Stretching My Mind - by Edward Albee (Paperback)

About the Book

America's most important living playwright, Edward Albee, has been rocking our country's moral, political and artistic complacency for more than 50 years. Beginning with his debut play, "The Zoo Story (1958), " and on to his barrier breaking works of the 1960s, most notably "The American Dream (1960), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Delicate Balance (1966), " Albee's provocative, unsparing indictment of the American way of life earned him early distinction as the dramatist of his generation. His acclaim was enhanced even further in the decades that followed with prize-winning dramas such as "Seascape" and "Three Tall Women, " as well as recent works like "The Play About the Baby " and "Who is Sylvia?"
Albee has brought the same critical force to his non-theatrical prose. "Stretching My Mind" collects for the first time ever the author's writings on theater, literature, and the political and cultural battlegrounds that have defined his career. Many of the selections were drawn from Albee's private papers, and almost all previously published material--dating from 1960 to the present--has never been reprinted. Topics include Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Sam Shepherd, as well as autobiographical writings about Albee's life, work, and worldview.

Book Synopsis

America's most important living playwright, Edward Albee, has been rocking our country's moral, political and artistic complacency for more than 50 years. Beginning with his debut play, The Zoo Story (1958), and on to his barrier breaking works of the 1960s, most notably The American Dream (1960), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Delicate Balance (1966), Albee's unsparing indictment of the American way of life earned him early distinction as the dramatist of his generation. His acclaim was enhanced further in the decades that followed with prize-winning dramas such as Seascape (1974) and Three Tall Women (1991), as well as recent works like The Play About the Baby (2001) and The Goat. (2002). Albee has brought the same critical force to his non-theatrical prose. Stretching My Mind collects for the first time ever the author's writings on theater, literature, and the political and cultural battlegrounds that have defined his career. Many of the selections were drawn from Albee's private papers, and almost all previously published material -- dating from 1960 to the present -- has never been reprinted. Topics include Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Sam Shepherd, as well as autobiographical writings about Albee's life, work, and worldview.

About the Author

Edward Albee has written and directed some of the most celebrated plays in contemporary American theatre. His most famous play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. A new production of the play starring Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin opens on Broadway in March 2005. Albee's non-theatrical prose has published in the New York Times, Art in America, Playbill, Cosmopolitan, Nest, The Saturday Review, among others, as well as in numerous art catalogs. He lives in New York City.