On the positive, Mamet ventures bold and crisp statements on what makes good drama (or, perhaps more accurately, good Mamet-style drama). On the negative, he's wrong as often as he's right. His writing is brilliant; his writing about writing is less so. ( )

It should be noted that in general, I am not particularly fond of English academics. I find their work overly pretentious and entirely pointless, and also their interpretations completely irrelevant. This book did very little to change my opinion of that. As I read, I had to try very hard to not just give up, it was so aggravating.

His caliber of language is far above a normal reader, and the book is relatively devoid of any real content at all. He spends the entire time making the simple point that everything is drama, and there is bad drama and there is art (which is good drama).

If you want to read literary theories about plays and the theatre, I strongly suggest some other book. ( )

From Library Journal
One of America's leading living playwrights has crafted three short essays beginning with the premise that it is "our nature to dramatize." The belief in the centrality of drama to our daily lives and the centrality of our daily lives to good drama is the recurrent theme of his ruminations here. While he disdains the current vogue for "problem plays," he avoids attacking any of his contemporaries or their works. And without offering a how-to guide for aspiring playwrights, he provides some interesting thoughts on the inevitable difficulty in creating a convincing second act. Known and respected for his ability to create hyperrealistic dialog, Mamet ultimately reveals the theoretical justification for the sort of drama he writes so well. The text reads a bit like a lecture and never quite convinces the reader that this is a fundamental redefinition of drama. Still, it will be compelling to students of theater and serves as a good companion to Mamet's advice to actors, True and False. Douglas McClemont, New York
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A perfect antidote to any thick, ponderous textbook on the history of theater. ( )