More an oral history than a work exploring the play. The author talks with actors, producers, and directors of Our Town on productions done in the 21st century. It is interesting at first, but over time, it begins to wear and it also has the disadvantage of many people reading the mind of a dead author from another time, trying to read modern sensitivities into a work that doesn't actually contain them. It's a good lesson in how easy it is to project our own beliefs into a work. It's fine to interpret a work through your own prism; that's why art is effective. It is not fine to decide that the author would agree with you if he was still alive. And the constant cliches, feel good mantras, etc, grow old quickly. A decent work if you read the first half, but as you go into the second half, it seems to become more and more treacle. Our Town has suffered in the past from too much treacle in interpretations; it doesn't need more. ( )

Another Day's Begun by Howard Sherman is a very interesting look at Wilder's Our Town both from a historical and a contemporary perspective, or more accurately perspectives.

Almost everyone in the US has seen and/or read the play and I would venture a fairly large number have been involved with some production of it, even if it was in high school. I would venture this familiarity is part of why we may often overlook the complexities and nuances of what the story can tell us. While I have often been moved by watching a production I don't think I really thought about why. This book, though not its main purpose, helped me to give some form to what I think about the play as well as the ways in which it can speak to so many in subtly different ways.

I would highly recommend this to theater buffs as well as the casual theatergoer who may not rate this as high as other classics of the stage. I also think anyone interested in how the arts can speak to sociological as well as psychological ideas will find a lot of interest here.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )