Nineteenth Century. The books that expressed best
for him the meaning of life are listed in the stage di-
rections for A Long Day's Journey Into Night. They
are referred to often and in many plays, but more
often in the strictly autobiographical dramas.

Throughout the years I have followed the work
of the many writers who have made critical studies of
O'Neill. In the final chapter on the four plays published
since the first edition of this book I owe much to other
critics and to at least two biographers, C. Bowen and
Agnes Bolton. I am indebted to the books on O'Neill
by Edward A. Engel, Doris V. Falk, Horst Frenz and
the scholarly studies in professional journals by Doris
Alexander. I must mention especially the friendly
interest of Professor Cyrus Day, and the serious critical
studies of Joseph Wood Krutch.

All that has been done so far is a mere introduction.
In every graduate school in the country young students
are working on O'Neill. There are hundreds of Master's
Theses filed in graduate libraries, and there is a growing
number of Doctor's Theses under development here
and abroad. The life and dramas of O'Neill invite the
analysis of serious literary criticism.

University of Washington, 1961 S.K.W.