This early work by Alexander Woollcott was originally published in 1928
and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography.
'Going to Pieces' is a collection of stories of Woollcott's friends in
and out of the theatre. Alexander Humphreys Woollcott was born on the
19th January, 1887 in New Jersey, America and was a critic and
commentator for The New Yorker magazine. One of New York's most prolific
drama critics, Woollcott was an owlish character whose caustic wit
either joyously attracted or vehemently repelled the artistic
communities of 1920s Manhattan. He was banned for a time from reviewing
certain Broadway theatre shows and was frequently criticised for his
ornate, florid style of writing. Woollcott was a prolific writer, and
created a large body of work during his life, including 'Mrs Fiske: Her
views on Actors, Acting and the Problems of Production' (1917), 'The
Command is Forward' (1919), 'Shouts and Murmurs' (1922), 'Mr. Dickens
Goes to the Play' (1922), 'The Story of Irving Berlin' (1925), and
several collections of his newspaper articles. Many more works followed
until Woollcott's final book, The Portable Woollcott (1946) which was a
posthumous anthology containing the best of his works.
