Frederick O’Brien—travel writer.
Mr. O’Brien’s account of his experiences in the Marquesas Islands created a literary fashion for the South Sea Islands.
Bibliography
- White Shadows in the South Seas. 1919.
- Mystic Isles of the South Seas. 1921.
See Book Review Digest, 1919, 1921.
Eugene Gladstone O’Neill—dramatist.
Born in New York City, 1888. Son of the actor, James O’Neill. Studied at Princeton, 1906-7. Much of the material used in his plays seems to be drawn from or based upon his adventurous experiences between 1907 and 1914. Actor and newspaper reporter. Spent two years at sea. In 1909, is said to have gone on a gold-prospecting expedition in Spanish Honduras (cf. Gold). Lived in the Argentine. Threatened tuberculosis gave him his first leisure (cf. The Straw). In 1914-5, he studied dramatization at Harvard. In 1918, when he married, he went to live in a deserted life-saving station near Provincetown. Associated with the Provincetown Players. In 1920, his Beyond the Horizon was given the Pulitzer Prize.
Suggestions for Reading
1. What effect has Mr. O’Neill’s life experience had upon the quality of his plays?
2. What evidence of originality do you find in his (1) themes, (2) background, and (3) technique?