Book Review: The Caterpillar Dogs and Other Early Stories

Found at the Drama Book Shop. Paid full price of $16. I've read practically everything that Tennessee Williams has written, so I figured I should spring for this slim (less than 100 pages) volume of early, previously unpublished stories. You can see the early stirring of Williams' genius at capturing the delicate nuances of characters who later emerge fully developed in The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar Named Desire and his later mature works. In Stair to the Roof, the frightened, artistic shoe-factory clerk Edward Schiller is a combination of Tom and Laura from The Glass Menagerie. This daydreamer's soul is crushed by the monotonous work of filing shoe orders and his only relief is escape to the factory's roof for fresh air and release from the demands of the mimeo machine and carbon copies. Ironically, his additional guilty pleasure is grabbing a quick cigarette, canceling out the physical effects of the open spaces. The title story is a funny vignette about a ruthless old lady and her conflict with a pair of yapping Pekinese. Every Friday Night Is Kiddies Night focuses on a retired minister moving to the big city of St. Louis and finally indulging in such harmless but previously forbidden indulgences as listening to the radio and attending the picture show. Williams gives a detailed portrait of these pitiful outsiders.