The Common Pursuit.

by Simon Gray

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Description

A very English modern play, reeking of real tragedy, real humour and real life. The Common Pursuit chronicles the erosion of the ambitions of a smug, elitist group of Cambridge frien's. Stuart is editor of a literary magazine and the pursuit of excellence is shown to be economically a bad proposition in this world. The magazine collapses and the characters' fates vary as the play proceeds. An ironic epilogue returns to the early days in Cambridge with the young people planning their futures.

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Author Information

65+ Works 1,218 Members
Playwright Simon Gray was born in Hayling Island, Hampshire, England on October 21, 1936. He received degrees from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and from Cambridge University. He has edited a literary review (like the characters in The Common Pursuit) and taught drama, poetry, and English literature in universities, both show more major and provincial. He has written 40 plays, television plays, and screenplays and five novels, and adapted Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot for the National Theatre. Some of his works include Butley, Otherwise Engaged, Quartermaine's Terms, The Smoking Diaries, The Year of the Jouncer, and The Last Cigarette. He died on August 6, 2008. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

First words
Stuart's room in Cambridge. Twenty years ago.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The laughter continues as Bach Suite 3 drowns it out.

Classifications

Genre
Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
822.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesBritish Drama1900-1900-1999 20th Century1945-1999
LCC
PR6057 .R33 .C6Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish Literature1961-2000
BISAC

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Reviews
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Rating
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Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
4
ASINs
4