View the Youtube videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQJXPLW9BbFfaUf9sTX4_tPlWHz7RTJo7

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Notes go here

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Primary sources are The Daring Young Man by John Leggett, Saroyan's journals and letters in the William Saroyan papers at Stanford's Green Library_,_ You Must Remember This podcast by Karina Longworth, and letters in the collection of Forever Saroyan from Peter Howorth.

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Directed by: Clarence BrownScreenplay: Howard EstabrookStory by: William SaroyanStarring: Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay BainterStudio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)Release Year: 1943

🔗 Primary Film References

IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036000/

TCM (Turner Classic Movies)https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78965/the-human-comedy

AFI Catalog Entryhttps://catalog.afi.com/Film/613-THE-HUMAN-COMEDY

Rotten Tomatoeshttps://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/human_comedy_1943

AllMoviehttps://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-human-comedy-v23823

📚 Literary Source – William Saroyan

Original Novel: The Human Comedy (1943)Author: William Saroyan

Library of Congress Recordhttps://lccn.loc.gov/43011845

Open Libraryhttps://openlibrary.org/works/OL45809W/The_Human_Comedy

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143284.The_Human_Comedy

William Saroyan Biography – Poetry Foundationhttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-saroyan

William Saroyan – Encyclopaedia Britannicahttps://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Saroyan

Forever Saroyan - http://www.foreversaroyan.com

🎭 Cast & Key Figures

Mickey RooneyIMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001683/

Frank MorganIMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0604607/

Spencer Tracy (Uncredited cameo)IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001805/

Clarence Brown (Director)IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113673/

📰 Contemporary & Historical Context

World War II Homefront Overview – National WWII Museumhttps://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/home-front-during-world-war-ii

MGM Studio History – Encyclopaedia Britannicahttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-Inc

Academy Awards (1943–44 Ceremony)https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1944

🏆 Awards & Recognition

Academy Award for Best Story (William Saroyan)Oscar Database Entryhttps://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/

National Board of Review – 1943 Winnershttps://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1943/

📖 Themes for Discussion

• Small-town America during WWII
• The emotional toll of wartime telegrams
• The American postal system as narrative device
• Idealism vs. realism in Saroyan’s writing
• MGM wartime sentimentality
• Spencer Tracy’s surprise appearance
• Saroyan’s complicated relationship with Hollywood

🎧 Suggested Companion Viewing / Reading

The Time of Your Life (Saroyan play)https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Time-of-Your-Life

The Saroyan Prize – Stanford Universityhttps://english.stanford.edu/creative-writing/william-saroyan-international-prize-writing

Fresno County Historical Societyhttps://valleyhistory.org/

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This is the fifth installment of Place of Places, a chapter by chapter analysis contextualizing William Saroyan's 1972 memoir, Places Where I've Done Time. Borrow the book from the Internet Archive's Open Library here: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1442119W/Places_Where_I%27ve_Done_Time?edition=placeswhereivedo00saro Brought to you by Forever Saroyan, an archive in San Jose, CA. www.foreversaroyan.com

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Originally Appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/the-human-comedy-the-musical

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Originally appeared at [https://www.foreversaroyan.com/paul-ignatius-friend-to-the-saroyans](https://www.foreversaroyan.com/paul-ignatius-friend-to-the-saroyans)

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/the-william-saroyan-theatre

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/hank-saroyan-1947-to-2022

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Originallyappeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/echoes-of-saroyan

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/william-saroyan-at-omar-khayyam-s

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First appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/hovhaness-saroyan-bari-bari

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Note: This recording, provided by Jim Michaelian, has some audio faults, though is entirely listenable.

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Video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztSuv7hCAyA

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First appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/the-fascinating-journey-of-come-on-a-my-house

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/william-saroyan-speaks-1978-national-geographic-society

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/dong-kingman-william-saroyan

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See the full bibliography at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/bibliography

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First appeared on teh Forever Saroyan blog, January 2024

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Originally appeared at - https://www.foreversaroyan.com/artwork

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/here-begins-the-travel-chronicle-saroyan-s-journal-oct-1976

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First appeared at: https://www.foreversaroyan.com/william-saroyan-flann-o-brien

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/after-he-d-gone-the-afterlife-of-saroyan-s-writings

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Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/about-a-man-who-wanted-to-be-in-love

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First appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/about-william-saroyan

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The original blog post can be found at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/three-years-in-the-art-of-william-saroyan

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First appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/saroyan-and-baseball

Appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/may-2025-newsletter

Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/family

Written by Diane Minasian. Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/family

"Khatchik (Archie) Minasian was born in Fresno, California on August 2, 1913 to Armenian immigrant parents. He was named Khatchik after his grandfather who perished in Armenia in 1897. His father Vahan died when Archie was 6 years old leaving his family of 6 children poor and fatherless. Archie contributed by working in the Armenian bakery and picking grapes in the summer for his uncle. He grew up next door to his cousin, William Saroyan, who was 5 years his senior. Archie always revered William and as he grew he sought Saroyan's literary approval of his poetry, which he began to write at age 15. He graduated from Fresno High School and spent 2 years at Fresno State College studying science before moving to San Francisco in 1935. In San Francisco, where most of his family now resided, he spent time walking the City with William, who had become a literary phenomenon. Archie earned a living by doing various jobs and after a brief stint in the Army settled on a profession of house painter. But his passion was writing which he continued to do until the day he died. Archie wrote over a thousand poems and in 1945 won the Edwin Markham Gold Medal for poetry. He continued his writing of poems, novels and plays, contributing poetry to numerous magazines including Hairenik Weekly, Ararat, and Armenian Review. His collection of poems, A World of Questions and Things, was published by Decker Press in 1950 and another collection, The Simple Songs of Khatchik Minasian, was published by the Grabhorn Press in 1950 with a William Saroyan introduction. Simple Songs was reissued by Giligia Press in 1969. He was widely regarded as the preeminent Armenian-American poet of his generation. He was a natural poet and always said his poems just came to him, appearing in his head. He wrote of the beauty of nature and the human condition in a simple, pure and innocent style. Archie married Helen Fiegert in 1947 and moved to Palo Alto in 1951 where he raised 6 children: Frances, Stella (Lolli), Roxanne, Diane, Ellen and Vahan. His house in Palo Alto gave him the space to grow fruit trees and vegetables and enjoy his simple pursuits. One day he purchased an easel, paints, and paper and started to paint on canvas. He was able to express his random thoughts in watercolor abstractions almost like he did with his poetry. He painted hundreds of watercolors - always with a painting on the easel in some stage of completion. Archie was a renaissance man who excelled in his simple pursuits. He was loud, gregarious, and the center of attention wherever he went. He died in 1985, six years too early to see his beloved Armenia become an independent country again. (This biography was written by Archie's daughter, Diane.)"

Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/a-self-guided-tour-of-saroyan-s-san-francisco-by-dori-myer

Originally appeared at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/75-years-of-the-assyrian

Originally appeared on the Forever Saroyan blog - https://www.foreversaroyan.com/in-the-public-domain-the-american-clowns-of-criticism

Text and PDF versions available at https://www.foreversaroyan.com/study-guide-70-000-assyrians

First Appeared on our blog - https://www.foreversaroyan.com/two-armenians-saroyan-gorky

Originally appeared on https://www.foreversaroyan.com/herbert-gold-1924-to-2023

A History of the Acting Company - https://theactingcompany.org/history-and-mission The Acting Company records at New York Public Library - https://archives.nypl.org/the/24620 New York Times 1975 Review - https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/29/archives/play-time-of-your-life-the-acting-company-in-a-saroyan-revival.html

Originally ran on the Forever Saroyan blog in 2021. https://www.foreversaroyan.com/william-saroyan-paul-bowles-opera-opera

Background on Paul Bowles life and career - http://www.paulbowles.org/enter.html The Original score for A Little Closer, Please (The Pitchman’s Song) - https://www.foreversaroyan.com/music _Martin Kalmanoff’s _Opera, Opera - https://issuu.com/theodorepresser/docs/kalmanoff_opera_opera_issuu Finding Aid to the Paul Bowles Moraccan Music Collection - https://www.loc.gov/folklife/guides/paulbowles.html

Expanded intro and print story: https://www.foreversaroyan.com/preface-to-a-book-not-yet-written