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Masterpieces of 20th-Century American Drama
Susan C.W. Abbotson
Book Code: GR3223
ISBN: 0-313-33223-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33223-4
232 pages, N/A
Greenwood Press
Publication: 9/30/2005
List Price: $51.95 (UK Sterling Price: £29.95)
Discount Price: $36.37 Greenwood Press Fall 2008 Backlist Sale. Use code 0826. Save 30%. Ends 12/31/2008.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • After a succinct overview, Abbotson presents 10 masterpieces by some of America's best-known playwrights, "paying some small tribute to gender and ethnicity." From Thorton Wilder's Our Town to August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, each play is introduced with a short biography of the playwright and is followed by several pages of information on each: plot summary, character development, themes, historical background, literary style and devices, place of the work in the playwrights' oeuvre and 20th-century drama, critical reception, and suggested readings....[c]lear and concise analyses of these plays for libraries still needing such a reference source.
    —School Library Journal     April 2006
Description: American playwrights have made enormous contributions to world drama during the last century, and their works are widely read and performed. This reference conveniently introduces 10 of the most important modern American plays read by students. The dramatists represented include women and people of color, and their works frequently grapple with enduring social issues. An introductory overview of modern American drama begins the volume. Each of the chapters that follow is devoted to a particular work, including:
  • Thornton Wilder's Our Town
  • Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire
  • Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
  • Arthur Miller's The Crucible
  • Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night
  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
  • Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Sam Shepard's Buried Child
  • David Mamet's Glenngarry Glen Ross
  • And August Wilson's The Piano Lesson.
    Each chapter provides a biography, a plot summary, a discussion of themes, major characters, and dramatic art, and a survey of the play's historical background and critical reception. The individual chapters cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography.
    • Table of Contents:
    • Introduction to 20TH-Century American Drama
    • Thornton Wilder's Our Town (1938)
    • Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
    • Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949)
    • Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953)
    • Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (1956)
    • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
    • Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)
    • Sam Shepard's Buried Child (1978)
    • David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross (1984)
    • August Wilson's The Piano Lesson (1987)
    • General Bibliography
    • Index
    LC Card Number: 2005014520
    LCC Class: PS350
    Dewey Class: 812
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