The Iceman Cometh - Softcover

Eugene O'Neill

  • 3.90 out of 5 stars
    10,218 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780375709173: The Iceman Cometh
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0375709177 ISBN 13: 9780375709173
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1999

Synopsis

"Spellbinding--soaring theater--. For reasons that remain mysterious, it seems especially moving today."--The New York Times

Eugene O'Neill mined the tragedies of his own life for this depiction of a seedy, skid row saloon in 1912, peopled by society's failures: worn-out anarchists, failed con artists, drifters, whores, pimps, and informers. The pipe-dreaming drunks of Harry Hope's bar numb themselves with rotgut gin and make grandiose plans, while waiting for the annual appearance of the big-spending, fast-talking salesman, Hickey. But this year's visit fails to bring the expected good times, as a changed Hickey tries to rouse the barflies from their soothing stupor with a proselytizing message of salvation through self-knowledge.
                              
Considered by many to be the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's finest work, The Iceman Cometh exposes the human need for illusion as an antidote to despair. The recent gripping, critically acclaimed Broadway production, starring Kevin Spacey, has highlighted anew the subversive genius of O'Neill's play.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), the author of 49 plays, won four Pulitzer Prizes for drama, and is the only American playwright to have received a Nobel Prize.

From the Back Cover

EUGENE O'NEILL mined the tragedies of his own life for this depiction of a seedy, skid row saloon in 1912, peopled by society's failures: worn-out anarchists, failed con artists, drifters, whores, pimps, and informers. The pipe-dreaming drunks of Harry Hope's bar numb themselves with rotgut gin and make grandiose plans while waiting for the annual appearance of the big-spending, fast-talking salesman, Hickey. But this year's visit fails to bring the expected good times, as a changed Hickey tries to rouse the barflies from their soothing stupor with a proselytizing message of salvation through self-knowledge.

Considered by many to be the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's finest work, The Iceman Cometh exposes the human need for illusion as an antidote to despair. The recent internationally acclaimed production, starring Kevin Spacey, has highlighted anew the subversive genius of O'Neill's play.

From the Inside Flap

"Spellbinding--soaring theater--. For reasons that remain mysterious, it seems especially moving today."--"The New York Times
Eugene O'Neill mined the tragedies of his own life for this depiction of a seedy, skid row saloon in 1912, peopled by society's failures: worn-out anarchists, failed con artists, drifters, whores, pimps, and informers. The pipe-dreaming drunks of Harry Hope's bar numb themselves with rotgut gin and make grandiose plans, while waiting for the annual appearance of the big-spending, fast-talking salesman, Hickey. But this year's visit fails to bring the expected good times, as a changed Hickey tries to rouse the barflies from their soothing stupor with a proselytizing message of salvation through self-knowledge.
Considered by many to be the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's finest work, The Iceman Cometh exposes the human need for illusion as an antidote to despair. The recent gripping, critically acclaimed Broadway production, starring Kevin Spacey, has highlighted anew the subversive genius of O'Neill's play.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date
1999
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0375709177
ISBN 13 
9780375709173
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
196
Rating
  • 3.90 out of 5 stars
    10,218 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780300117431: The Iceman Cometh

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0300117434 ISBN 13:  9780300117431
Publisher: Yale University Press, 2006
Softcover