Book excerpt: This volume contains details about decision-making processes and circumstances under which American dramatists and composers earned the coveted Pulitzer Prizes within the Twentieth Century. All winners from 1918 - 2000 are presented with their biographies together with reprints of the original premiere programs of their award-winning works, performed in theatres and concert halls. Among the drama recipients are the four-times winner Eugene O'Neill, triple-laureate Thornton Wilder and double-receiver Tennessee Williams, while the composers are represented mainly by the double-winners Gian- Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Walter Piston, Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions. Heinz-Dietrich Fischer, EdD, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany.