Two Trains Running - (August Wilson's Century Cycle) by August Wilson (Hardcover)

About the Book

Set in 1969, during the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power, at the lunch counter of Memphis Lee's diner.

Book Synopsis

It is Pittsburgh, 1969. Memphis Lee's diner--and the rest of his block--is scheduled to be torn down, a casualty of the city's renovation project that is sweeping away the buildings of a community, but not its spirit. Memphis stands his ground, determined to make the city pay him what the property is worth, refusing to be swindled out of his land as he was years before in Mississippi. Into this fray come Sterling, the ex-con who embraces the tenets of Malcolm X; Wolf, the bookie who has learned to play by the white man's rules; Risa, a waitress of quiet dignity; and Holloway, resident philosopher and fervent believer in the prophecies of a legendary 322-year-old woman down the street.

Just as sure as an inexorable future looms right around the corner, these people of loud voices and big hearts continue to search, to falter, to hope that they can catch the train that will make the difference. With compassion, humor, and a superb sense of place and time, Wilson paints a vivid portrait of everyday lives in the shadow of great events, and of unsung men and women who are anything but ordinary.

The play is part of August Wilson's Century Cycle, his epic dramatization of the African American experience in the twentieth century.

This edition includes a foreword by Laurence Fishburne.

From the Back Cover

August Wilson surged to the forefront of American playwrights with the success of such critically acclaimed plays as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone, as well as his Pulitzer Prize winners Fences and The Piano Lesson. Now, with Two Trains Running, which Time magazine hailed as "his most mature work to date", he offers another mesmerizing chapter in his remarkable cycle of plays about the black experience in twentieth-century America. It is Pittsburgh, 1969. The regulars of Memphis Lee's restaurant are struggling to cope with the turbulence of a world that is changing rapidly around them and fighting back when they can. As the play unfolds, Memphis's diner - and the rest of his block - is scheduled to be torn down, a casualty of the city's renovation project that is sweeping away the buildings of a community, but not its spirit. The rich undertaker across the street encourages Memphis to accept his offer to buy the place from him at a reduced price, but Memphis stands his ground, determined to make the city pay him what the property is worth, refusing to be swindled out of his land as he was years before in Mississippi. Into this fray come Sterling, the ex-con who embraces the tenets of Malcolm X; Wolf, the bookie who has learned to play by the white man's rules; Risa, a waitress of quiet dignity who has mutilated her legs to distance herself from men; and Holloway, the resident philosopher and fervent believer in the prophecies of a legendary 322-year-old woman down the street, a reminder of their struggle and heritage. And just as sure as an inexorable future looms right around the corner, these people of "loud voices and big hearts" continue to search, tofalter, to hope that they can catch the train that will make the difference. With compassion, humor, and a superb sense of place and time, Wilson paints a vivid portrait of everyday lives in the shadow of great events, and of unsung men and women who are anything but ordinary.

Review Quotes

What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to be African American? The work of August Wilson posits an answer by arguing that the African influence is inseparable from and essential to the American experience. Two Trains Running, set at the end of the '60s Black Power movement, tackles that question with the zeal and virtuosity of a master at the height of his powers.
--Laurence Fishburne, from his foreword

These characters are fully imagined--they live...reeling out stories about there past, their angers, their dreams.
--Washington Post

About the Author

August Wilson (1945-2005) is the most influential and successful African American playwright. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author, his plays have been produced all over the world.