Lobby Hero - by Kenneth Lonergan (Paperback)

About the Book

With his acclaimed plays This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery and his Oscar-nominated film You Can Count on Me, Kenneth Lonergan has been called "the new golden boy of stage and screen" by The New York Times. Now he returns to the stage with Lobby Hero, which has been praised as "smart, funny ... [a] drama that derives its strength from Lonergan's keen ear for dialogue. One powerful tale" (New York Daily News). Lobby Hero, nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, tells the story of Jeff, a luckless young security guard trying to get his life together after being thrown out of the navy. But the lobby proves to be no sanctuary from the world, as Jeff is drawn into a local murder investigation involving his supervisor, a tightly wound young man called upon to bear witness against his troubled brother, and an overzealous rookie policewoman who is in over her head with her unscrupulous hero-cop partner. As Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "motives come in every shade but black and white" in Lobby Hero, creating a "combustible brew of impulses."

Book Synopsis

Nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, Lobby Hero tells the story of Jeff, a luckless young security guard trying to get his life together after being thrown out of the navy. But the lobby proves to be no sanctuary from the world, as Jeff is drawn into a local murder investigation involving his supervisor, a tightly wound young man called upon to bear witness against his troubled brother, and a rookie policewoman who is in over her head with her seasoned but unscrupulous hero-cop partner. As Ben Brantley writes in the New York Times, "Motives come in every shade but black and white," creating "a combustible brew of impulses."

Review Quotes

Praise for Lobby Hero:

"The combined wit and non-wisdom of these fallible (i.e. human) beings offers a fascinating reflection on those shaky internal compasses we call moral instincts . . . Mr. Lonergan, you see, doesn't work in bold blacks and whites, but in compelling shades of gray . . . Like morality, identity is relative in Lobby Hero. Few playwrights match Mr. Lonergan in making confident art out of such constantly shifting uncertainty."--Ben Brantley, New York Times

"Richly entertaining work from one of the most important American writers working today."--Elysa Gardner, USA Today

"This big-hearted four-person masterpiece actually eclipses the high expectations set by [Lonergan's] deservedly lauded previous plays and his Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me."--Jason Zinoman, Time Out New York

"[Lobby Hero] is a smart, funny . . . drama that derives its strength from Lonergan's keen ear for dialogue. One powerful tale."--Robert Dominguez, New York Daily News

"Lobby Hero is tender but unsentimental, amiable yet never cute, psychologically generous but lean and disciplined . . . [A]n unexpected morality play that never hits anyone over the head with truths about truths."--Linda Winer, Newsday

"[Lonergan] artfully intertwines private and public issues. . . . [He] has the lightest of touches and writes with deft humour."--Michael Billington, Guardian

"Mr. Lonergan presents his most ambitious study to date in the damage caused by impure motives. . . . Mr. Lonergan's dialogue achieves wit through acute observation. . . . fine and original."--New York Times

"Outstanding new play . . . Delightfully funny and touching."--Daily Telegraph

"Fascinating comedy."--Evening Standard

"Superb . . . Brilliant . . . Blissful comic writing."--Daily Mail

Praise for Lobby Hero:

"The combined wit and non-wisdom of these fallible (i.e. human) beings offers a fascinating reflection on those shaky internal compasses we call moral instincts . . . Mr. Lonergan, you see, doesn't work in bold blacks and whites, but in compelling shades of gray . . . Like morality, identity is relative in Lobby Hero. Few playwrights match Mr. Lonergan in making confident art out of such constantly shifting uncertainty."-Ben Brantley, New York Times

"Richly entertaining work from one of the most important American writers working today."-Elysa Gardner, USA Today

"This big-hearted four-person masterpiece actually eclipses the high expectations set by [Lonergan's] deservedly lauded previous plays and his Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me."-Jason Zinoman, Time Out New York

"[Lobby Hero] is a smart, funny . . . drama that derives its strength from Lonergan's keen ear for dialogue. One powerful tale."-Robert Dominguez, New York Daily News

"Lobby Hero is tender but unsentimental, amiable yet never cute, psychologically generous but lean and disciplined . . . [A]n unexpected morality play that never hits anyone over the head with truths about truths."-Linda Winer, Newsday

"[Lonergan] artfully intertwines private and public issues. . . . [He] has the lightest of touches and writes with deft humour."-Michael Billington, Guardian

"Mr. Lonergan presents his most ambitious study to date in the damage caused by impure motives. . . . Mr. Lonergan's dialogue achieves wit through acute observation. . . . fine and original."-New York Times

"Outstanding new play . . . Delightfully funny and touching."-Daily Telegraph

"Fascinating comedy."-Evening Standard

"Superb . . . Brilliant . . . Blissful comic writing."-Daily Mail

About the Author

Kenneth Lonergan is a director, playwright, and screenwriter. His plays include This Is Our Youth, selected as one of Time's ten best plays of the year, The Waverly Gallery, The Starry Messenger, and Medieval Play. His screen credits include Gangs of New York, Margaret, and Manchester by the Sea, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.