Glengarry Glen Ross: A Play

by David Mamet

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802130917
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 108 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Characterizes an Age

This is, to a great degree, the true David Mamet play. It exemplifies his distinctive characters, his powerful but conflicted men, his insight into moral collapse, and his famous jagged writing style. But it's also more than that."Glengarry Glen Ross" casts its jaundiced eye on the attitudes of competitiveness and unbridled capitalism, and their destructive effects, that have characterized the last 25 years. In his conclusion, with the death of loyalty in the face of get-ahead-at-any-cost, Mamet demonstrates just why so many of us who have to work for a living are angry and unhappy these days.The use of language in this play, with its musical use of fragmented sentences and almost operatic vulgarity, is as epoch-making as the content. Many aspiring playwrights who have great vision but lack Mamet's gift for lyrical speech have tried--and failed--to emulate the use of language in this play. Very little new material has come out of the American theatre in the past two decades that hasn't borne the stamp of language created in this play.Read it. See it. Stage it. This play is the defining artistic statement of the final quarter of the Twentieth Century.

"It's not a world of men, Machine."

David Mamet's 1984 Pulitzer Prize winner "Glengarry Glen Ross" is an electrifying play filled with drama, tragedy, and bitter and sarcastic humor. This is a play that shows you the world of business and just how cold and calculating it can be. It also shows us just how cold and calculating human beings can be as well.The play is about real estate salesmen who will do just about anything to get a sale. "Always Be Closing" is the motto to follow, however when they don't get the good leads they need, it makes it more difficult for them to close the deals. What's worse is that if they don't pick up the pace, more than one of them will find themselves out of the job. There are the "Glengarry Leads;" the premium leads, but they're reserved for closers only. Things take a dramatic turn when the office is broken into and the leads are nowhere to be found, leading us to a memorable climax.I read the play after seeing the film. I enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed seeing the movie. There are a few things that were added to the film version in order to make it a full length movie, but all of the important elements and classic lines are all there. Mamet has a great ear for dialogue and writes the way people talk. Sure, some people will think there's a lot of swearing and profanities, but this play is a reflection of the business world. And this is the way people talk. It is amazing how well written and structured it is."Glengarry Glen Ross" is a terrific drama and an enjoyable play to read. I recommend it to anyone who loves a great read. You'll have it finished in no time. The pages literally turn by themselves. Dripping with sharp dialogue, memorable characters, and quiet suspense and action, "Glengarry Glen Ross" is an outstanding achievement in American drama. Read this one as soon as you can.

An actor's play

Thought provoking and a hell of a mystery, this play is quite likely one of the best works of the past two decades. If you're an actor, this is the play you NEED to read. As in so many of Mamet's plays, this play is about what ISN'T said. Many people don't like Mamet's style of dialogue because of that, but actors should embrace it, as it gives room for interpretation and character creation. It's a great opportunity to stretch your muscles with bare bones dialogue and clear-cut motivations.For people who aren't actors, this is an engaging tale of greed, desperation and men-at-odds. Think Miller's "Death of a Salesman" with a dog-eat-dog bent. Modern movies that show definite signs of this play's influence - "The Usual Suspects" and "Reservoir Dogs". If you liked what those movies put on the plate, you'll love this book.

Gimme Twelve Units

"Glengarry Glen Ross" is a must have work. David Mamet, the renowned playwright, executes a work about the struggles of four salesmen, and ultimately, the lengths a common man will go to to achieve success. After I purchased this book...I couldn't put it down. I finished the whole play within hours of its purchase. After reading "Glengarry Glen Ross", anyone is given a new outlook on sales and the stresses of everyday work. This is a "must have".

Dark comedic noir set in a cutthroat real-estate office.

An office full of small-time real-estate hustlers is the setting of Mamet's blackly-humorous Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Competing against each other for their very jobs while trying to unite against a hostile boss, these characters are brutal Willy Lomans trapped in a world where lying is a virtue and where cruelty is a strength. Yet they are also human beings drawn to each other for support and companionship. When a robbery is committed in their midst, tensions boil over as each man tries to save himself and still make a buck. Mamet has written a brutally-hilarious satire of capitalism and machismo that also manages to be a compassionate portrayal of men caught in inhuman circumstances. This one will make you laugh even as it makes you think