Essential Self-Defense - by Adam Rapp (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The next work for the stage from the Pulitzer finalist Adam Rapp, Essential Self-Defense.

In Essential Self-Defense, disgruntled misfit Yul Carroll takes a job as an attack dummy in a women's self-defense class and finds himself mysteriously drawn to Sadie, the repressed bookworm mercilessly honing her skills on him. Meanwhile, all's not well on the unassuming Midwestern streets of Bloggs: with local children vanishing at an alarming rate, our hero, his lady friend, and a motley assortment of poets, butchers, and punk librarians prepare to battle the darkness on the edge of town.

Review Quotes

"Rapp . . . is a gifted storyteller. He makes demands on his audience, and he rewards its close attention with depth and elegance." --John Lahr, The New Yorker

"A passionate writer making good on his early promise." --David Cote, Time Out New York

"Few dramatists today write more pungent dialogue." --Robert Brustein, The New Republic

"Rapp is very gifted, and, even rarer, he has something to say." --Bruce Weber, The New York Times

"An ambitious and prodigiously talented writer." --Charles Isherwood, Variety

About the Author

Adam Rapp is the author of numerous plays, most notably Nocturne (Faber, 2002) and Red Light Winter (Faber, 2006) which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.