Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue: Essays, A Play, Two Poems and a Prayer [Paperback]

Tony Kushner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

In this first collection of writings by Tony Kushner, including his latest play Slavs!, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright grapples with the timeless issues of bigotry, war, faith, love, as well as tackling the contemporary topics as AIDS, gay rights and the moral horrors of the Gulf War.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"If you do political theater," says Kushner, author of the play Angels in America, "you are starting out with one big strike against you. You will have to be better than most, not just as good as." He also adds that in "becoming humorless we lose connection to the most vital parts of our culture." In this collection of nine essays (taken from addresses and articles), two lukewarm poems, a play and a moving prayer, he proves the validity of his own maxims. The initial essay, "Notes About Theater-My STUMP Speech," is terrific: his riff on the political and the personal, the theater of the ridiculous and the theater of the fabulous, synthesizes humor and commitment into wisdom. But the further Kushner's writings get from the personal, and the closer they get to the political, the less interesting they are. None of his pieces is exactly tightly argued, but his politics taken neat are a loose conglomeration of familiar rhetoric generally lacking an individual imprint. His most cogently argued position is that gay liberation must be linked to a fight against oppression of any stripe. Less convincing is his screed against the Gulf war, of which he says, "No single event during the course of my lifetime [Kushner was born in 1956], nothing that I can remember has occasioned such depression and despair as has the Gulf War." The play, a funny, insightful piece set in post-glasnost Russia, explores an ultimate crisis of faith, and in one of its best scenes, the old revolutionary Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov exclaims "For ninety years I have wondered... WHY is the Good Cause always defeated by the Bad.... Because God... is a Menshevik!"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Tony Kushner's plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille's The Illusion, Ansky's The Dybbuk, Brecht's The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe's Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group; First Edition edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155936100X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559361002
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #930,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tony Kushner's plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille's The Illusion, Ansky's The Dybbuk, Brecht's The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe's Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talking about "Thinking about...", December 30, 2002

By 

Justin Perkins "Misses Being A Student" (Wakefield, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue: Essays, A Play, Two Poems and a Prayer (Paperback)

This book, a compilation of many short works, is truly one of Kushner's gems. And though, certainly, none of these pieces attains the truly unique, Kushnerian glory of "Angels" (but Good God, does *anything*?) they are most definitely not to be put aside too hastily.

His essays are enlightening, witty and thought-provoking, reminiscent of his drama. And though there are a few that I, admittedly, skip over periodically, most of them are fun, if slightly heavy, short reads.

"Slavs!" is not one of Kushner's best plays, but I must recommend spending some time with it. Like "Angels" and "Bright Room" (and indeed, everything he writes or says), "Slavs!" is dense with political theory, history and humanity. And while it may seem forgettable at first glance (and even second... I acted in it a few months ago, and trust me, it takes a few readings to truly appreciate it) it proves its worth.

Now I come to my favorite parts of the book: Kushner's poems. "An Epithalimion" holds a place (in my mind, at least) among his best writings. This poem is absolutely *alive* with imagery, both visual and emotional. To risk sounding like the cheesiest person ever, reading it just makes me happy; I can't recommend it highly enough. "Second Month of Mourning," too, is beautiful, but in exactly the opposite way: it's truly heart-breaking.

Kushner's prayer that concludes the compilation is one of my favorite pieces ever, ever. It thrills me to read it. It, like all the other works in this book, fits Kushner's mold perfectly: it is joyful and heart-breaking, political and scientific, historical and philosophical. It is the perfect end to this collection.

I have recommended this book to all of my friends, whether or not they are fans of Kushner (though everyone should be a fan of Kushner), and do the same to you. Buy it, read it, love it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars assembling a book, like baking lasagna, June 19, 2000

By 

Griffin Epstein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue: Essays, A Play, Two Poems and a Prayer (Paperback)

Kushner (perhaps the greatest poetic/playwright genius of our time) has assembled some of his more marginal works (though few of his works actually are marginal) and some of his most brilliant in this collection of "essays, a play, two poems and a prayer." having read all of his plays, including his Tony Award Winning "Angels in America" two part masterpiece, i have to say that SLAVS, while it present a brilliant message, isnt the best of his works. Sometimes, also, these essays can be repetitive. however, some are brilliant, spiced with new meaning and metaphor, different ways of viewing the evils of capitalism and our society. They concern sex and life (as one? as a duality?), love, politics and food. (can we live without any of the above. the answer is never presented, but it must be a resounding no). best of all is Kushner's prayer, at the end of the book, which was delivered on the national prayer for aids day. full of anger and grace, compliance and vengence, this prayer eloquently asks and reasks the questions within all of us, directly to "God." this book provides one of the most provocative and brilliant commentaries that i have seen in recent years.