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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others

0 comments By Alexander McCall Smith

I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
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4 Burnside Drama- Plays

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Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama

by David Mamet

Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama Cover

ISBN13: 9780375704239
ISBN10: 037570423x
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? With bracing directness and aphoristic grace, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Glengarry Glen Ross delivers a thrillingly original treatise on his art.

To David Mamet, human beings are drama-creating animals who impose narrative structures on everything from today's weather to next year's elections. Mamet distinguishes true drama from its false variants, unravels the infamous "Second-Act Problem," amd considers the mysterious persistence of the soliloquy. Three Uses of the Knife is an inspired guide for any playwright or theatergoer that doubles as a trenchant work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.

Review:

"[Mamet] brings his usual passion and provocation to his treatise on what makes good drama." Vanity Fair

Review:

"No modern playwright has been bolder or more brilliant." The New Yorker

Review:

"Pinter, Albee, Miller. They're all looking over Mamet's shoulder." New York

Review:

"David Mamet adds yet another segment to a body of work that puts him among the great writers of this, or any other, time." Joe Mantegna
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About the Author

David Mamet has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
the macguffin, January 3, 2008 (view all comments by the macguffin)
I first bought this in its lovely hardcover edition upon its first publication. It is one of those books I keep having to find again and again. I lend it to people with no intention of getting it back - besides, so much of it rings true in my blood. It is simple, inspiring and a gift.

What is the protagonists journey is the artists journey.

The usual Mamet common sense is used throughout. It is in many cases truly sublime. If you miss this, you may be chomping through this too quickly. Chew it slow. It's all there.

As you read, perhaps highlighting passages as I did, look for statement which concludes "In goats, it is leaping. In humans, it is art."

As a theater artist, in the now and then wariness of this starving life and calling, it is a work to return to. I remember the nobility of what we do and why we do it.

A slim, beautiful work.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780375704239
Subtitle:
On the Nature and Purpose of Drama
Author:
Mamet, David
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
American
Subject:
Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting
Subject:
Drama
Subject:
Technique
Subject:
Drama -- Technique.
Copyright:
1998
Edition Description:
1st Vintage Books ed.
Publication Date:
June 2000
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
96
Dimensions:
8.01x5.25x.45 in. .27 lbs.
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