Humor, General & Miscellaneous Drama
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Overview
Fiction. Performing Arts. RED DIAPER BABY includes three comic autobiographical monologues by performer Josh Kornbluth: "The Mathematics of Change," "Haiku Tunnel," and the title piece. Together, and with the author's introduction, the monologues compose a bildungsroman that is both comic and poignant. Kornbluth shows a deep affection for the wild, eccentric characters who people his universe. With a few deft strokes he paints unforgettable portraits, as true as they are funny. Together the monologues achieve real literary form and depth, as we witness a young man coming of age in a world that is anything but conventional. "These monologues have a performer's personality even on the page. They read the way they play: with a delight in neurosis that turns it into intellectual slapstick"—Pauline Kael.
Editorials
Library Journal
The best humor is familiar to all but firmly grounded in the real world. Kornbluth's familiar real world is clearly New York from the beginning monolog, "Red Diaper Baby." This first-person account of growing up in the Sixties with an imposing Communistic father constitutes a vivid and delightful portrait of the man. In "Mathematics of Change," we find Josh at college, confronted with scholastic competition for the first time. Josh's witty, painful death by calculus is shared directly by the reader as his identity is transformed. "Haiku Tunnel," soon to be a movie, gets right to the heart of office life as viewed through the eyes of those who temp. Wickedly funny, it has a surprise ending, which provides the reader with a morsel of hope. Each monolog is quick, satisfying reading, very funny and very human. These reflections of urban life are well recommended.-Sue Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OhioBook Details
Published
October 1, 1996
Publisher
Mercury House
Pages
199
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781562790875