Some Recollections of St. Ives - by David Mamet (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Glengarry Glen Ross comes Some Recollections of St. Ives, a masterful novel masquerading as the memoir of Charles Hollis--a fictional man whose life spanned continents and conflicts, culminating in a decades-long tenure at one of America's most storied institutions: The St. Ives School.

Written in the final years of Hollis's life, Some Recollections of St. Ives traces his forty years within the institution, providing portraits of the people, politics, and parables that shaped both the man and the school. Within Hollis's allegorical ruminations, David Mamet delivers a sharp, incisive examination of an isolated world--the St. Ives School--and its place in the wider culture.

Witty, elegant, and profoundly insightful, Some Recollections of St. Ives proves once again that Mamet is a master of language and character. Intimate yet expansive, this novel is an astute exploration of tradition and legacy--how we shape them and, in turn, how they shape us.

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR DAVID MAMET

"The finest American writer of his generation." --Sunday Mail

"A pure writer, and the synthesis he appears to be making, with echoes from voices as diverse as Beckett, Pinter and Hemingway, is unique and exciting." --Newsweek

"Mamet's ear is uncanny. Nobody today has a more flawless gift for reproducing overheard colloquial speech." --Robert Brustein

"Mamet deserves recognition for his careful, gorgeous, loving sense of language. He has the most acute ear for dialogue of any American writer since J. D. Salinger." --The Village Voice

"Mamet is a true and exciting original . . . a blaze of talent." --WCBS-TV

"Pinter. Albee. Miller. They're all looking over Mamet's shoulders." --New York

About the Author

David Mamet is America's foremost playwright. His numerous plays include Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, and Race, among many others. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and has written and directed ten films, including Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner, and State and Main. In addition, he wrote the novels The Village, The Old Religion, Wilson, and Chicago as well as many books of nonfiction, including the New York Times bestseller The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture and The Disenlightenment: Politics, Horror, and Entertainment. His HBO film Phil Spector aired in 2013 and earned him two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing. He was co-creator and executive producer of the CBS television show The Unit and is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. His newest film, Henry Johnson, is now available at HenryJohnsonMovie.com.