"Attention Must Be Paid"

I have to mention one other event that occurred while I was in the hospital — the passing of Arthur Miller. There is no finer American play to me than Death of a Salesman. But I think Marilyn Berger’s obviously long-prepared obit in the NYT undervalues his subsequent work. Yes, Miller declined at some point, but most do, alas. Still, The Crucible and the less known novel Focus are works of great substance and View from the Bridge and even After the Fall have their moments as well. (I’m not much of a fan of The Misfits.) On a personal level, I met the author and playwright at a dinner party in Connecticut in the eighties and found him to be stuffy and standoffish, but I expected that.