Birth of a Salesman Birth of a Salesman "Birth of a Salesman" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 26 March 1950 issue of "This Week" magazine. Part of the "Blandings Castle" canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection "Nothing Serious" (1950). The story's title is a play on "Death of a Salesman", the now-classic stageplay by Arthur Miller, which had won a Pulitzer Prize the previous year. Lord Emsworth is visiting America for the wedding of his niece Veronica to millionaire Tipton Plimsoll. With currency restrictions
Death of a Salesman his standards. The models of business success provided in the play all argue against Willy's "personality theory." One is Charley, Willy's neighbor and apparently only friend. Charley has no time for Willy's theories of business, but he provides for his family and is in a position to offer Willy a do-nothing job to keep him bringing home a salary. (Bloom 51) "Death of a Salesman" first opened on February 10, 1949, to great success. Drama critic John Gassner wrote that “the ecstatic reception accorded "Death of Salesman" has been reverberating for some time wherever there is an ear for theatre,