A prolific author of works on the performing arts, Hischak here turns his attention to iconic American writer Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)…. This style should appeal to students looking for an abbreviated approach versus a traditional biography.Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Thomas S. Hischak provides an invaluable service to Thornton Wilder scholars, enthusiasts, and fans with this encyclopedia of the author's life and multi-faceted career (playwright, novelist, essayist, lecturer). It is an essential, one-stop shopping reference book for all things Wilder. His detailed and fact-filled performance histories of Wilder's drama are especially useful for this most-produced American playwright.

Park Bucker, PhD, University of South Carolina Sumter

Thomas S. Hischak’s The Thornton Wilder Encyclopedia is a must-have for the director and dramaturg of any production of a Wilder play, for a scholar beginning a project on Wilder’s fiction or drama, and for fans who want to know more about Wilder’s life and works without having to slog through the long biographies and critical studies. Hischak’s summaries of Wilder’s works (both famous and less widely known) offer a consensus of critical reception and analysis. The appendices provide useful lists of casts of major productions of the well-known plays and characters in the novels. His entries on a variety of topics (Wilder’s sexuality, letter and journal writing, lecturing, major themes in the fiction and drama, his female characters) are insightful yet concise. Every university or college library should purchase a copy for their reference room as it will help students write papers on a Wilder performance or reading assignment.

Lincoln Konkle, professor of English, The College of New Jersey, and coeditor, “Thornton Wilder Journal”

The Thornton Wilder Encyclopedia is an extensive and insightful overview of the life, works, and influence of Thornton Wilder, a man whose erudition, brilliance, and familiarity with multiple centuries, languages, and cultures merited the title of “Vast Encyclopedia” for one book-length scholarly study of his theatrical creations.

Thornton Wilder Journal