The best of modern American drama is represented in the seventeen essays of this collection. They explore the works of four of the most celebrated playwrights of the twentieth century: Tennessee Williams, Arthur miller, Edward Albee, and Sam Shepard. Among the rich variety of modern American playwrights these four stand above the rest. All four have created works that have received great critical acclaim and produced intense critical controversy. Very different in temperament and style, they bring strikingly different perspectives to their work; and yet all share a fascination with social and family structures, and all demonstrate extraordinary gifts with language. Each playwright is discussed in four or five essays, each essay in turn deals with one or two aspects of one play. Together these essays, originally published in the journal Modern Drama, provide a penetrating study of recent American theatre through the work of four of its very best dramatists.