|
Tom Stoppard: A Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Ira Bruce Nadel
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $3.95
You Save: $26.00 (87%)
New (13) Used (36) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1066998
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Palgra
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 146
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 5.8 x 1.7
ISBN: 0312237782
Dewey Decimal Number: 822.8
EAN: 9780312237783
ASIN: 0312237782
Publication Date: June 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: 1st Ed. BRAND NEW. Ship in 24 hrs.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Tom Stoppard is, arguably, the greatest living English playwright. His work, from the early Jumpers to the film Shakespeare in Love to the current Invention of Love has changed the landscape of drama. Witty, erudite, passionate, abstract, clever, his works are like no one else's. Who is Tom Stoppard-the Czech-born son of Jews who became the singularly English man of letters? In this vibrant, critical portrait, Ira Nadel weaves life and works into a fascinating chronicle of Stoppard's world on English and American stages. Peopled with such characters as Diana Rigg, John Wood, and Billy Crudup, the book untangles Stoppard's genius against the backdrop of Broadway and London's West End.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Unauthorized Bio October 18, 2002
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Nadel has clearly done his homework in his reading about the theatre and plays generally. But he also unfortunately, and probably in order to fill in many gaps, provides us with far too many of unnecessary details-- such as the street number of the house where Stoppard's father was born, but little valid information about Tom Stoppard as an an author,-- though we're given much useless information about other characters- or the very plays he's supposed to explore for and with us. If you haven't read all the plays, you will find the book heavy, literally and figuratively.
Praise, when given, often seems grudging-- we are told, in the acknowlegments, that the playright was generous, as told Nadel by Stoppard's sister. But that generosity isn't shown in the body of the biography , though we're given many petty details, such as Stoppard being often late or disorganized.In writing his unauthorized bio,Nadel,by definition, had to leave out much: what he was unaware of, what he couldn't explore, and what he didn't understand. He appears unaware of Stoppard's aim of creating a theater of ideas as more than a theater of action. At over 500 pages, this biography is too long and repetitive. (And surely, somewhere, there could have been traces of humor, considering Nadel was writing about a most witty author...) Being left with many unanswered questions, in spite of its topic, I found this book disappointing.
 REALLY NOW, WHO IS TOM STOPPARD? July 8, 2002
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
Precisely who is the man who gave us such disturbing and erudite plays as "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern," "The Real Thing," and most recently "The Coast Of Utopia"? He is arguably the foremost dramatist of our time, but what makes Tom Stoppard tick?We'll not find the answers to these questions in a biography of the playwright by Ira Nadel, although that is not due to lack of research as there are almost 100 pages of references and indices included in this rather weighty tome. Perhaps the best one can do in assessing another human being is to hazard guesses based on observation. There are observations aplenty in this highly readable portrait of an enigmatic genius who, almost singlehandedly, has altered the face of 20th century drama. For Stoppard, born Tomas Straussler in 1937, it has been a far journey from his home in Czechoslovakia to Hollywood, Broadway, and London's West End. Readers take this journey with him, observing Stoddard's evolution into a playwright concerned with morals and politics, noting the ups and downs in his personal life, and seeing his connectedness to his past. Critic/biographer Nadel has done an exemplary job in documenting the life of a contradictory figure. Yet, the question lingers: precisely who is Tom Stoppard? - Gail Cooke
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com
| |
