Ross Wetzsteon (–1998)

This book tells the stories of selected individuals, both famous and less well known, who have been a part of the cultural life of Greenwich Village. It is well written and full of interesting anecdotes and trivia. It captures trends in Village life over time. Most interesting are Wetzsteon's observations about the nature of Bohemianism, including its successes and often spectacular failures, as exemplified in the lives of his cast of characters. Apparently he planned a separate chapter on show more this topic but died before he could complete the book. It nonetheless stands on its own as an interesting set of vivid snapshots of artistic, literary and life-as-art culture. show less

Ten break-through plays in the history of American theatre. Genet, Beckett, Shepard, Mamet, Wilson and McNally are now part of the world's literary tradition. The only reason I decided to give it 4 instead of 5 stars is that these plays were early works; many of the playwrights here went on to pen even more sophisticated works.

Good collection of OBIE winners from the 1980's. Wallace Shawn, David Mamet, Eric Bogosian, Christopher Durang, Samuel Beckett, Craig Lucas, Maria Irene Forbes, and Suzan-Lori Parks are the eight authors of the selected plays- some of them became Broadway playwrights as well as Oscar-nominated scriptwriters.