The Distance from Here [Paperback]

Neil Labute (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2003

No American playwright has written more compellingly about the subtle ways in which people inflict pain on each other than Neil LaBute. His films In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors both gained critical renown for their biting satire and caustic wit. Now, with The Distance from Here, he has written his most riveting play yet, an intense look at the dark side of American suburbia.

With little to occupy their time other than finding a decent place to hang out--the zoo, the mall, the school parking lot--Darrell and Tim are two American teenagers who lack any direction or purpose in their lives. When Darrell's suspicion about the faithlessness of his girlfriend is confirmed and Tim comes to her defense, there is nothing to brake their momentum as all three speed toward disaster.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Distance from Here is a thrilling demonstration of that contention...When the tragic moment occurs, it's an indication of LaBute's prowess that we experience it as both a surprise and an inevitability. LaBute, in his most ambitious and best play to date, gets inside the emptiness of American culture, the masquerade of pleasure and the evil of neglect. The Distance from Here, it seems to me, is a new title to be added to the short list of important contemporary plays." -- John Lahr, The New Yorker

About the Author

Neil LaBute's first film, In the Company of Men, received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best feature and the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival. He has also written and directed Your Friends and Neighbors and the forthcoming The Shape of Things, and directed Nurse Betty and the soon- to-be released Possession. His other plays include Bash, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times, Sanguinarians and Sycophants, Rounder, and Ravages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP; 1 edition (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585673714
• ISBN-13: 978-1585673711
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Neal LaBute's most recent works for the stage include This Is How It Goes (Faber, 2005) and Fat Pig (Faber, 2004), which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off Broadway Play.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TV's on and no one's home, December 13, 2006

By 

intentionally_left_blank - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Distance from Here (Paperback)

This is a work that John Lahr (theater reviewer for The New Yorker) suggested be placed on the short list of important contemporary plays. I have to agree. It is the type of play that can and should be read again and again, each reading revealing some new aspect of story, some deeper layer of meaning, and some subtle nuance of character.

The prime movers of the story are Darrell and Tim, two teenagers on the precipice of, well, falling off of it and into a void of mindless jobs, empty relationships, and violence and alcohol infused escapism. It's almost as if they see the world passing them by, but lack the desire or energy to try to keep up. But what kind of a world is it anyway? One of manufactured sensation, numbing repetition, and greeting card emotional relationships. The plot revolves around Darrell's growing belief that his girlfriend Jenn has betrayed and lied to him. His eventual response to the perceived betrayal is misguided and shocking, and will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

What LaBute has managed so brilliantly is tell an intricate story with characters who are essentially inarticulate. Between the um's and whatever's he creates an America we fear is out there, perhaps even glimpse from time to time, but quickly put out of our minds. "The Distance From Here" shows us it may not be as far away as we think.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible play--another notch in Labute's belt, April 22, 2005

By 

Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Distance from Here (Paperback)

This is an incredible play. In this play Labute writes about the type of situations that you'd see on Jerry Springer, so this is a kind of "Labute does Jerry Springer." I may be an oddity, but I like Springer. I also like Labute, so this is a great play for the likes of me.

This play isn't for everyone, but if you've ever read Labute, then you know that nothing he writes is for everyone. It probably borders on being his darkest play, with frequent use of the f, c, and n words, and has a bunch of other racial slurs in it.

I've kind of been wondering about what kind of a person Labute is. Is he a kind of Stephen King-type person who writes well, but is really a weirdo, or what? In the book, Labute writes a two-page introduction that contains such humanity, care for people, and emotion, that it answered this question for me--he's is very human, but is extremely observational about the dark side of life.

This is one of my top two Labute plays. Excellent job.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, but not his worst, January 12, 2012

By 

Mark Downing Heese "MDH" (Springfield MO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Distance from Here (Paperback)

This play is somewhere in the middle for me in terms of his works. It's no Shape of Things or Bash or Autobahn but its very good and different, well worth the read and probably more deserving to be put on stage than some of his other over-produced plays. Don't turn to this show if you're working with highschoolers or young audiences though.