Research Catalog

Title

Spalding Gray's America / William W. Demastes.

Author

Demastes, William W.

Publication

New York : Limelight Editions, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxv, 270 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

Spalding Gray's America traces Gray's life and work from his days with the Performance and Wooster Groups to his career as a storyteller who presented captivating monologues - including Swimming to Cambodia, Gray's Anatomy, and Monster in a Box - while sitting behind a desk on an otherwise bare stage. Gray's stories make up a quirky, full-color portrait of America. They are poignant, touching, and often troubling, but also vividly insightful and invariably funny. Spalding Gray's America captures the essence of Spalding Gray's theatre and storytelling, revealing the deep but conflicted passion behind his work. The study of the work and life of this monologuist and talented stage actor is presented through an examination of his diverse work in the entertainment industry, including a review of his monologues "It's a Slippery Slope" and "Swimming to Cambodia."

Subject

• Gray, Spalding, 1941-2004
• Dramatists, American > 20th century
• Storytelling in literature
• American drama > 20th century > History and criticism

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-264) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction: Living in the U.S.A., 1941-2004 -- Taking middle America to Soho -- Incubating "Spalding Gray" : the Wooster Group -- Finding his American voice : Gray's early monologues -- Rediscovering America : Gray's early "autobiographical" monologues -- Paradise lost and found : the road to Cambodia -- An American "success" story : coping after Cambodia -- Coming to terms with the American dream -- Gray beyond the stage -- Postscript: An American original.

ISBN

• 9780879103606
• 0879103604

LCCN

^^2008039960

OCLC

223808393

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library