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Three Uses of the Knife - by David Mamet (Paperback)

Three Uses of the Knife - by  David Mamet (Paperback) - 1 of 1
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About this item

Highlights

  • The purpose of theater, like magic, like religion . . . is to inspire cleansing awe.
  • About the Author: David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, as well as a director, novelist, poet, and essayist.
  • 96 Pages
  • Language + Art + Disciplines, Composition + Creative Writing

Description



Book Synopsis



The purpose of theater, like magic, like religion . . . is to inspire cleansing awe. What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? David Mamet, one of our greatest living playwrights, tackles these questions with bracing directness and aphoristic authority. He believes that the tendency to dramatize is essential to human nature, that we create drama out of everything from today's weather to next year's elections. But the highest expression of this drive remains the theater.
With a cultural range that encompasses Shakespeare, Bretcht, and Ibsen, Death of a Salesman and Bad Day at Black Rock, Mamet shows us how to distinguish true drama from its false variants. He considers the impossibly difficult progression between one act and the next and the mysterious function of the soliloquy. The result, in Three Uses of the Knife, is an electrifying treatise on the playwright's art that is also a strikingly original work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.



From the Back Cover



The purpose of theater, like magic, like religion ... is to inspire cleansing awe. With bracing directness and aphoristic authority, one of our greatest living playwrights addresses the questions: What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? David Mamet believes that the tendency to dramatize is essential to human nature, that we create drama out of everything from today's weather to next year's elections. But the highest expression of this drive remains the theater.

With a cultural range that encompasses Shakespeare, Brecht, and Ibsen, Death of a Salesman and Bad Day at Black Rock, Mamet shows us how to distinguish true drama from its false variants. He considers the impossibly difficult progression between one act and the next and the mysterious function of the soliloquy. The result, in Three Uses of the Knife, is an electrifying treatise on the playwright's art that is also a strikingly original work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.



Review Quotes




"[Mamet] brings his usual passion and provocation to his treatise on what makes good drama." --Vanity Fair

"No modern playwright has been bolder or more brilliant." --The New Yorker

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

"David Mamet adds yet another segment to a body of work that puts him among the great writers of this, or any other, time." --Joe Mantegna



About the Author



David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, as well as a director, novelist, poet, and essayist. He has written the screenplays for more than twenty films, including Heist, Spartan, House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy, Wag the Dog, and the Oscar-nominated The Verdict. His more than twenty plays include Oleanna, The Cryptogram, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and the Pulitzer Prizewinning Glengarry Glen Ross. Born in Chicago in 1947, Mamet has taught at the Yale School of Drama, New York University, and Goddard College, and is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company.
Dimensions (Overall): 8.01 Inches (H) x 5.25 Inches (W) x .45 Inches (D)
Weight: .27 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 96
Genre: Language + Art + Disciplines
Sub-Genre: Composition + Creative Writing
Publisher: Vintage
Theme: General
Format: Paperback
Author: David Mamet
Language: English
Street Date: June 13, 2000
TCIN: 1001920466
UPC: 9780375704239
Item Number (DPCI): 247-12-3553
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 0.45 inches length x 5.25 inches width x 8.01 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 0.27 pounds
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