u003ci\u003eLong Day's Journey into Night, \u003c\/i\u003eone that brings the O'Neill family drama full circle in ways at once intimate and grandly conceived.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExhibition Schedule: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSerialized in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Eugene O'Neill\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0300181310\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780300181319\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/28\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 112\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.41h x 7.08w x 0.54d","brand":"Eugene O'Neill","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46383853764863,"sku":"9780300181319","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_47bbd8e2-7ecd-4809-b5f6-cf88eda632db.jpg?v=1733281871","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/exorcism-eugene-oneill-9780300181319","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}