American Buffalo (Methuen Modern Plays) [Paperback]

David Mamet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 1984 | Series: Methuen Modern Plays

"The finest American playwright of his generation" (Sunday Times) A junk shop. Three small-time crooks plot to carry out the midnight robbery of a coin collection. In the hours leading up to the heist, friendship becomes the victim in a conflict between loyalty and business."This play is a parable about the US - not in the journalistic way...but quietly, stealthily, with all the rich interior organisation of a true work of art" (Observer)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Mamet is a world-leading author, playwright and screenwriter, whose many awards include the Pulitzer Prize, Joseph Jefferson Award, Obie Award, New York Drama Critics Circle Award and Tony Award. Many of his plays are considered modern classics and include Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna, Edmond, The Cryptogram and Speed the Plow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: A&C Black Pod (November 8, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413574504
• ISBN-13: 978-0413574503
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,912,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a blank, startling, gripping work..., June 12, 2000

By 

Caroline - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Buffalo (Paperback)

I am an actress, playwright, and constant theatergoer, so I'd like to think I know when a play is good...and believe me, this play is excellent. It is stark, realistic, and yet has a fantastic quality all its own. The story follows three small time crooks: Donny, the calm vet, Teach, daring and aching for adventure, and Bobby, the slow, amiable kid. Their plot to steal a valuable coin collection is the center of the play, but so much more goes into it. Honor amoung thieves, the busted American dream, and masculinity are at the core of this piece, and Mamet, with his honest style, pulls off what could very easily be a dumb crook spoof. It's a little hard to read at first, as all Mamet is, but if you envision the story, you'll get through it. I recently saw the play in New York at mamet's Atlantic company with Philip Baker Hall, William H. Macy, and Mark Webber, and it was truly great. I suggest owning the play and getting to a local performance asap.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Weak, July 25, 2004

By 

M. Leitch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Buffalo (Paperback)

It's unfortunate that the first Amazon review of Mamet's brilliant work is by Mr. C.B.Liddell, a pompous, pontificating Brit who doesn't understand the play. I'm not sticking up for Mamet: his works are very hit and miss, and even the hits are an acquired taste (like Monty Python), I'm just standing up for a damn good play.

One of the problems with American Buffalo is that its language and setting (low-income Chicago in the 70's) are unfamiliar and difficult to appreciate for many people, but it's loved by many actors and writers in the same way that musicians appreciate "musician's music." Also, like Glengary Glen Ross, it can be emotionally violent and offensive for some people.

Still, a great work of art, in my humble opinion. Don't pass up the chance to see it performed by talented actors who know and love the play!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mamet Hits a Single, September 17, 2008

By 

John F. Rooney - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Buffalo (Paperback)

Years ago I saw this play on the Great White Way. The set was fantastic with the busiest, most cluttered junk shop imaginable, packed to the gills with all sorts of stuff. The play itself was and is a very slight effort, and I cannot understand why it's being revived for the 2008-2009 Broadway season. There's very little to it. Three men are talking and talking and pausing. As in McDonagh's and Pinter's plays, we are not dealing with rocket scientists here. Mamet is the poor man's Pinter. Both come out of the absurdist tradition, but Mamet often seems to me to be hitting first base hits that never go anywhere and certainly don't score.

Donny runs the junk shop; Bobby is his helper; and Teach is a very small time crook. The title refers to a valuable American buffalo nickel. Donny doesn't really know the real value of the nickel that has been bought from him. A crime is hatched to steal a coin collector's trove. Should another man, Fletcher, be included? Should they go in with a gun? These are real small time crooks who don't have a clue.

The absurdist dialogue involves inanity, non-sequiturs, and nonsense. Mamet is good at sussing out conversational rhythms and the way language is often only symbolic among friend, more evocative than communicative.

In one exchange Teach says, "According to me, yes, I am the person it's usually according to when I'm talking. Have you noticed this?" The play is as much about language as it is about the action of the play. The audience finds great comedy in the circumlocution of the absurdist dialogue. Listening to dumbbells arguing about nonsense can be very funny. It's sort of pointless, a lesson in futility.

As usual in plays things go awry toward the end. Much goes unspoken in this play, and the audience can draw inferences as to what happened offstage.

There are subtexts in the play. What did Bobby do while he was gone? Is there a relationship between Don and Bobby? Things slip out as these characters talk about seemingly straightforward matters. The shop set is unbelievably cluttered, yet the dialogue is simple and uncluttered.

When I first saw and heard the play performed, I thought it was riddled with profanity; now it seems quite tame. But worthy of a revival? It's a play that has little to convey and essentially goes nowhere. Count me out of the revival.