Thornton Wilder ALS on "Heaven's My Destination" Character & Religion

2pp, measuring 5.5" x 8.5", University of Chicago, dated March 16, 1935. Signed "Thornton Wilder" and addressed to Mr. Follett regarding his character George Brush from his novel "Heaven's My Destination". With flattened mail folds along with toning at the edges and folds. Wear and small tears at the top edge from where the pages were torn from a larger pad. Boldly signed.

Reading in part:

"…on the whole he is a fanciful - say, poetic - creature. The real George Brushes are not as christened, as self-less, nor as brave as that. This exaggeration into comedy on the one hand and into poetry on the other, represents my attempt to offer him not as a specific portrait but as a symbol and generalization…I'd like to feel that he contains an allegory of the American mind - Woodrow Wilson and his League & Treaty; the whole notion of prohibition. Anyway, just now when so many people are misunderstanding the book and charging me with sneering at religion, and so on, it was a real pleasure and a complement to see your column." 

Published in 1935, Wilder's fourth novel "Heaven's My Destination" tells the story of a born-again evangelist, George Marvin Brush, who works as a traveling salesman. The novel follows one year of Brush’s life, giving a comical account of his confrontations with a more Midwestern secular society during the Great Depression. Through several hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking situations, his travels take him from Texas to Illinois and explore the very soul of America itself.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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