Thornton Wilder was born on April 17, 1897 and died on December 7, 1975. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin to Amos Wilder, an American diplomat, and Isabella Wilder. Thornton Wilder began writing plays at the Thacher School in Ojai, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School in 1915. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II. After the war he attended Oberlin College, then Yale University where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1920. His writing was honed at Yale where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, a literary society. In 1926 he received his master's degree in French from Princeton University. Wilder won the Pulitzer Prize for The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1928, Our City in 1938, and The Skin of Our Teeth in 1942. He also won the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1957, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 , and the National Book Award in 1967 for his novel The Eighth Day. Form, structure and texture. The novel is organized into three acts, each representing a different time period. There are only two flashbacks in the book. The first takes place in the second act, after George and Mr. Webb have had a conversation. They both leave the stage and the stage manager introduces the flashback to when Emily and George had their first date in Mr. Morgan's pharmacy. The second flashback isn't so much a flashback as it is time travel. Occurs in the third act after Emily Webb joins the rest of the dead. She, as well as the stage manager, goes back in time to revisit her twelfth birthday. The first act is about George Gibbs and Emily Webb as teenagers, the second act is about their wedding, and the third act is about Emily Webb's funeral. A total of twelve years are covered in the show. Over the course of the show, the tone gets louder and louder and m...... middle of paper ...... out that Emily is dead. Additional Comments I wasn't thrilled with this book, but I didn't hate it. The strengths of the book are that it contains valid, applicable and easy to understand themes. Another strength of the book is that it is not written in formal diction, so it is easy to read and understand. One of its weaknesses is that it is sometimes difficult to follow the plot due to the lack of narration. The reader may become confused due to sudden changes in scene or time. The book leaves one lingering question: What happens to George Gibbs? Even though this isn't my favorite book, it will have lasting effects on me. The transience of human life is a universal theme that can be observed by anyone. Bibliography Thornton (Niven) Wilder (1897-1975). .Our city. Wikipedia. .