Product Description
One of America's most provocative dramatists conquers new territory with this droll comedy of errors set in a Victorian drawing room.

Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming "women of fashion" who live together on the fringes of society.  Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald.  Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a young girl and wants to enlist the jealous Anna's help for an assignation.  As the two women exchange barbs and taunt their hapless maid, Claire's inamorata arrives and sets off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women's future at risk.  Mamet brings his trademark tart dialogue and impeccable plotting, spiced with Wildean wit, to this wickedly funny comedy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Subtext Doesn't Count as Action
Two women live together in a "Boston Marriage" (a long-term living arrangement between women), trying to weasel their way up into high class society but never quite making it. The dialogue of this play is witty and quick. The scenes are scarce. And the subtext of the relationship tensions will appeal to any and all Bronte/Austen fans out there. For the rest of us, not so much.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Oh, what is more foolish than the unrequited love of the old?
This is a terrific Mamet piece, full of wit, charm, intelligent banter and social recognition weaved through characters whose casual cruelty and social awareness unite Victorian era sensibilities and the present "common-place" homosexual relationship.
A "Boston Marriage" may be a sexual or asexual partnership. In this case the love between Anna and Claire is combative, antagonistic and with the support of their Scotch maid Catherine, very funny and idiosyncratic. As if on an island of their own pleasure they claw and repost and debate their place in fashionable society. Anna has become a mistress and recieved a jewel and bank to satisfy. Meanwhile Claire has fallen for a younger woman, whom she enlists Anna into helping seduce.
Without revealing specific details of the story, they are enmeshed in a drama of drawing room proportions, in an era where hushed gossip was as deadly as candid pictures, and social standing in the eyes of the upper class meant...something.
I love Mamet. He constantly mesmerizes both viscerally and intellectually. He is a brilliant writer-here the language flows beatifully within the era's style, while retaining the patent he has on clipped, enigmatic and fluid dialogue, he is a seemingly infinite creative and theatrical artist. As a foray into a feminine world he has presented here a historical piece that is funny, able to unite eras a century apart, and ultimately lovely...

A clever and cruel marriage (4.4 on a scale of 1-5)
David Mamet can definitely write about women and for women as demonstrated by his play "Boston Marriage."

The play's underlying story concerns two turn of the century women who have lived together in Boston in a "Boston Marriage" (a term that refers to a long term female couple usually involved both emotionally and physically). The couple live on the fringes of fashionable society, a world that they both care for deeply despite their unorthodox behavior. One woman, Anna, has recently taken on a wealthy lover to support their luxurious lifestle. The other, Claire, has recently become infatuated with a young woman (perhaps in retaliation for Anna taking a lover) and wants Anna to help her in her assignation. Meanwhile, both women delight in abusing their parlor maid, Catherine, whose name or nationality they never bother to remember.

Mamet's play sparkles because of its tart, crisp dialogue and brisk pacing. These women delight in tortuting each other, their lovers, their friends, and of course, their maid. Mamet neatly delineates the tremendous importance of class structure at this time: the women's snobbishness towards their immigrant help is absolutely appalling. Both women clearly crave acceptance by good society while at the same time flouting its rules.

I would recommend "Boston Marriage" to those who enjoy Mamet, female-driven books and theater, and modern plays.

Finally, the Long Awaited All-Female David Mamet Play!
For all the actress who have been waiting for great female characters from writer David Mamet, the wait is over! This is a lovely fantasy about a scandalous, tawdry lesbian couple circa 1900. Think Les Liaisons Dangereuses meets the women in Satre's No Exit. The dialogue is wonderfully paced, intensely comic, and astonishingly inventive.

Mamet seems to reinvent and reinvigorate his writing with this play. This is the playwright in a playful and endearing mood, writing about comically vicious and self-centered women who nevertheless win our hearts.

The plays seems to be reversing the classical notion of the nineteenth century rake (a womanizing man- often cast as the hero in historical romances). This time it is the women who are sexually controlling, on the hunt for new flesh, cavalier with romantic feelings, and casually selfish about creature pleasures.

There are lots of great two or three women scenes in this for actors' and directors' class work and showcase pieces. 90% of the play is a duologue between two women, with a maid who pops in and out. ... Read more

Product Description
Critical and popular debate about Mamet's work often centers on the meanings of his misogynist, unloving character. The essays in this collection approach these controversial topics of gender and genre with verve, ranging from those which cast Mamet as a misogynist to those which understand his work as deeply ironic and even feminist.The contributors examine plays from the earlySexual Perversity in Chicago to the recent Jolly, two films, House of Games and Homicide, and Mamet's first novel, The Village. ... Read more

Product Description
Since winning the Pulitzer for his Glengarry Glen Ross, playwright David Mamet has written only one original, full-length play, Speed-the-Plow-yet he has written nearly ten original screenplays. His movement in this direction is both surprising and, ironically, inevitable. Studied here are Mamet's screenplays (such as The Postman Always Rings Twice and We're No Angels), the influence of film on his recent plays (The Shawl and Speed-the-Plow), his theory of directing refined from his "writerly" principles of montage storytelling, and the reciprocal impact of his films and plays are discussed.Particular emphasis is placed on the author-director relationship in House of Games and Things Change. A complete filmography includes his 1992 work on the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross and Hoffa. ... Read more

Product Description
One of America's most explosively talented playwrights offers a forceful novel, full of incisive dialogue and striking interior monologues, about life in a secluded, mysterious, and complex New England town. A first novel. 25,000 first printing. Tour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Awful
No redeeming features in this book.No prose, no plot, no action, no significance whatsoever.Characters walking around with gigantic chips on their shoulder and inner lives the size of a pea.An utter waste of time.

Prose is sparse, so is the action and character development.
Lifeless and purposefully opaque. So much distance is put between the characters and their empty lives and the reader that ultimately there is no emotional connection with the reader. I admire David Mamet so much as a playwright and movie director that I slogged through 121 pages before I gave up completely.I'm bugged by critics who admire crap like this.Just because it was written by a genius doesn't mean the book is genius.It's a failure on a genius scale.

Mind-numbinglydull.
The Village by David Mamet is a disjointed compendeum of slice of life scenarios.In it the inner lives of a number of taciturn, stoic New Englanders are revealed through detailed introspection and minimalist dialogue.The characters themselves are presented as ghost-like beings, full of inwardly directed thought but with little else to flesh out their personas.This book is unsatisfying and pretentious.Not recommended.

Great style, good story
This is the first novel by Mamet, one of America's best playwrights, and a good screenwriter. It has a lot in common with Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, which is one of my favorite books. The Village delivers a slice of life in a quiet, anonymous village somewhere in the eastern U.S. The chapters jump around from person to person, playing out how their lives intertwine. Mamet's writing is fascinating. His dialogue is masterful, giving the reader just enough to get the gist of what someone says. Likewise, his narration is distant, noticeably so in many parts. He often goes through most of a chapter referring to a person as "The Man" or "The Soldier," giving the novel an everyman quality, but also driving home the theme of the book: that even a small town, where everyone knows everyone else by name, can be a very lonely place. Overall, I didn't like The Village as much as Winesburg, but it left me with the same calm, melancholy feeling. A good and, from a writing craft standpoint, educational read. ... Read more

Product Description
David Mamet has been compared to such figures as Dreiser, Hemingway, Salinger, Beckett and Pinter. From a promising playwright of the late 1970s, he has become one of the most acclaimed dramatists of the 1980s, not least because of his Pulitzer Prize-winning sensation Glengarry Glen Ross. Dennis Carroll examines Mamet's influences, plays and progress, with special emphasis on three thematic areas that have elicited Mamet's 'sense of moral dismay': business, sex and communion. '...this volume may be the best thing written on the theatre of David Mamet to date.' Choice ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of 15 original essays, assembled by renowned Mamet and Pinter scholar Leslie Kane, examines the pervasiveness of crime and criminality in the plays and screenplays of two of the most influential contemporary dramatists.The contributors generally focus on one or more works by a single writer, while a few take a comparative approach.Often the works studied are lesser-known or infrequently discussed works, thereby making this volume a valuable addition to current scholarship. In addition, this volume complements other works on Mamet and Pinter on our backlist, including Kane's earlier edited volumes on Mamet which both received solid sales and accolades from Choice. Assembled by a Garland/Routledge author with a proven sales record and impressive critical reception, this collection should be an easy sell to academic and theater libraries, as well as Pinter and Mamet specialists. ... Read more

Product Description
The most complete record of a contemporary American dramatist available, David Mamet: A Resource and Production Sourcebook is the result of ten years' research by a widely published drama and theatre scholar and a university bibliographic specialist. Presenting a complete overview of all reviews and scholarshp on Mamet, the authors challenge assumptions about the playwright, such as the charge that he is an antifeminist writer. This comprehensive sourcebook is an essential purchase for Mamet scholars and students of American drama alike. ... Read more

Product Description
This beautifully produced gift book unites the words of David Mamet, America's most active & esteemed playwright, with stunning artwork by renowned artist Donald Sultan to explore Jewish & universal themes. On the eve of his Bar Mitzvah, a boy learns about life from an old man in whose hands an antique watch reveals something of man's relation to God. This brief tale moves on a journey from the intricacies of watchmaking to the horrors of Europe in the Holocaust, as the old man shares his understanding of life's struggles & what it means to ''be a good Jew.'' Sultan's striking images move as gilded clocks & elaborate timepieces yield to blank watch faces, barbed wire, empty windows, & stark architectural renderings. 20 color illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A book perfect for the Bar Mitzvah boy or girl, unique!
If you know anything about David Mamet, you know he is a unique writer...and this book is no exception. Although it is titled Bar Mitzvah, it isn't the usual tale, moving from watchmaking through the Holocaust. This may sound unappealing but the main theme, what it means to be a Jew and to live a meaningful life, shine through. A gorgeous book, one I strongly feel will appreciate in value, heirloom quality. The drawings by Donald Sultan compliment the text nicely. ... Read more

Product Description
Always black and white, naturally lit, and stripped of make-up and costumes, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe's iconic celebrity portraits reveal the generation of film and theater stars that has emerged since the 70s. See Spielberg looking boyish; Kevin Kline embarassed and self-conscious; Leonardo di Caprio watching hawkishly; John Malkovich starring; Diane Keaton collapsed in laughter. This exquisitely produced oversize volume is a retrospective of images that gorgeously conveys Lacombe's deep love for the performing arts and the people involved in it.Lacombe is the photographer who people who get photographed for a living, or part of one, most like having take their photograph. --Adam GopnikIncluding portraits of Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, Juliette Binoche, Tim Burton, Nicholas Cage, Glenn Close, Kevin Costner, Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, Cary Grant, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Houston, Jeremy Irons, Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, William H. Macy, Madonna, Steve Martin, Al Pacino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Penn, River Phoenix, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Winona Ryder, Martin Scorsese, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.
Foreword by David Mamet. Introduction by Adam Gopnik.

10.25 x 14 in.
254 duotone illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

There is no one like Brigitte Lacombe. . .
Brigitte Lacombe's book of photographs, taken throughout her life, of those people most of us will never know in our lives. . .is the most exquisite compilation of photographs ever transposed in one single books.There is no one who shoots a subject as Brigitte Lacombe does, and no one a subject trusts more.Is it book of celebrity photographs?Yes.But the celebrity is -- without question -- Brigitte Lacombe. ... Read more

Product Description
In a career spanning forty years the Chicago-born David Mamet ([degrees]1947) not only left his imprint on American drama with stage classics like 'American Buffalo', 'Glengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna', he systematically ventured into different genres and media as a way of experimenting, honing his craft, and broadening his audiences. The international scholars assembled in the present volume assess Mamet's career to date, focussing particularly on his forays into film, television, the novel and adaptation/translation, as well as on how his work fared in the hands of other artists, whether with serious or comic intentions. By measuring his works' diverse incarnations against each other, his more apodictic theorizings and essays, in the light of formal, institutional and historical determinants, this volume also contributes to a more general reflection on the intermedial and interdisciplinary practice of contemporary artists. ... Read more