Glengarry Glen Ross

Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize, David Mamet's scalding comedy is about small-time, cutthroat real esate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land on reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their fair share of the American dream. Here is Mamet at his very best, writing with brutal power about the tough life of tough characters who cajole, connive, wheedle, and wheel and deal for a piece of the action -- where closing a sale can mean a brand new cadillac but losing one can mean losing it all. This masterpiece of American drama is now a major motion picture starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Alex Baldwain, Jonathan Pryce, Ed Harris, and Kevin Spacey.

The 12 original and two classic essays offer a dialectic on performance and structure, and substantially advance our knowledge of this seminal playwright. The commentaries examine feminism, pernicious nostalgia, ethnicity, the mythological land motif, the discourse of anxiety, gendered language, and Mamet's vision of America, providing insights on the theatricality, originality, and universality of the work. Although the dominant focus is on Glengarry Glen Ross, several essays look at the play against the background of Mamet's Edmund, Reunion, and American Buffalo, whereas others find fascinating parallels in Emerson, Baudrillard, Conrad, Miller, and Churchill. The book also includes an interview with Sam Mendes, the director of the highly acclaimed 1994 revival of Glengarry Glen Ross in London, conducted specifically for this collectio. A chronology of major productions and the most current and comprehensive bibliography of secondary references from 1983-1995 complete the volume.

Three plays from the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo. The Woods is a modern dramatic parable about, as Mamet put it, “why men and women have a hard time trying to get along with each other.” The story features a young man and woman spending a night in his family’s cabin where they experience passion, then disillusionment, but are in the end reconciled by mutual need. In Lakeboat, an Ivy League college student takes a summer job as a cook aboard a Great Lakes cargo ship where the crewmembers—men of all ages—share their wild fantasies about sex, gambling, and violence. Mamet also wrote the screenplay to the 2000 film starring Peter Falk and Denis Leary. In Edmond, a white-collar New York City man is set morally adrift after a visit to a fortune-teller. He soon leaves an unfulfilling marriage to find sex, adventure, companionship, and, ultimately, the meaning of his existence. Mamet also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film starring William H. Macy. “[A] beautifully conceived love story.” —Chicago Daily News on The Woods “[Mamet’s] language has never been so precise, pure, and affecting.” —Richard Eder of The New York Times on The Woods “Richly overheard talk and loopy, funny construction.” —Michael Feingold in The Village Voice on Lakeboat “A riveting theatrical experience that illuminates the heart of darkness.” —Jack Kroll of Newsweek on Edmond

Brief plays and sketches deal with the relationship between men and women, the past, communication, country life, and mortality.

"The finest American author of his generation."—Sunday Mail This complex new work from celebrated playwright David Mamet revolves around a wealthy man, his young fiancée, and an airplane. The man has just bought a new plane as a wedding present for the girl. He intends to go into semiretirement and enjoy himself. While in the process of leaving his office, and giving last minute instructions to his young assistant, he takes one final phone call. The new, widely anticipated play premieres on Broadway this fall, starring Tony and Academy Award-winning actor Al Pacino, for whom the play was written. Pacino described the role of billionaire Mickey Ross as "one of the most daunting and challenging roles I've been given to explore in the theater" and declared, "it blew me away." David Mamet is an American playwright, director, and screenwriter whose most notable works include Glengarry Glen Ross (Pulitzer Prize for Drama), American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, Oleanna, November, Race, and The Anarchist. Besides the film adaptations of his plays, his major screenwriting credits include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, Rising Sun, Wag the Dog, and Hannibal. Over the course of his prolific career, Mamet has earned Tony Award nominations, Academy Award nominations, Drama Desk Awards, and "Screenwriter of the Year" from the London Critics Circle Film Awards.

Speed-the-Plow is an exhilaratingly sharp, comical, disturbing play about the power of money and sex in Hollywood, and how they corrupt two movie producers. Speed-the-Plow opened at Lincoln Center to sold-out seats, rave reviews and much fanfare in March 1988—staring Madonna, Joe Mantegna, and Ron Silver—and later moved to and had a long-standing run on Broadway.

American Buffalo, which won both the Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play and the Obie Award, is considered a classic of the American theater. Newsweek acclaimed Mamet as the “hot young American playwright . . . someone to watch.” The New York Times exclaimed in admiration: “The man can write!” Other critics called the play “a sizzler,” “super,” and “dynamite.” Now from Gregory Mosher, the producer of the original stage production, comes a stunning screen adaptation, directed by Michael Corrente and starring Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz, and Sean Nelson. A classic tragedy, American Buffalo is the story of three men struggling in the pursuit of their distorted vision of the American Dream. By turns touching and cynical, poignant and violent, American Buffalo is a piercing story of how people can be corrupted into betraying their ideals and those they love.

An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.