Christmas Dinner With Family Can Feel Endless. Embrace It.

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Guest Essay

By Jeremy McCarter

Mr. McCarter is the literary executor of Thornton Wilder and contributed to the book “Our Town and the Cosmic One-Acts.”

Things being what they are in the world today, get-togethers with the relatives are often fraught with pick-your-side political debates. Sometimes it might feel as if your family dinner would last forever.

If only we could be so lucky.

That unexpected viewpoint — that the best family dinner might be one that lasts a lifetime or even longer — comes from the great American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder. He may be remembered best for his 1938 play “Our Town” or his novel “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” But it’s his one-act play “The........

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