U.S. Playwrights - Literary Biography, Theater Biography - Playwrights
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Overview
Tom Stoppard is one of the greatest living English playwrights. In this portrait, Ira Nadel weaves Stoppard's life and work into a work of critical biography. Peopled with such theatrical luminaries as Diana Rigg and John Wood as well as newcomers like Gwyneth Paltrow, the book untangles the strands of Stoppard's genius and conflicted identity against the backdrop of Broadway, Hollywood, London's West End and the theatrical beehive of London's National Theatre in its early days. Nadel looks at Stoppard's early years in Eastern Europe, his time in India and his ultimate emigration to the United Kingdom where he, the Czech-born son of Jewish parents, became the quintessential Englishman. Tom Stoppard: A Life weaves in and out of the reality of Tom Stoppard's life and its frequent fractured Stoppardian depiction on the stage. As Stoppard readies his newest play, a trilogy entitled The Coast of Utopia, for the National Theatre, Ira Nadel paints a portrait of Tom Stoppard that will be must-reading for his legions of admirers.Editorials
Library Journal
Tom Stoppard is perhaps our greatest living playwright, with over 25 plays produced since 1965 and a cornucopia of honors, including numerous Tony awards, an Oscar for the screenplay of Shakespeare in Love, and a knighthood. Yet Stoppard is and always has been a hard man to pin down, and noted critic and academic Nadel freely admits that "Stoppard in many ways resists biography." Fortunately, that does not keep him from trying and, 600-plus pages later, largely succeeding. Canadian critic/biographer Nadel (Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen) spends considerable time wending his way through the Stoppard chronology, dwelling on the linguistically lush plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, The Real Thing, and Arcadia, all of which are uniquely complex, comedic, and intellectual. This thorough and fresh text updates and surpasses Michael Billington's 1987 Stoppard the Playwright. The best and most complete Stoppard biography available, this is a no-brainer acquisition decision for all collections. Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Booknews
Nadel (English, U. of British Columbia) presents a critical portrait of English playwright Tom Stoppard. Biographical information includes Stoppard's early years in Eastern Europe, his time in India, and his emigration to the UK. The main part of the text is devoted to Stoppard's theatrical career from early plays like to the genesis and development of his newest play, . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Book Details
Published
June 1, 2002
Publisher
Palgrave MacMillan
Pages
386
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780312237783