An American Daughter
by Wendy Wasserstein
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Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein spins a comic and moving tale about the pitfalls that await political appointees. Dr. Lyssa Hughes is a respected health crusader, devoted wife and mother, and the perfect candidate for U.S. Surgeon General... until a chance remark sets off a media feeding frenzy. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring David Birney, Anna Gunn, Jamie Hanes, Gregory Itzin, Michael Malone, Kevin McCarthy, Mary McDonnell, Claudette Nevins and show more Denise Nicholas. show lessTags
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A woman is nominated for Attorney General. She is well qualified, but a minor misstep in her past - carelessly discarding a jury notice - threatens to derail the nomination. The press has a heyday, spiked by a "best friend" of the family who seems to exist only to tear other people down. The real disturbance in the country, however, comes from women who feel that she has not been suitably respectful of working mothers, and that she is an elitist who puts herself above making icebox cakes. It had a feeling that is all too real - women lining up to take pot shots at women who are more successful, seeking to build themselves up by tearing down any woman who dares to fly too high. Wasserstein has caught the mood of the country in the 90s, a show more mood that continues today, so well that is becomes difficult at times to continue reading. Not so much a work about the decline of feminism as it is a work about how everyone continues to bash feminists over the head with their success. I would say it will be limited by being topical, but I fear this topic will be topical for a very long time. After all, this play is nearly 20 years old now, and nothing has changed, unless it is to get worse. show less
listened to the audiobook on audible . very fun to listen to, gor a few occasional laughs out of me & still had its message very clear !
Wendy Wasserstein was an amazing writer!
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28+ Works 2,223 Members
Wendy Wasserstein was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 18, 1950. She received an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, an M.A. at City College of New York and a M.F.A. at Yale University's School of Drama. A one-act play not only served as her M.F.A. thesis but became the basis for her successful full-length work, Uncommon Women show more and Others (1977). Her other plays include Isn't It Romantic, The Sisters Rosensweig, and Old Money. The Heidi Chronicles (1989) received numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony, the New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for most outstanding play by a woman, and the Hull-Warriner Award for the best play dealing with a controversial subject. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1998 film The Object of My Affection, the children's book Pamela's First Musical, a spoof of self-help literature entitled Sloth, a novel entitled Elements of Style, and two collections of personal essays entitled Bachelor Girls and Shiksa Goddess. She died of lymphoma on January 30, 2006 at the age of 55. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Members
- 110
- Popularity
- 289,260
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 1
