A prolific playwright and author of seven novels, Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was both popular with the general public and highly regarded by the critical establishment of his day which heaped honors upon him. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is ranked 37 on the Modern Library list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. Nevertheless, Wilder’s works seem to be unfashionable today, with the notable exceptions of the play Our Town and the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey which have both retained their popularity. The latter gets a rating of 3.8 (out of 5) stars on Goodreads with nearly 20,000 votes.
An Overview of the novel is given at the end of this Study Guide. It gives the kind of critical analysis that you might prefer not to have before reading the novel for the first time. On the other hand, some readers might prefer to read the Overview first.
1897: April 17, born in Madison, Wisconsin, the second of Amos Parker Wilder and Isabella Niven Wilder’s five children.
1920: awarded Bachelor of Arts degree at Yale University.
1926: first novel, The Cabala, published.
1927: second novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, published.
1928: awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Bridge of San Luis.
1930-1937: taught at the University of Chicago (comparative literature and composition).
1938: awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Our Town.
1942: awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Skin of Our Teeth.
1951-2: Professor of Poetry at Harvard.
1952: awarded the Gold Medal for Fiction by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1955-7: the play The Matchmaker ran for 486 performances on Broadway.
1963: awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
1968: awarded the National Book Award for Fiction for his penultimate novel The Eighth Day.
1975: December 7, died in his sleep at the age 78
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