Three Uses of the Knife

On the Nature and Purpose of Drama

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Theatre, History & Criticism, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Drama History & Criticism, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Aesthetics
Cover of the book Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Mamet ISBN: 9780804151085
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Publication: August 14, 2013
Imprint: Vintage Language: English
Author: David Mamet
ISBN: 9780804151085
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: August 14, 2013
Imprint: Vintage
Language: English

The purpose of theater, like magic, like religion . . . is to inspire cleansing awe. What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? David Mamet, one of our greatest living playwrights, tackles these questions with bracing directness and aphoristic authority. He believes that the tendency to dramatize is essential to human nature, that we create drama out of everything from today’s weather to next year’s elections. But the highest expression of this drive remains the theater.
With a cultural range that encompasses Shakespeare, Bretcht, and Ibsen, Death of a Salesman and Bad Day at Black Rock, Mamet shows us how to distinguish true drama from its false variants. He considers the impossibly difficult progression between one act and the next and the mysterious function of the soliloquy. The result, in Three Uses of the Knife, is an electrifying treatise on the playwright’s art that is also a strikingly original work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The purpose of theater, like magic, like religion . . . is to inspire cleansing awe. What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? David Mamet, one of our greatest living playwrights, tackles these questions with bracing directness and aphoristic authority. He believes that the tendency to dramatize is essential to human nature, that we create drama out of everything from today’s weather to next year’s elections. But the highest expression of this drive remains the theater.
With a cultural range that encompasses Shakespeare, Bretcht, and Ibsen, Death of a Salesman and Bad Day at Black Rock, Mamet shows us how to distinguish true drama from its false variants. He considers the impossibly difficult progression between one act and the next and the mysterious function of the soliloquy. The result, in Three Uses of the Knife, is an electrifying treatise on the playwright’s art that is also a strikingly original work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.

More books from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Cover of the book Sapphira and the Slave Girl by David Mamet
Cover of the book The Future of Life by David Mamet
Cover of the book On Saudi Arabia by David Mamet
Cover of the book Letters to Felice by David Mamet
Cover of the book Last Man in Tower by David Mamet
Cover of the book The First Tycoon by David Mamet
Cover of the book A History of Israel by David Mamet
Cover of the book Skyfaring by David Mamet
Cover of the book A Scattered People by David Mamet
Cover of the book Art and Revolution by David Mamet
Cover of the book The Most Human Human by David Mamet
Cover of the book The View from Alger's Window by David Mamet
Cover of the book The Hidden Reality by David Mamet
Cover of the book The House of the Dead by David Mamet
Cover of the book Schools on Trial by David Mamet
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy