The Man in the Glass Booth

By Robert Shaw

Book Overview

Goldman, a boastful, self-made real estate mogul who enjoys a fully-staffed garden penthouse overlooking Manhattan's Central Park, is living the American Dream. As a German Jew who flaunts this fact... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B000GL5X3C
• Release Date: January 1968
• Publisher: Grove Press, Inc.
• Length: 84 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Timeless drama looks at society's own holocaust culpability.

In 1964, the Israeli intellignece group, the Mossad, kidnaps Jewish businessman, Arthur Goldman from his New York City apartment and accuses him of heinous war crimes. During the trial that follows, this man will offer a defense that will shock you, provoke you, and force you, the reader, to become the judge of him, his actions, and yourself. Originally staged in NYC in the '60's, the play was revised in New York City at the Cocteau Theater in 1998. This is a testament to the timeless nature of the drama. Historical references to the Pope's edict, concentration camps, and ethnic cleansing are repeated in recent history. Interesting metaphors are employed in the use of certain music references and references to certain paintings. The reference to Poussin's "Arcadia" bring to mind the scholarly interpretation of the painting "Here too (in paradise), is death." Arcadia is paradise neglected and fallen into ruins. The full title is "Et in Arcadia," which is actually meant as a riddle. Since there is no verb, the reader is meant to infer the meaning. So too is the main character, Arthur Goldman, a riddle, leaving the reader to guess at his true nature. Ultimately the reader is shocked by a surprise twist ending in the script, which reveals Arthur Goldman to be someone wholly different from whom he himself was pretending to be. Often performed with the audience being the jury of the trial, the audience is then forced to make a life or death decision about this man, unwittingly being lead to make the wrong conclusions. The play is a well crafted, dark drama. The gruesome talk of Nazi atrocities, with our main character admitting to shooting a person in the nape of the neck, allowed me to truly hate our main character, and yet to be also fully surprised by the climatic twist. If you're into the dark and gritty, buy this play.