Presence : stories
/ Arthur Miller
- New York : Viking , 2007.
- 164 p. ; 22 cm.
Bulldog -- Performance -- Beavers -- Bare manuscript -- Turpentine still -- Presence.
A moving, final collection of stories by Arthur Miller throughout his career as one of the foremost playwrights of the twentieth century, Arthur Miller wrote a remarkable series of highly regarded short stories, pieces that reveal the same profound insight, humanism, and empathy that are the hallmarks of his great dramatic works. Presence is a posthumous gathering of Miller's last published fiction, a group of stories that appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, and elsewhere. 'Bulldog' describes a young teenager's surprising first sexual experience while 'Presence' relates a man's encounter with a woman he has just seen making love on a beach. 'Beavers' tells a haunting tale of nature, creation, and destruction. In 'The Performance', a Jewish tap dancer enthralls Hitler. 'The Bare Manuscript' reveals a writer's unusual methods to revive his muse, and, finally, 'The Turpentine Still' presents a portrait of a man examining his legacy.