This is Our Youth [Paperback]

Kenneth Lonergan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2000

An unblinking portrait of young urban life in the 1980s, Kenneth Lonergan's look at "the real Real World"(The New York Times)

This is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonnergan's lacerating look at affluent young Manhattanites of the 1980s, was first produced by the New Group in New York in 1996 to great critical acclaim and a Drama Desk Award nomination for best new play. Set in 1982, the play depicts two days in the lives of three college-age Upper West Siders who are from wealthy families but are living in doped-up squalor. Dennis--with a famous painter for a father and social activist mother--is a small-time drug dealer and total mess. His hero-worshipping, indifferently adjusted friend Warren has just impulsively stolen $15,000 from his father, an abusive lingerie tycoon who is "not a criminal, just in business with criminals." When Jessica, a mixed-up prep-school girl, shows up for a date, Warren pulls out a wad of bills and takes her off, awkwardly, for a night of New York seduction. How will Warren turn out--will he follow Dennis into dissipation or discover a way out? A wildly funny, bittersweet, and ultimately quite moving story, This Is Our Youth is remarkable in its understanding of contemporary urban youth.

"Very funny. . . . Comedies of such brio and darkly satiric edge are rare these days. . . . A supercool entertainment."-- Vincent Canby, The New York Times

"What Mr. Lonergan gets gloriously is the whole cosmos and tempo of guys-together stuff. . . . It's an exhilarating ride full of sympathy and truth, eliciting many a smile and laugh of recognition."-- The Wall Street Journal

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Lonergan has had his work performed at Naked Angels, H.B. Playwrights' Foundation, Atlantic Theatre Company, Manhattan Punchline, the Royal Court Theatre (London), the first annual Young Playwrights' Festival at Circle Rep, and the Coast Theatre in Los Angeles. Currently working on an original screenplay for Universal and soon to direct his first film, You Can Count On Me, based on his original screenplay, he is co-author of the story and screenplay for the hit movie Analyze This. He lives in New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP; 1st edition (January 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585670189
• ISBN-13: 978-1585670185
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Is Our Youth-a brief comment., December 29, 2000

By 

Ann M Gorman (Pawling, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This is Our Youth (Paperback)

A powerful exploration of lost youth during the Reagan Era. Lonergan has a gift for creating real dialogue and characters. Dennis, Warren and Jessica are all like people I have met. As someone who came of age during the same era, I can attest to the authencity of this work.

I also recommend "The Waverly Gallery" and the film, "You Can Count On Me", recently released in the US for further evidence of Lonergan's talents.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent debut, January 2, 2008

By 

J "iamJandyouarenot" (Wash DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This is Our Youth (Paperback)

Lonergan's debut play, "This Is Our Youth" is an excellent exploration of the battles of (of course) youth, and, more specifically, the warzone that is male friendship.

The play is set in the early 1980's, but the relationships between the three young characters here exist now just as they did then.

This is, foremost, a relationship play. The plot itself is minimal and unimportant. What is important is how Dennis, Warren, and Jessica interact with each other. Lonergan demonstrates himself to be a wonderful observer as the interactions of each relationship in the play (Dennis/Warren, Warren/Jessica, Dennis/Jessica, Dennis/Various People on the Phone) are finely tuned and extremely truthful.

Lonergan's dialogue is masterful. He knows his characters, he knows people like them, and he knows the world that they live in. These are kids, smart kids full of youthful energy and mistakes, who communicate with each other with such. Many young men when reading this piece will find that they've had many conversations exactly like the kind that Dennis and Warren engage in.

I've heard the play being described as 'edgy' and I don't agree with that description. While the play does feature slight drug use and many drug references, this is about the only way that 'edgy' comes into play. The play is at its core a small, finely observed, well-written character piece that is interested in breaking down what makes male interaction tick.

A fine play.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Examining Youth, March 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: This is Our Youth (Paperback)

In "This is Our Youth" Kenneth Lonergan portrays three strikingly different characters, Dennis, Warren and Jessica, growing up in Manhattan in the 1980's. Each is faced with different problems of the "Me" generation and struggles to justify his anger at the world in a time when there is nothing to rebel against. When Warren steals money from his father, the three teens are forced to step outside themselves for a night and face reality and one another. It is a moving and funny portrait, and one that anyone who has ever been a teenager can relate to. There is nothing stilted or unnatural in Lonergan's work, it flows easily and touches those who have experienced the turmoil of feeling lost and empty in a world filled with material things.