Summary

Flush with the rush of fame and riches that blanketed him in the wake of "The Glass Menagerie," Williams set sail for Europe on the SS America in December 1947. He fussed about Paris for a while, in advance of the opening of" Menagerie" there, found it too cold, rainy and unfriendly then headed for Rome and sunshine that re-energized him despite its semi-devastation from World War II bombings. Along the way—from Paris to Rome—Williams befriended and socialized with other writers such as Gore Vidal and Frederic Prokosh, as well as thespians such as Greta Garbo, Lawrence Olivier and Jean Cocteau. After years on the outside of the world of the famous and glamorous, his position at the center was a bit disorienting, although in Rome he resumed his familiar, voracious pursuit of boys.

In London Williams became friends with...