Word: book
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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...comes off as supercilious in the context of nonfiction. There is some value to the incendiary nature of the questions he poses—his opposition to canonical theater artists is almost admirable in its total conviction—but the failure to effectively substantiate his claims renders this book an exercise in futility. However, to call Mamet a charlatan would be to commit the same error he does in “Theatre.” As one of the seminal theatre artists of our age, his ideas are certainly important—hopefully Mamet will heed...
...light of this fact, it is difficult to account for the deep-seated argumentative flaws in his most recent book—the simply and aptly titled “Theatre.” A collection of 27 brief chapters, Mamet’s book is an exposition of his opinions on everything from Constantin Stanislavsky’s method to the Great American Play and a host of other subjects relating to theatre...
These are lofty topics, to be sure, and he makes quite a number of lofty claims about them. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with a book taking on such a grand scope, Mamet does so without any sense of rigor. In “Theatre,” he makes a number of fascinating and provocative claims, but they are ultimately founded on flimsy arguments that are more reductive than revelatory. The end result is a read that is mostly frustrating with its self-important tone and baseless claims...
Ever the iconoclast, Mamet takes on the role of the heretic in “Theatre.” Much of the book is spent attempting to dismantle ideas that have been the foundation of theatre-making for over a century. Mamet seems to have no problem unabashedly denouncing his predecessors, but Stanislavsky unequivocally bears most of the criticism in Mamet’s book. “Stanislavsky’s trilogy is a bunch of useless gack,” he writes, “Brecht’s gibberish about the alienation effect is, as proved...
...fact, one might argue that by staying in Cleveland, James is supporting his family—the one that made him the basketball player he is today. James is a product of Akron, Ohio, just 36 miles from Cleveland. As his book “Shooting Stars,” which he coauthored with Buzz Bissinger, makes clear, despite James’s talent, much of his success wouldn’t have been possible if not for the support of those around him, especially his coach Dru Joyce...