Landscape of the Body - by John Guare (Paperback)

About the Book

One of John Guare's classic plays, "Landscape of the Body" tells the story of a woman's unfulfilled life and premature death -- and her reflections from the grave. Betty travels to New York to convince her sister Rosalie to leave her gritty New York City life and come home to bucolic Maine. After dying in a freak bicycle accident, Rosalie revisits the world she left behind. From the beyond Rosalie witnesses Betty effortlessly easing into her previous persona -- moving into her apartment, taking over her job, but then Betty abruptly loses her teenage son to a gruesome murder. In a sardonic turn of events, Betty finds herself the primary suspect in her son's death. Guare brilliantly moves back and forth in time and space to create and affecting study of the American dream gone awry.

Book Synopsis

One of John Guare's classic plays, Landscape of the Body tells the story of a woman's unfulfilled life and premature death -- and her reflections from the grave. Betty travels to New York to convince her sister Rosalie to leave her gritty New York City life and come home to bucolic Maine. After dying in a freak bicycle accident, Rosalie revisits the world she left behind. From the beyond Rosalie witnesses Betty effortlessly easing into her previous persona -- moving into her apartment, taking over her job, but then Betty abruptly loses her teenage son to a gruesome murder. In a sardonic turn of events, Betty finds herself the primary suspect in her son's death. Guare brilliantly moves back and forth in time and space to create and affecting study of the American dream gone awry.

Review Quotes

"[Landscape] has been lost to us too long. As the play points out, life is one long list of regrets. Don't add to your own by missing [Landscape]." -- Ben Brantley

"There's more invention, more feeling, in Landscape of the Body than in any two plays by most writers."

"Whenever his imagination takes over, whenever his astonishing dramatic talent for creating characters and lines and scene is let loose, be is invaluable."