The result of a D.G. Wills coup, renowned playwright Edward Albee (b. 1928) talks about and signs his new book, “Stretching My Mind,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 8, at D.G. Wills Books, 7461 Girard Ave.
Among the nation’s preeminent living playwrights, three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and recipient of a Kennedy Center Medal in 1996, Albee has rocked and stretched the minds of audiences consistently, influencing and changing the American theatrical world with a body of work that stretches from “The Zoo Story” (1958) to “The Goat” (2002). He is perhaps best known for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1963) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Delicate Balance” (1966).
“Stretching My Mind” is a collection of Albee’s writings on theater, literature and the personal, political and cultural battlegrounds in which his works notoriously take place. Topics include playwrights Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Sam Shepard plus autobiographical pieces regarding Albee’s life and work. The book makes a fine companion piece to Mel Gussow’s excellent 2000 biography, “Edward Albee: A Singular Journey,” now available in paperback.
Bookstore owner Wills heard from a friend that Albee was going to be in San Diego and sent him a letter inviting him to make a personal appearance Easter weekend. At first Wills entertained the idea of Saturday evening, then decided it would be too dark and cool for a huge crowd that is expected to spill out onto the street.
“In the course of my research, I learned that he’d been expelled from Trinity College in 1947 for failing to attend compulsory chapel,” Wills said. “I reminded him of that in one of my letters and said that as it would be unlikely for him to be in church on Sunday, he could appear here on Easter instead. So when he called me from New York he said, ‘Yes, Dennis, you’re correct. I will not be in church on Sunday, but it will be my resurrection at your bookstore instead.'”
The event is free and will likely include a reading and question-and-answer period. For information, visit www.dgwillsbooks.com or call (858) 456-1800.