Sam Shepard and the American Theatre
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Everyone seems to understand a piece of Sam Shepard--macho movie actor, off-Broadway revolutionary, reclusive horse breeder, Dean of American Playwrights--but assembling these personas into a coherent individual would daunt the bravest of biographers. Leslie A. Wade, a University of Louisiana associate theater professor, strives to chart Shepard's obsessions and writing phases and to put them in context, both with Shepard's personal life and with the America he supposedly embodies. Wade's dry style sometimes poorly serves the passionate subject matter, but he provides new Shepard fans with perspective and plot summaries that are superior to all previous efforts. The full-blooded Shepard biography is still waiting to be written, but this vigorous attempt may well serve as its outline.
Review
“Wade presents Shephard's career carefully and considers it in connection with the political, artistic, and social events of the period from the sixties to the 1990s. The author thus provides a good pictures of the development of Off- and Off-Off-broadway theater, the work of such artists as Schechner and Chaikin, the development of new forms of funding for the arts, and the decline of Broadway theater.... Like the other titles in the series, this volume contributes to the fuller understanding of the theater of past and present. All academic collections”–
“Undergraduates with no knowledge of Shepard, his plays, or the culture of the Unted States from the sixties through much of the nineties will find the narrative extremely easy to follow. The notes listed at the end of the chapter are quite thorough and will lead students to most of the major studies of Shepard's work to date. The Chronology, Further Reading list, and the Index all provide easy access to discussions of individual plays, significant moments in Shepard's life and the major historical events and trends that inform the plays....Wade's book will be useful in introductory college courses.”–
Sam Shepard and the American Theatre
Sam Shepard and the American Theatre,Leslie A. Wade,Praeger Paperback,0275945847,1943-,20th century,American,Criticism and interpretation,Drama,History,National characteristics, Amer,National characteristics, American, in literature,Performing Arts/Dance,Plays / Drama,Shepard, Sam,,Theater,United States
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