Plays
by David Mamet

Name: Plays
Brand: David Mamet
SKU: 9780413687500
Rating: 3.85 (71 reviews)

Highlights

American

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the high quality and depth of emotion present in David Mamet's collection of plays. Many praise the engaging dialogue and unique narratives, especially in works like 'Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'Speed-the-Plow'. However, some find the reliance on repetitive dialogue and bickering characters a bit off-putting, indicating a preference for live performance over reading. Overall, the collection is considered worthwhile for theater enthusiasts despite some criticisms of specific pieces.

Engaging and tense dialogue Deep emotional exploration Great for theater enthusiasts Repetitive dialogue noted Some characters can be annoying

Synopsis

"The finest American playwright of his generation" (Sunday Times) Glen Garry Glen Ross (also made in to a film starring Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino) "his superb play about real estate salesmen in a cut-throat sales competition" (New Society); in Prairie du Chien a railway carriage speeding through the Wisconsin night is the setting for a violent story of obsessive jealousy, murder and suicide, told within shooting distance of a card-hustler and his victim.

"A short poignant study in violence and the twin drives of love and money, told with hypnotic power thorugh a travelling raconteur" (City Limits); The Shawl shows a clairvoyant wondering whether to cheat a bereaved woman of her inheritance and "confirms Mamet's place as about the best living writer of vivid American dialogue" (Daily Telegraph).

Set in the cut-throat world of Hollywood, Speed-the-Plow sees two old-time movie collaborators manipulate the aspirations of a young woman who will do anything to attain her dream of success "a brilliant black comedy, a dazzling dissection of Hollywood cupidity."

(Newsweek)

Themes Drama