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Edward Albee: A Singular Journey | 
 enlarge | Author: Mel Gussow
Publisher: Applause Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $5.20
You Save: $11.75 (69%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 946435
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 1557834474
Dewey Decimal Number: 790
UPC: 073999144413
EAN: 9781557834478
ASIN: 1557834474
Publication Date: October 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: This book is in GOOD Used Condition. It is a former library book. The pages, cover, and spine are all intact. There Does Not appear to be any highlighting or underlining. If present, it's to such a small degree to go unnoticed upon quick inspection. There may be some Limited Markings. There are library stamps and/or date stamps on some of the pages. There is a couple of stickers taped to the spine and back cover. The cover shows a bit of wear with some bending/folding in the corners and along the edges. There is a Crease on the spine, and splits between some of the pages. There are some Stains on some of the pages. Other than those minor imperfections, which do not effect the read at all, this book is in GOOD Used condition and a Great read! A Great Selection! A Must Have! A Wonderful Book! 100% Money Back Guarantee!!!
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Amazon.com Review
With his off-Broadway success The Zoo Story in 1960 and the Broadway smash Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962, Edward Albee announced himself as his generation's great American playwright. He had an unhappy childhood as the adopted son of wealthy suburbanites with no interest in his feelings or talents, and later immersed himself in the flourishing (but still closeted) New York gay scene of the 1950s. These seminal experiences gave Albee a sardonic, essentially bleak view of human relations that suited the questioning spirit of the '60s, as did his plays' absurdist tone and often experimental techniques. Alcoholism and bad reviews plagued him through much of the 1970s and '80s, but he emerged triumphant and sober in 1994 with the play Three Tall Women, which marked his mature understanding of his mother's life and won him a third Pulitzer Prize. Mel Gussow observed much of this personal and professional journey as a theater critic and an acquaintance; his book is a traditional biography based on research and interviews--with colleagues and friends as well as Albee himself--that also judiciously uses the author's firsthand experiences. (A section about the playwright's drunken rudeness at a dinner party and subsequent apologetic letter to Gussow is particularly revealing.) Gussow limns his subject's life with candor, but without prurience, and lucidly conveys Albee's importance in the American theater. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
Mel Gussow's critically-acclaimed biography of the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Seascape, A Delicate Balance, The Zoo Story), who first electrified the American theatre scene in the 1960s with his groundbreaking The Zoo Story followed by the legendary Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Edward Albee A Singular Journey June 9, 2008
I have not finished, but am completely enjoying the life story of one of America's finest playwrights. I became intrigued by something on the internet and then purchased this book. Before long I needed to read some
of his plays. I began with his Pulitzer Prize winning "Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?" I am really getting a deep picture of Edward Albee and
highly recommend "A Singular Journey" for anyone who loves the whole process of writing and sharing our life stories. This book was written by
Mel Gussow, thanks to him and the wonderful Edward Albee, readers will
travel for a time through the life and mind of one incredibly brilliant
individual.
Brilliant June 23, 2007
I received this book as a gift from the author's son and daughter-in-law. It's simply an amazing story, perhaps the only thing more amazing than Gussow's writing is the man that he writes about. Gussow captures Albee's natural speaking wit and amazing story in an absolutely brilliant way.
 Is Albee America's Shakespeare? June 22, 2007
Gussow admires and likes Albee and one supposes that is a good thing, but one wonders if that is enough to recommend this author for the job of writing Edward Albee's biography. Many will say so, of course, because of Gussow's credentials as a theater buff. If you see playwriting as a branch of the show biz trade, then surely Gussow is your man, but if prefer to speak of Ibsen and Chekhov in the same breath as Zola and Turgenev, that is, if one sees plays as part of literature, and wishes to speak of the theater beyond box office receipts and stardom, then maybe this star-gazing journalist could be bettered. I got tired of Gussow's praise for Albee's so-called political consciousness coupled with his admiration for Albee's talent for making real estate deals. Hypocritical radical chic seems so very yesterday. Albee's career follows more or less the course of Tennessee Williams and Noel Coward; early fame was followed by years of critical scorn and popular indifference. Unlike them, Albee has had a late-term come back. Revivals open annually as do new works. Yet, what somebody has to do is evaluate their worth. Saying it is all wonderful simply will not do.
Informative page-turner for an Albee fan August 9, 2005
Albee is without doubt my favorite living playwright, so I'm a little biased, but I read and enjoyed this book, and felt like I got to know Albee a lot better in the process, without losing any of my respect for him.
Since his plays are so much about family and the pursuit of "success", it's worthwhile to know about how Albee--who was adopted--grew up. I recommend this to anyone who admires Albee's plays, and also to sceptics who want more insight on the ideas and the man behind them.
 Good, but not for everyone September 5, 2004
This is a very good biography of Albee, and the best book available on the great playwright, but for those who consider 'The Zoo Story' and 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' to be his sole significant works should look for lighter reading. The book refuses to be salacious, sticks to the facts and offers very to-the-point criticism on Albee's plays. Albee emerges as a figure of some mystery and extraordinary talent. The book does not find any powerful new insight as in, for example, Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams, but the book does move along nicely and is highly informative.
Overall, a good read for Albee's fans.
(By the way, what's up with all of the short 1-star reviews of the book, does someone have a personal vendetta against the author?)
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