CLIFFORD ODETS AND AMERICAN POLITICAL THEATRE

CLIFFORD ODETS AND AMERICAN POLITICAL THEATRE. By Christopher J. Herr. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2003; pp. 177. $49.95 cloth.

Christopher Herr's biography of playwright Clifford Odets reveals a man caught between three worlds-his social underpinnings, his politics, and the economics of the time. In a move away from Margaret Brenman-Gibson's 2002 psychoanalytical approach, Clifford Odets, American Playwright: The Years from 1906-1940, Herr explores Odets's familial relationships, his associations with the Group Theatre and Hollywood, the political exigencies of the 1930s and 1940s, and the economic turmoil surrounding the Group Theatre and Odets's writing. Herr provides a useful biography, insightful play analyses, and is one of the first to examine Odets's Hollywood screenplay career.

Herr divides his book in a consistent manner; each grouping of chapters usually has a brief biographical section followed by a history of that period. Next, Herr explains how Odets fits into the era, followed by an explication of Odets's plays from that same period. Following the brief worldview histories, Herr usually examines Odets's life within these histories, which allows the reader to understand where Odets fits into his era. For example, Herr describes the political and economic frivolities of the 1920s, saying that "Odets' father bought a Pianola, which served as much as a symbol of success as a musical instrument" (12). Herr speculates as to how this affected Odets's politics, especially how it shaped his views on the economic status of Americans. This moment also served as impetus for how Odets questioned the purpose of such aggressive...