The Method Actors: A Novel

Book Description

The Method Actors is set in Japan, New York, and New Zealand—places in an age of the global village and pervasive internationalism where many young people find themselves in transit. The story traces the disappearance of a young military historian named Michael Edwards from his desk in Tokyo. His sister Meredith returns to the city in search of him and there she meets up with old friends and acquaintances from all over the world: ex-JET exchange teachers from Canada, ex-drug addicts from Australia, drug dealers from the Netherlands, young American women with Japanese husbands, French kitchen hands, young Japanese mushroom growers, and wealthy young Chinese-Americans living the high life.

Meredith begins to encounter increasing evidence that Michael has been involved in a secret history going back through Japanese war crimes in China in World War II to the quarantining of Dutch merchants on manmade islands during Japan's period of isolationism in the seventeenth century. The secret history works as a juxtaposition to the moral ambiguity of modern gaijin life in Tokyo.

Stylistically daring, this multilevel narrative and cutting-edge debut novel questions no less than the moral framework of our modern world.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2005-12-29

This is the best book I've read in years. It takes the best of David Foster Wallace and the best of Bret Easton Ellis and then wefts both of them into something entirely singular. It may not be the book for you if you're really concerned about plot, but if you love language, breathtaking prose, and intensely cerebral writing--it's for you.

intricate.......2005-09-04

Japan's relationship with the 'outside' has historically been complex at all levels: political, military, social, individual. This is no less true when the outsiders are inside, living and experiencing the culture and the distorted sense of reality that develops as a consequence. The knotty complexities are experienced intensely at an individual level by foreigners in Japan. 'The Method Actors', in depth and beautiful detail, authentically describes this in ways that i would never have thought could be articulated.

Modern Japan is reflected and refracted through the characters with amazing scope, delving back to the early days of the period of isolation, and forward into an ever present now that is life in Tokyo. Elements of the plot are paralleled with The Twelfth Night: a sister and missing brother in a strange land where illusion, delusion and (self) deception are everywhere; comically and tragically. One of many strands of interwoven narrative centering around gaijin in Japan, each with intricate resonances about family, academia, history and revisionism, interpretation of self and circumstance.

It is a great read. If you've lived in Tokyo you will recognise the people, and you will recognise their reactions and experiences as your own; and even if you haven't you will find plenty to keep you interested.

So much hope and promise for this book, but it completly dissapoints.......2005-08-14

I have to say I am not quite sure why I first picked up this book at my local Barnes & Noble. I might have been a sucker for the excellent design of the book cover. But after reading the insert, I was drawn into the premise of the story. Set mainly in Tokyo and its suburbs, the book is about a group of people at the turn of the millenium, each living out their own personal drama. The main focus of the story however, is the search of a young war historian named Michael by his sister Meredith. The author does an interesting job of trying to weave the stories of 5 or 6 main characters into a cohesive novel, and I think he just missed the mark. First, before you start reading this book, be prepared for a challenge. The book is long, which normally is not a problem. But the book is written in a very annoying style. Every few pages is a day or so in the life of one of the main characters, usually written in the first person of that character. What really makes this book a challenging read, is the authors use of too mnany different graphic styles in the actual print of the book. For example, he goes italics way too much. He also has too many sections indented, typed in a smaller text, and various other annoying little font changes. I really think this is an ambitious novel, with a good idea behind it, but the style of writing just did not suit me at all. Also be prepared for graphic sexual context, which is fine, except that all of the sex didn't really seem to fit with the overal plot line of this book. All in all, I was dissapointed by this novel. But it is probably still worth trying it for yourself.

Great read!.......2005-08-12

I was once a "gaijin" in the Japanese community not so long ago, and this book has brought back a flood of memories.

The book itself was written with a verbose style that I wholly enjoyed.

It will forever sit on my shelf, and whenever I feel like bringing back some fond or detestable memories of Japan I shall refer to this book.

Thank you Mr. Shuker.

Method and Madness.......2005-07-21

Forget "Lost in Translation" and it's apathetic prettiness, forget the endless NYTimes "Japan-is-so-hip-right-now" lifestyle spreads, forget the tired "mystery of the east" tripe that is still getting trotted out in personal travelogues. "The Method Actors" is the first writing I have read that deals with modern Japan in a way that is compelling, brave and aesthetically challenging.

Family, sex, hallucinogenic drugs, war crimes, a missing sibling, "The Method Actors" sets itself an ambitious goal - to tell the humanly detailed stories of individual foreigners in modern Japan, but to also dig below this into the history of this country, and the history of how foreigners have entered the culture. This is Shuker's first novel. It is long and it requires a similar commitment to that of David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest". But, like this novel, this commitment pays off dramatically, in terms of narrative voice, style, and prose dazzlement. I would recommend it not just to anyone who has traveled to or lived in Japan (though for these people the book will be particularly impressive), but to anyone who is interested in getting a deeper understanding of the complexity and moral relativism of Japan's post-WW2 history, and contemporary culture.

This novel is important, but it is also hugely entertaining. Ezra Pound said "a great poet is everywhere present, and nowhere visible as a distinct excitement". Toward the end of this novel, the energy - and I think of this in terms of kinetics, as the friction, conflict, sex, heat, movement of the prose - is ratcheted up. You can literally feel the writer change gears. This energy is creative excitement - the writer's and the reader's - and it is everywhere present.

And this is where my understanding of Pound's quote comes in. Even though the accuracy of Shuker's Tokyo speaks of his clearly personal involvement in the story, as the artist he is nowhere present. To a necessary degree, he has effaced himself. The feat that marks Shuker as someone to watch, is that of projecting his own understanding into this variety of voices, into characters across time, gender, race and culture. Shuker's perspective seems to be that the individual's importance is swallowed up in wider and stronger forces of nation, war, power and history. The quality of empathy, the retaining and championing of the details of the individual - love, memory, belief, habit, inflections of speech - is what makes "The Method Actors" so important.

Customer Reviews:

Favorite book of all D&D books.......2007-03-11

As a sequel to Azure Bonds only one major character appears in this book. But that is alright as this turned out to be a fantastic story. I did not want this story to end!! My only complaint is that the authors did not write another book using these characters. The story was unique and an all around excellent tale. Nothing lacking in this book. Would like to see a book about how Olive and Jade met up, though, which would precede this story.

Wait a minute!.......2004-04-12

Did this occur to nobody else? If Giogi's servant, Thomas, was in love with Jade, why didn't he recognize Cat immediately as being her "sister"? He wasn't able to differentiate between her and a hole in the wall; he thought only that she wasn't of high enough birth for Giogi!

If you can find this book, get it........2000-10-18

If you haven't read the Finder's Stone Trilogy, do so. This is excellent Fantasy writing. Novak and Grubb are able to suck the reader into the story.

It's hard to say whether Wyvern's Spur was the best of the three books, they were all so good. You will not be disappointed in reading this book.

An excellent book in an excellent trilogy.......2000-05-07

What can I say? This book is a shining example of good fiction writing. Good plot, good characters, good pacing and a wonderful change of pace from the traditional trilogy formula of having the main characters in book #1 in dire trouble. I am disappointed however, that the only other novel that I have seen with Giogi and Cat in it has been Ed Greenwood's Cormyr (an excellent book in its own right). Highly recommended along with the two other books in this trilogy.

We need more of this kind of books.......2000-04-14

It appears to be that several TSR writers are themselves readers of the works of PG Wodehouse. If so, I'm very very thankful. I feel it is a pity that Giogini Wyvernspur only appears as the main character in only 1 novel. The realms need more stories with this type of clean yet side-splitting humour.

Forgotten Realms, Finder's Stone Trilogy: Azure Bonds + The Wyverns Spur + Song of the Saurials

Average customer rating:

Forgotten Realms, Finder's Stone Trilogy: Azure Bonds + The Wyverns Spur + Song of the Saurials
Kate Novak , and Jeff Grub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q3PGMI

Product Description

ALL THREE BOOKS OF THE FORGOTTEN REALMS TRILOGY FINDER'S STONE BK 1 AZURE BONDS , BK2 WYVERN'S SPUR , BK3 SONG OF THE SAURIALS

Average customer rating:

The Wyvern's Spur

Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GRMRAI

Customer Reviews:

great book, I wish White Wolf Games would republish this line, and not another d20 retread!.......2007-01-11

I love this book! How many times can we actually say that about a book? Not often, believe me, I have read my share of stinkers!!

Trinity RPG is the definitive rpg for those looking for more pizazz in their cyberpunk role-playing experience. It has all the moody cyberpunk themes, but it adds a twist: you are Earth's last hope for fighting alien invasions and former 'superhero' mutants called Abberants. Blessed with alien genetics spliced in you, you are a gifted Psion or psychic superhero who must use his superhero ablities to save the world.

The book comes with the best rules out there, Storyteller System 1.0, a rpg system from White Wolf Games. Those guys who brought us Vampire the Masquerade, remember? A narrative-driven story rpg, it's more about you the player than dice. It still hasn't been topped as a rpg engine to date!

Psions come in eight flavors: shapeshifting Norca, psychic healers called Aesculpians, computer-hacker electomagnetic psychics from the Orgotek Corporation, the Ministy from China, who can read minds. The telekinetic psions from Australia, the ESP prophets from the Moon, and lastly the teleporters from the new deep-space, extrasolar colonies.
Side note: one order, the Chibs, were wiped out due to the fact that they used quantum energy like the Abberants.
SO what's not to love? Its cyberpunk meets frickin' psychic superheroes for crying out loud! Worth all them five stars!

Dramatic Sci-Fi action.......2003-11-07

I've always been interested in futuristic sci-fi rpgs like Cyberpunk 2020 and Jovian Chronicles. When Mage the Ascension introduced the Technocratic Union to me I saw it as a great opportunity to run sci-fi and space dramas with the Storyteller system. Yeah I could have made up a lot of the material but it was good to have some source material to work with. Then I learned about Trinity. Trinity opened up an entirely new realm for me to explore as a storyteller. The players are not mages, but humans with psychic powers that range from mind control to controlling machines and generating lasers from fingers. This is one of the best White Wolf source books out there.

The book is divided into two sections. One is in color and focused on the setting of Trinity. The section started off with a nice piece of fiction about a latent psion and his encounters in a rough and unforgiving world. It then goes on to discuss the events that lead up to the current Trinity setting. There was a good amount of material on the Aberrants and some stuff on the Aeon Society. Both group have their own source books and game universes. Psi Orders and the state of the world in 2120 were presented without giving away too many secrets to players. The world is completely different in the future. Africa and China are now super-powers with space programs while America is in a state of ruin and has nothing but the military to keep it alive. The color section, I believe is primarily for players to flip through.

The rest of the book was in black and white and covered material for basic rules, character creation, psionic powers, gadgets, vehicles and other details that are necessary to run a game. It is all standard stuff from a core White Wolf book. Sections like this have appeared in Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and all the other main books. There are a few subtle but significant changes in the rules but nothing White Wolf (or other) gamers can't understand quickly. The rule mechanics are very easy to grasp, thus freeing the players and storytellers from flipping through the book every few minutes for specialized rules.

The book did cover a broad range of topics. There was little room for details such as culture in the futuristic nations. The psions are only a small percentage of the populace so it would have been nice to have more information on the daily life of normal people.

Trinity is a very complete book, which covers everything you need to know to get a futuristic game rolling. Whether you're into cyberpunk, space combat and drama, encounter with aliens, wars and battles on Earth and other planets, espionage, anarchic frenzy or controlled social progress, Trinity has something for everyone.

My new favorite RPG!!.......2001-12-05

When I first heard of this game I was not very interested, since I was busy with Vampire and the like. But a friend of mine sat me down and made me read it and now two years later, I don't know how I could have been so silly. This is a dark, suspenseful game that sucks you in. Set in the 2120's, it is a new world. Aberrants have destroyed life as we knew it and now, we set forth as Psions, humanity's last hope. This game will really take you on a wild ride. In the time I have played it I have been angry, experienced frustration unlike any before, felt despair and been moved to the point of tears.

The game system is the same as most White Wolf Games and is easy to use and understand. There is plenty of background material and if it is not enough, there are several supplements available. It is extremely well written and the illustrations are exceptional not only for the artistic merit, but for the relevence to the background material. This a game every gamer must try, if not own!

Unique Science Fantasy.......2001-03-24

This game is one of the best RPG's ever written hands down. It is almost sad that this game is made by White Wolf, because the other World of Darkness games, tend to over shadow their other titles. Set in the year 2120, Trinity takes a look at a dark future. Where the United States of America, have been taken over by our own military. Where the Earth has nearly been destroyed by a horrible war, against what can only be called "superheros." But within this frame work, come the heros. Members of Elite Psionic Orders, who try and change the world for the better. Alright I know the concept sounds really bad, and maybe I am not explaining it right. But I like the game because they dive into the culture of 2120. Talking about fashion, what the ordinery guy does for a living, and how technology has changed the world. The aliens in the game are ALIEN. The 3 major alien races are a species of psionic 1ft long slugs, who make advanced biotechnology. A race of strangely advanced lizards who can manipulate light. And lastly a race of hive like creatures, who graft genetic material from races they find, to their own gene code. For the price of the book, you really cannot go wrong just to give it a try. So if you are in the mood for a unique science fiction setting, give Trinity a try. Or try it's prequel games "Aberrant" (Dealing with the golden age of the "superheros") and "Adventure" (Coming later in 2001, dealing with pulp heros in 1925).

The Best of Sci-Fi role-playing games.......2001-02-08

Trinity is the best science-fiction role-playing game I've ever played. Built on White Wolf's familiar Storyteller system, Trinity takes the best that system has to offer and incorporates a number of elements that distinguish it not just from other White Wolf games, but from more "generic" sci-fi rpgs such as Alternity, Star Trek, Spacemaster, or Traveller. With topics ranging from psionic powers, hard tech, biotechnology, and weapons of the 22nd century, the game comes with the building blocks necessary for good sci-fi.

What really sets the game above the rest however, is the incredibly rich universe that White Wolf has created. It's possible to play just about any type of sci-fi game you want from Blade Runner film-noir, Aliens-style horror, Star Trek-quests into the unknown, to Star Wars-style space opera. The supplemental books and adventures are also top notch. If you're looking for adaptable sci-fi, Trinity is it.

Average customer rating:

More of a textbook than cookbook

Must have for cooking.

EXCELLENT

sauce james

SAUCES: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE MAKING

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making
James Peterson
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Herbs, Spices & Condiments | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Splendid Soups: Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups

Fish & Shellfish: The Definitive Cook's Companion

Culinary Artistry

Larousse Gastronomique

Essentials of Cooking

ASIN: 0471292753

Amazon.com

Back in 1991, when the first edition of Sauces was published, it's as though James Peterson said, "Okay, this is what we know so far. Where do you want to go from here?" The "what we know so far" part started with the Greeks and Romans, moved through the Middle Ages, into the Renaissance, through the 17th and 18th centuries, and right on into time as we know it, time that can be tasted in the sauce.

The "where do you want to go" part continues to evolve, as it always will, but remains just as evident in the way we sauce our creations, both elegant and fundamental. In the second edition of Sauces, released seven years after the first, the "we" has expanded beyond Frenchmen and their disciples, and now includes the broader range of flavors experienced by Italians as pasta sauces, as well as New World cooks and their counterparts in the Middle East and throughout greater Asia. The solid base from which all this grows, however, remains the lessons learned in the French kitchen--and a better kitchen for such lessons has never been developed.

To cook is one thing, to sauce another. The right sauce lifts the right dish to a wholly different plateau of dining than would be the case if the cook didn't bother. This can be a humble pasta sauce created as a perfect balance of ingredients on hand, or a carefully considered sauce the ingredients of which have been developed at the stove over days, not mere hours.

In the sauce can be seen the reflection of the cook. There is no room to hide. In the well-crafted sauce can be found the ultimate expression of simplicity, which leaves even less room to hide. It is James Peterson's great talent that he can draw the home cook and professional cook into his dialogue on sauces, and teach them both how to stay afloat in such shallow waters.

Peterson gives the reader--in close to 600 pages, mind you--the continuum on which sauces have been based in culinary history. He gives the reader the kitchen science that allows sauces to work. He gives the reader the techniques necessary to follow along where many a cook has already whisked up a splendid creation. But most of all, he gives the reader permission to go ahead and be creative, to cut loose with knowledge and technique in hand and discover for oneself the way an inkling of a flavor idea can find its way to a dish and make the combined ingredients lift off the plate. Or not. Finding out what doesn't work can be just as important.

This is a book that can be taken to bed and savored, page by page, sauce by sauce. It is a book that should be on the shelf in any kitchen, professional or homebody alike. It is not a book to ever gather dust and need dusting. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

"Here is yet another cookbook that can stand among the best reference works. I suspect it's a harbinger of kindred books to come as publishers begin to respond to a growing audience of cook-readers who hunger for connected, nuanced, reliably researched information…." —Gourmet Magazine "James Peterson has done for sauces that which Escoffier did for the cuisine of La Belle Époque…. Sauces is a manual for the professional cook and, as such, it will rapidly become a classic and indispensable reference…." —Richard Olney, From the Foreword "It's the single contemporary reference on the subject that is both comprehensive and comprehensible. I love Jim's recipes (and there are gems all over the place here), but what's special about Sauces is the text: It reads so well that this is the kind of book you can take to bed." —Mark Bittman, From the Foreword "This is a book I wish I had written myself…. Every few decades a book is written that says all there is to say on a subject, or has all the information and passion that sets the standard for professional and amateurs alike. Sauces is one of the best culinary books of this century in English…." —Jeremiah Tower, Stars Restaurant "The art of sauce making is the cornerstone of serious cooking. This book is a must for the new generation of creative cooks who wish to build on the classical French foundation with contemporary, delicious variations." —Daniel Boulud, Daniel "It is a special reference book—comprehensive and inspiring…." —Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

Customer Reviews:

More of a textbook than cookbook.......2007-06-26

I was looking for a book on sauces, and I got one. Every sauce since history, most of which are impractical if you are not a chef, but an ocasional good cook at home. It was an amazing book though I read it cover to cover (it's huge), but I'll probbly only ever use 1/3 of it. Worth it if you read cookbooks like history, skip it if you want to learn to make these sauces.

Must have for cooking........2007-03-14

I ordered this hoping it was what I wanted. A book to guide me and help me understand how to make different types sauces. This book delivered big time. I now consider it a part of my cooking basics.

EXCELLENT.......2007-02-07

you will be the ruler of all sauces with this great book. only complaint that it is so good my friends and colleagues constantly ask to borrow it.

sauce james .......2007-01-19

we bought this book for my son- he is in his first year of culinary school in dallas. he wants to specialize in sauces and was thrilled with this book. it is the best sauce book on the market.

SAUCES: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE MAKING.......2007-01-09

THIS IS A FABULOUS "BIBLE" OF SAUCES. IF YOU WANT IT ALL, HERE IT IS. I WAS SO DELIGHTED WHEN I RECEIVED IT AND DUG RIGHT IT. NOT ONLY ARE ALL THE SAUCES WITH THEIR HOW-RECIPES IN THIS BOOK BUT ALSO SOME HISTORY ON HOW THEY CAME ABOUT. THOSE GREAT SAUCES YOU SOMTIMES RECEIVE IN FANCY RESTAURANTS, THE KIND YOU WISH YOU KNEW HOW TO MAKE...ARE ALL HERE PLUS MORE. ANY COOK WISHING TO BETTER HIM OR HERSELF SHOULD PICK UP A COPY OF JAMES PETERSON'S SAUCES; CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE AND MAKE IT REQUIRED READING.

Average customer rating:

Sauces, Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making
James Peterson
Manufacturer: Van Nostrand Reinhold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

Fish & Shellfish: The Definitive Cook's Companion

ASIN: B000F6RB74

Sauces: Classical and contemporary sauce making (2nd edition, Van Nostrand, Reinhold)

Average customer rating:

Sauces: Classical and contemporary sauce making (2nd edition, Van Nostrand, Reinhold)
James Peterson
Manufacturer: Van Nostrand Reinhold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ST99R8

Book Description

The country store was a three dimensional collage of advertising, packaging, unique drugstore items, medical gadgets, and cure-alls that rural Americans held faith in for many years. This book examines the varied drugstore and advertising ephemera contained within the stores packed shelves and walls. In almost 500 beautiful color photos the enormity and diversity of advertising, including signs and packaging, and products, from food stuffs to medicine bottles, that created the character of the country store are documented. Particular emphasis is given to the drugs, potions, and medical devices that were found in the country store. In addition the display counters and furnishings of the country store are included. Each item is described and its value in todays collectors market is given.

Average customer rating:

The best drawings ever

Excellent Book for Intermediate Knitters

Does not include basic information

Very basic, very concise

Best Visual Guide Ever!

Basic Knit (Full Color Illustrated)
Ondori Staff
Manufacturer: Japan Publications Trading
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Knitting | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Knitting | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Romantic Hand Knits: 26 Flirtatious Designs That Flatter Your Figure

Lacy Little Knits: Clingy, Soft & A Little Risque

More Sensational Knitted Socks

Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting

The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters: A Knit-to-Fit Workshop (Knit to Fit Workshop)

ASIN: 0870407457

Book Description

This is a perfect book for first-time knitters. Includes basic lessons like how to hold needles and yarn and making button-holes, as well as large photographs and detailed instructions.

Customer Reviews:

The best drawings ever.......2005-10-26

This book is wonderfully concise and perfectly illustrated. If you need a quick reference for basic techniques, this is the best I've seen. I like it better than the other ones I own including Vogue Knitting (3-star), The Knitter's Handbook (5-star), and The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques (5-star).

Excellent Book for Intermediate Knitters.......2005-04-16

This is not a book to pick up and learn to knit; this book does not go over the basics. This book is for those who already know how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. Thanks to this book, I can finally do intarsia! And the stitch library is invaluable. I would highly recommend this book to knitters who want to expand their abilities, not those who want to learn to knit.

Does not include basic information.......2003-01-04

Basic Knit? This book assumes that everyone magically knows how to do every knitting technique imaginable. If you are a beginner, don't waste you're money on this book.

Very basic, very concise.......2002-08-20

I lost this book and am so happy to find it again. My first knitting instructor said this was the best book for beginners. I learned from it, and I struggle with knitting because I am left handed and right brained. I return to this book again and again. The pictures are so clear and easy to read. It's a slight book with the very basics, which is where any beginners needs to start in order to advance beyond the basics. The instructional pictures are priceless, and much easier to follow than any I've ever seen.

Best Visual Guide Ever!.......2002-02-14

I was first introduced to Japanese knitting graphics in the machine knitting publications "Nihon Vogue" and "ZaZa". They were so clear and concise, it didn't matter that I knew no Japanese!
It's great that now handknitters, especially those who are visual learners have their own version. Most of my students ask how they can obtain their own copy.

Amazon.com

Samuel Beckett's view of existence seems so remorselessly, brilliantly bleak that one doesn't expect much in the way of human warmth from his correspondence. Yet the letters he and director Alan Schneider exchanged over the course of three decades are full of wit and fellow feeling. The focus, to be sure, is on Beckett's plays, five of which Schneider premiered in the United States between 1956 and 1983. But that happens to be the perfect conduit for the playwright's praise (often directed at his acolyte) and disgust (often directed at his audience, his critics, and himself). When the initial American production of Waiting for Godot bombs in Miami, for instance, Beckett cheers Schneider on even as he pummels the ticket holders: "It is probable our conversations confirmed you in your aversion to half-measures and frills, i.e. to precisely those things that 90% of theatre-goers want. Of course I know the Miami swells and their live models can hardly be described as theatre-goers and their reactions are no more significant than those of a Jersey herd and I presume their critics are worthy of them." No Author Better Served conveys Beckett's sense of humility, which never failed him, even after Godot made him famous: "Success and failure on the public level never mattered much to me, in fact I feel much more at home with the latter, having breathed deep of its vivifying air all my writing life up to the last couple of years." It's also a wonderful document of his complete, sometimes nutty, always inspiring devotion to his art. --James Marcus

Book Description

For Alan Schneider, directing Endgame, Samuel Beckett lays out the play's philosophy, then adds: "Don't mention any of this to your actors!"

He claimed he couldn't talk about his work, but Beckett proves remarkably forthcoming in these pages, which document the thirty-year working relationship between the playwright and his principal producer in the United States. The correspondence between Beckett and Schneider offers an unparalleled picture of the art and craft of theater in the hands of two masters. It is also an endlessly enlightening look into the playwright's ideas and methods, his remarks a virtual crib sheet for his brilliant, eccentric plays.

Alan Schneider premiered five of Beckett's plays in the United States, including Waiting for Godot, Krapp's Last Tape,and Endgame, and directed a number of revivals. Preparing for each new production, the two wrote extensive letters--about intended tone, conception of characters, irony and verbal echoes, staging details for scenes, delivery of individual lines. From such details a remarkable sense of the playwright's vision emerges, as well as a feel for the director's task. Of Godot, Beckett wrote to Schneider, "I feel my monster is in safe keeping." His confidence in the director, and Schneider's persistent probing for a surer understanding of each play, have produced a marvelous resource: a detailed map of Beckett's work in conception and in production.

The correspondence starts in December 1955, shortly after their first meeting, and continues to Schneider's accidental death in March 1984 (when crossing a street to mail a letter to Beckett). The 500 letters capture the world of theater as well as the personalities of their authors. Maurice Harmon's thorough notes provide a helpful guide to people and events mentioned throughout.

Customer Reviews:

For hard-core fans. Others might be bored........2000-03-29

This book is a collection of correspondence, and like al collected correspondence, it must be taken with a grain of salt. Samuel Beckett was a brilliant, albeit incredibly self-indulgent author, and in this collection his personality is on full display. For example, he disregards bad reviews and cold audience reaction to his plays, because by and large he felt that they were not getting the joke, and that his writing was too complicated for the Philistines in the audience to appreciate.

Fans of Beckett will enjoy this book becuase it will help them understand who he was and where he was coming from in his absurd plays. Also, people who work in theater will be able to relate to the author-director relationship and understand how both artists shape what appears on stage. For those who are not Beckett experts (like myself), there is still much delight to be obtained from Beckett's prose. He won the Nobel Prize because he was an excellent writer, and this book provides otherwise unavailable pieces written by him -- his correspondence. However, unless the reader has a deep interest in one of the two corresponders it can get a little dry.

Average customer rating:
Correspondence (Samuel Beckett, Alan Schneider).(Review)(Brief Article): An article from: World Literature Today
Brian Evenson
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00098XNG6
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 463 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Correspondence (Samuel Beckett, Alan Schneider).(Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Brian Evenson
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 73 Issue: 2 Page: 333

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider.(Review): An article from: The Modern Language Review

Average customer rating:

No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider.(Review): An article from: The Modern Language Review
John Pilling
Manufacturer: Modern Humanities Research Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Modern Humanities Research Association on January 1, 2000. The length of the article is 919 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider.(Review)
Author: John Pilling
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2000
Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
Volume: 95 Issue: 1 Page: 199(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books