Susan Glaspell: A Critical Biography. By Barbara Ozieblo. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000; pp 345. $55.00 hardcover, $22.50 paperback.

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed an increasing interest in the work of Susan Glaspell. C. W. E. Bigsby's collection of her plays, published in 1988, introduced many readers to her work for the first time. Reviewing the collection, critic Michael Goldman called Glaspell “the only playwright of her generation worthy of comparison with O'Neill.” Since that time, essays about Glaspell's work have been published in multiple books: Mary E. Papke published the very thorough and useful Susan Glaspell: A Research and Production Sourcebook (1993); a lengthy analysis of Glaspell's plays, with particular emphasis on their expressionistic qualities, appeared in my book American Women Playwrights, 1900 – 1950 (1995); and there have been academic conferences devoted to Glaspell's work. Now Barbara Ozieblo has written an excellent critical biography that will be of value to theatre scholars.