The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Stage Plays (Applause Books)

A collection of five stage plays from this brilliant writer: Middle of the Night, The Tenth Man, Gideon, The Passion of Josef D., and The Latent Heterosexual. Includes an introduction by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Applause Books has done an enormous service in compiling this set of Chayefsky's work, most of which has been long out of print. Two volumes are devoted to his screenplays, including the film classics Marty (1955), The Goddess (1958), Network (1976), and The Hospital (1971). The third volume contains his five stage plays, including the powerful The Passion of Josef D. (1964) and the final volume of his six television plays. Original casts are listed with each work. And the stage-play volume includes a poignant and informative foreword by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Chayefsky's friend for 22 years. Just to have the film and television versions of Marty available for comparison is worth the price of admission for libraries supporting television, film, and drama programs. This set is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries or any library serving a performing arts community.?Susan L. Peters, Emory Univ., Atlanta
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The four volumes of this boxed set collect dramas written for three different media--stage, live television, and the movies--by one of the most successful U.S. post-World War II playwrights. Chayefsky (1923-81) was the brightest star among the writers who put the dramatic luster in TV's 1950s golden age, and that achievement has been the one for which he is most immediately recalled. But he had more successful stage and film careers. Indeed, as Arthur M. Schlesinger observes in his foreword to volume one, The Stage Plays, the movies best suited Chayefsky's gifts for creating convincing ordinary urban American characters and real-as-dirt dialogue and his flair for fierce and funny satire. His characterization and dialogue were most brilliantly displayed in Marty, first on TV and then as the Oscar-winning best picture of 1955 (both scripts are in this set). His satires include two memorable dark film comedy-dramas, The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976), and the wry war romance, The Americanization of Emily (1964). Add this set with assurance to basic mid-twentieth-century American literature collections. Ray Olson