The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe [Paperback]

Jane Wagner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 1991

Jane Wagner's masterpiece--The first play in
more than 20 years to become a national
bestseller--is now a motion picture!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This play is Wagner's latest starring vehicle for Lily Tomlin, and it is a wonderfully comic and painful dose of truth direct to the heart. In this satire, a form all too lacking in American theater, Trudy the bag lady, Wagner's central character, tries to explain modern American material society to an alien (i.e., interstellar) committee. In the first act a variety of types are seen suffering in their lives. The more full of anxiety and terror they are, the funnier and more disturbing the play is. The focus of the second act, tied to the people of the first act, is a group of women who live through the social fads of the 1970s and 1980swomen trying to make something real enter their lives, but who live desperate and superficial existences. Yet the play ends with a hymn to the creative spirit. The text is lavishly illustrated with performance pictures. Required reading. Thomas E. Luddy, English Dept., Salem State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A work of genius and compassion." -- -- Gloria Steinem

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Revised edition (February 27, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060920718
• ISBN-13: 978-0060920715
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A play full of human insight, wit and wisdom, December 4, 2003

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Paperback)

Trudy the Bag Lady has made a life for herself on the streets, offering her own bits of wit and wisdom to the passers-by. Before she wound up on the streets, she was in and out of hospitals, receiving so much electro-shock therapy that she believes her nervous system has been re-wired and now tunes into the bio-rhythms of people around her.

Trudy takes us, along with her two alien companions, on a discovery trip to find out what it means to be human and imparting her own impressions on life. She tunes in a wide array of people, ranging from Agnus Angst, a 15-year-old punk performance artist; Agnus' grandparents Lud and Marie; Chrissy, a recently unemployed workout enthusiast; Lily, an actress currently performing a one-woman show; and many others, both men and women, gay and straight.

This play is full of marvelous insight into the human condition and life in the 1980's. This is very apparent in the incredible second act, in which we follow Lyn from the consciousness-raising times of the 1970's through her rise and fall in the business ranks of the 1980's and her turbulent family life. Also, all the characters, in one form or another, have some influence on the life of the other characters in the play, whether or not they actually meet: Lyn has an affair with Agnus's mother; Kate, a rich trendsetter, finds a suicide note left by Chrissy lying in the street; Trudy takes the aliens to see Lily's play in order to show them goosebumps.

The book also includes still images, from the stage production, of Lily Tomlin, many of which were shot by Annie Leibowitz. Jane Wagner also created some montages of Lily as the many characters in the play.

Full of wit, insight and tenderness, this play stands as a perfect glimpse into understanding society.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tomlin's Tour de Force, December 23, 2007

By 

Carole K. Kenney "Language Goddess" (Philadelphia burbs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Paperback)

The word "Tour de Force" may not have been invented with Lily Tomlin specifically in mind, but she is one of the best people for whom this epithet should be used. I've seen her do this show live, twice, when it first came to Philadelphia, and enjoy repeating the experience via the video, and the book. She's an amazing performer, and this is an amazing piece of theater.

5.0 out of 5 stars Putting reality on a back burner, October 17, 1997

By 

C. C. Hawkins "for my own delight" (Walnut Creek, CA 94597) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Paperback)

As she tries to explain human beings to extraterrestrials who are searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe, Trudy, the bag lady, channels among others: Agnus Angst, a throwaway teenage punk; Chrissy, an unemployed young woman who doesn't know what to do with herself; Kate -- a rich socialite bored with everything. It's a tough job, but Trudy is up to it -- she refuses to be intimidated by reality.

Wagner weaves together the stories of these separate lives with speculations about time, space, reality, art, and human nature. From Trudy's skewed perspective a vision forms of the interconnectedness of human life -- maybe of all intelligent life in the universe. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and characters whose words and feelings ring true, this one-woman play is masterful writing from a deep and generous heart. If you didn't see Lily Tomlin's performance on Broadway, don't miss reading the book. It's more than a story; it's an experience.