The Arthur Miller Tapes: A Life in His Own Words

Bigsby (Four Contemporary American Playwrights) became friends with Arthur Miller (1915–2005) after writing to him as a grad student. He follows up his two-volume biography of Miller by weaving 30 years of taped conversations into a stream-of-consciousness new biography. Miller discusses his secular Jewish American New York City roots as the middle child of a wealthy, then Depression-impoverished, immigrant; his radicalism in support of the 1930s Spanish Republic and his attendance at some Communist-affiliated meetings; and his work for the Federal Theatre Project. Miller also discusses his involvement in anti-war activities, from Henry Wallace’s 1948 campaign through Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 campaign and beyond. He had three rather different marriages to Mary Slattery, Marilyn Monroe, and photographer Inge Morath. Miller discloses that he often draws on real people for character parts, supports Israel as a non-Zionist atheist, grew up in solidarity with Black people and laborers, and reflects on the differences between his goal in writing plays and their performance.

[CORRECTION NOTICE: We found an editorial error in the original review; this online version has been corrected.]