Shoptalk: Conversations About Theater and Film With Twelve Writers, One Producer and Tennesee Williams' Mother [Hardcover]

Dennis Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1992

Fourteen influential figures--Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Frank Gilroy, William Goldman, William Inge, Alan Jay Lerner, Mary Mercier, David Merrick, Mason Miller, John Patrick, Richard Wilbur, Edwina Dakin Williams, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson--discuss their successes and failures. 14 b/w photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Freelancer Brown here compiles a series of conversations he had with 12 writers, producer David Merrick and 91-year-old Edwina Dakin Williams during the 1970s (the exception: a 1987 interview with Horton Foote). The interviews, many of which were originally published in newspapers from around the country, provide an illuminating look into the hearts and minds of some of our best writers. Most were or are film theater giants, including Edward Albee, William Inge, Alan Jay Lerner and Tennessee Williams, although an interesting talk with the little-known playwright Mary Mercier is included. The author's easygoing, respectful and sensitive style elicits information about the creative process not often found in interviews. Photos not seen by PW. Literary Guild and Fireside Theater Bookclub alternates.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The author, an arts journalist turned screenwriter, conducted most of the interviews in this collection during the 1970s, when he wrote about theater books for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . His subjects are a mixed bag, from well-established talents (Edward Albee, William Inge, Lanford Wilson, David Merrick) to the near-unknown playwright Mary Mercier and, as mentioned in the subtitle, the redoubtable Edwina Dakin Williams. The material often seems trivial or patchily assembled, but Brown is a smart, well-prepared interviewer who prompts his subjects to say some fascinating things about their work and careers. Far from an essential purchase, but film and theater collections with a strong interest in this sort of material may want to consider it.
- Anne Sharp, Ypsilanti Dist. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press; 1st edition (May 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557041288
• ISBN-13: 978-1557041289
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,191,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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