A collection of short stories exhibiting Williams' genius for creating drama with memorable characters, sexual electricity and atmosphere. I am not a fan of reading plays, but the availability of performances of Williams' work to watch over and over would be reason enough for me to sustain a video service subscription of whatever sort indefinitely. These short stories, published in 1967 during Williams' long depression, are frequently brilliant, often heart-breaking, occasionally bizarre and macabre. Two of the selections, "A Girl Made of Glass'" and "The Night of the Iguana" tell stories previously dramatised. Other powerful selections include the title story, in which a former boxer turned hustler finds his inner spark, just a bit too late; and "Desire and the Black Masseur", one of those that takes a turn to the very very dark side. Remarkably, there is even a flash or two of humor in the final piece, "Yellow Bird", before it takes off into outright fantasy. One or two of these stories left me a bit at a loss, but after completing the entire collection, I think I will go back and reread those, as I may just possibly have missed something, given the quality and impact of the rest.
Review written in 2014 ( )

Williams may be known best for his drama, but his short stories are simply brilliant, and I fell in love with his writing here on a level which was far beyond that I've experienced with his drama. I picked up the collection on a whim, and quickly discovered that his characters in prose are all-together more alive and more engaging than those I've found in his drama. In these sweeping short stories, he pulls together worlds that are simple as they are vibrant, and worth falling into with nearly every page. In fact, the flattest of the stories -- for me, at least -- was the one which touched back to the characters from his Glass Menagerie. The others, one by one, pulled me in and engaged my thoughts with every move and emotion. His flare for simple and natural language, buffeted by believable an all-too-real characters made this a collection that I wished wouldn't end.

Absolutely recommended. ( )