American Dreams: The Imagination of Sam Shepard (PAJ Books)

By Bonnie Marranca

Book Overview

The standard critical work on the author features two dozen essays and miscellaneous pieces by leading theatre critics, directors, and actors on the plays and productions of Shepard, from the beginning of his career. A special section by the author on his own work is also included.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0933826125
• ISBN13: 9780933826120
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Performing Arts Journal Publications
• Length: 224 Pages

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for any student of Shepard's work

This is a rather eclectic anthology that includes critical analyses of Shepard's plays (written between 1963 and 1981) as well as first-hand accounts by some of the actors and directors who collaborated with Shepard on various productions. Taken as a whole, the critical essays address most of the plays Shepard wrote during those seventeen years. They do, however, vary wildly in quality. Editor Bonnie Marranca's opening essay, while often quite perceptive, occasionally falls prey to simplistic generalization. Jack Gelber's essay, The Playwright as Shaman, is marred by interpretive inaccuracies. The best of the bunch are Robert Coe's "Image Shots are Blown" : The Rock Plays which presents an illuminating analysis of The Tooth of Crime, Florence Falk's Men without Women: The Shepard Landscape which reveals how certain male and female character-types appear and reappear (in slightly different dress) in a fair number of Shepard's plays, and William Kleb's Worse Than Homeless, a beautifully written examination of True West from a Langian perspective. Also of note, are Shepard's own critical writings which define, albeit obliquely, his aesthetic and creative methods. Finally, it need be stated that despite its uneveness (which, after all, is endemic to anthologies), this book is essential reading for anyone interested in Shepard's work. It is certainly one of the most comprehensive examinations of this playwright and his plays presently in print.