Jafsie and John Henry: Essays [Hardcover]

David Mamet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 1999

In this new collection fans and critics -- who can never get enough of David Mamet's iconoclastic insight and barbed observation of human behavior -- will discover an added dimension: as the author turns fifty, he shares not only his reflections on the nature of creativity and the challenge of aging but also his most intimate interests and obsessions.

From his longtime mania for poker and its labyrinthine psychology to sharp sallies on moviemaking gibberish and the meaning of macho, Jaffsie and John Henry is knit together by Mamet's unique perspective and inimitably spare wit. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a writer whose essays "deliver wit, insight, and truculence in small, mixed doses", the selections leapfrog from Oscar Wilde to the tower of Babel, the Committee on Un-American Activities, and Jewish scripture. Police corruption, the art of acting, and single-malt scotch are all grist for the mill of Mamet's quicksilver mind. He reminisces about his first car, muses on the Lindbergh trial, laments the loss of the art of knife-making, and lambastes Hollywood culture. As ever, Mamet "walks a line between provocation and enticement that always compels attention" (Newsday).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first of 27 essays in this grab bag of characteristically taut pieces is called "Looking at Fifty," and perhaps no words more aptly foreshadow the pieces to come. For this latest effort by Mamet, largely a collection of previously published work, is one part wistful reminiscence, one part curmudgeonly (and often Luddite) rant and one part seasoned social commentary. Mamet, often taken to task as a playwright and screenwriter for his superficial characters, here flashes impressive depth. In "L.A. Houses," he skewers cultural philisitinism by describing a director who wanted him to write a screenplay of Moby-Dick from the point of view of the whale. Remembrances of a Chicago boyhood (walking aimlessly down a highway), his first car (a devastatingly powerful Karmann Ghia) and a tragic game of poker (in which he unconsciously threw a hand "to punish myself") give the book a refreshingly personal feel. And his anti-technology comments, despite smacking of a quaint traditionalism (he's prone to criticizing the pervasiveness of "information" by asking "Where is the romance in it? Where is the discovery?"), are generally thoughtful enough to merit serious consideration. He proposes, for instance, that our adherence to machines stems not merely from a desire to make our lives easier but from a fundamental need to be enslaved by another power. Rounding out the collection are essays about the roots of anti-Semitism and an Anglophilic gem, "Scotch Malt Whisky Society," in which the playwright uses his trademark ear for dialogue to describe the verbal thrust-and-parry of Scotch tasters in Edinburgh. Cleanly written, by turns profoundly personal and just plain profound, Mamet's collection offers the spectacle of a fierce intelligence at work and at play in the world.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

On turning 50, Mamet has collected 27 miscellaneous essays that record some of his experiences and opinions, from the sweater he prefers to a few thoughts on producers. The first essay, "Looking at Fifty," describes the "challenge-for-cause" list he uses to choose the films he watches: if a film has an element on the list, such as a slow-motion sequence of lovers, he has nothing further to do with that film. Readers might do well to develop such a list for collections of essays. Mamet is best known as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and theater and film director; he has also written poetry, essays, and novels. Fifteen essays in this collection have appeared previously in slightly different forms. Comprehensive collections on film, theater, or American literature might be interested.ANancy Patterson Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (April 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684841207
• ISBN-13: 978-0684841205
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,696,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Search for a New Model., March 23, 2005

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This review is from: Jafsie and John Henry: Essays (Hardcover)

Mamet quotes Hemingway among others here, "write the best story you can and then throw out all the good lines," as the best advice he ever heard about writing.
This is essential to the style and grace of Mamet's writing, in that he sloughes off so much in the way of explanation to take the reader on a journey into his mind and life.
And his mind is expansive and connected, aware and developed so much that this collection of essays, regarding numerous subjects becomes a treatise on Mamet's morality and appreciation for and of life at the end of the 20th century.
Opening with his turning fifty, a mood that pervades the whole, he discusses his youth in Chicago, the meta-physical nature of a similar black sweater to bygone ones, the zone of owning a poker game, what it is to be a Scotch Whiskey connesiour, homes and their qualities, Hollywood and it's ironies, a "perfect" first car, the nature of man to desire enslavement, the coming and existent domination of computers and television in human life, fearful witch hunting, why bigots are afforded their prejudice, and the attempt to master nature-in the form of a buck deer. Among others, these encompass an interesting and fluid jam into life through David Mamet.
Now, beyond skimming over what he writes about, there is much to say as to what he says. Why is there a folklore about John Henry defeating the machine drill, celebrating his accomplishment when he died immediately following? "I thought it hypocritical to celebrate John Henry's victory, for, surely, the next man couldn't beat the steam drill-John Henry himself couldn't beat it over a protracted period, and no one would be able to vanquish the next generation of the machine-and, so, our celebration of hime was disingenuous."
As to anti-semitism, "it is caused by self-loathing. The deranged individual or culture, the oppressor, cannot bear the knowledge of his or her own worthlessness and, so, projects the hated qualities onto a group easily identified as the Other. The only other necessary factor is that the group elected must be seen as powerless." There must be a response then to bigotry, complicity/silence is acceptance, and that response is "not for the sake of the bigot but for the sake of the recipient Jew-to proclaim and, so, to enjoy one's membership in the group."
On a lighter or perhaps more artistically anguished plane, Mamet exposes, as he is known for, the abominable Hollywood machine, which deals in destruction and is lead by fools who happen to have gorgeous homes full of incredible decor and artwork. The irony is that these people don't know, or care, they only pay, that is what they are good for, using money to look good, becaus ethey are supposed to, much to that chagrin or Mr. Mamet and the rest who hope to appreciate what they earn.
Surprisingly there is humor too, and more. I would read this again, and mark that as a distinguishing factor in any reading and writing. He does not though, wrote much about theatre, or acting, except for an analystical bit on why The Diary of Anne Frank is not a tragedy, nor a drama, but a comedy. For such clarifications and views, read this and perhaps appreciate the mind and heart of an important and qualified American voice.