Sam Shepard [Paperback]

Don Shewey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1997

Sam Shepard's outlandish, nightmarish, yet lyrical plays—The Tooth of Crime, Buried Child, True West, Fool for Love, A Lie of the Mind, and dozens of others—have garnered him a Pulitzer Prize and a lasting reputation as one of America's greatest living playwrights. His charismatic performances in movies like Days of Heaven, The Right Stuff, Country, and Thunderheart—as well as his screenplay for Paris, Texas—have made him an indelible presence in American film. Rock 'n' roller, rancher, and rodeo prizewinner, he has toured with Bob Dylan, hung out with the Rolling Stones, collaborated with Patti Smith, and raised a family with Jessica Lange. Yet throughout he has remained an enigmatic figure. In this acclaimed biography, now fully updated, Don Shewey explores the life and works of this American visionary, illuminating Shepard's unique success in straddling the divide between serious artist and pop-culture hero.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Shewey's books include Caught in the Act: New York Actors Face to Face and Out Front: Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Plays. He has written for TheNew York Times, The Village Voice, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and many other publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Updated edition (March 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030680770X
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807701
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Notable effort, but not enough, December 1, 1999

By 

joshr "joshr" (chicago,USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sam Shepard (Paperback)

If you are looking for an inside view of the mind and man of Sam Shepard, this book really is not for you. Granted the author had a daunting task, revealing the life of perhaps one of the most private men around. The thing is, I bought the book to find out about Sam Shepard. Instead, I get a glancing blow of his life and work. Certain facts and sentences are repeated four of five times, as if the editor had fallen asleep at the wheel on this one. Shewey tells us that Shepard's life influenced his work, he tells us that his past influences his present, that Shepard's life has a direct influence on what he puts on paper. That is the thing... he TELLS us, he doesn't SHOW us. If you are truly looking for an inside view of the great playwright, check out "Hawk Moon" or even "Cruising Paradise". Those books, written by Shepard, will show you the man, his life, and work. Shewey's book makes you read points over and over and leaves you looking for hidden pages at the end of the book. I literally stared at the last page and asked "Is this it?" I never like reviewing an author's work, because I feel as though I really don't have the right- yet as a reader, I left this book feeling extremely unsatisfied.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fast, Cheap, and Out of Breath, January 30, 2001

By 

Bastiat (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sam Shepard (Paperback)

This is a book which can be read rather quickly simply because there isn't much there. As a biography, it presents very little information that cannot be found in magazine articles and interviews. Nor is its analysis of Shepard's plays very helpful. One hopes that a literary biography will cast new light both on an individual's work via an investigation of his/her life and on an individual's life via an exploration of his/her work. This book, unfortunately, comes up short on both counts.