Edmund White reviewed Tennessee Williams’ Notebooks in this weekend’s New York Times Book Review, which tracks Williams’ growth as a writer from his undergraduate years to his early successes of “The Glass Menagerie” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” to his troubled descent into alcohol and drug addiction.

Although continually plagued by anxiety and fear, Williams was never afraid to write, and he was haunted by the same characters in depicting the uninhibited record of his life. Edmund writes, “What becomes clear in these notebooks is that Williams feared that he himself might sink into the same madness that afflicted his sister. His writing not only extended sympathy to the wounded of the world but also acted as a form of therapy to keep him sane…This book gives us a look at the sometimes sad, sometimes shoddy backstage of real life that permitted Williams to create his unforgettable and perfect dramas.”

To read the full review, click here.