Essays (2009) - Wallace Shawn

Written by Wallace Shawn
Read by Wallace Shawn
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Essays (UNABRIDGED)
by Wallace Shawn
Narrated by Wallace Shawn

LENGTH: 4 hrs and 42 mins
RELEASE DATE: 07-20-10
PUBLISHER: Haymarket Books

Publisher’s Summary

Whether writing about the genesis of his plays, such as Aunt Dan and Lemon; discussing how the privileged world of arts and letters takes for granted the work of the “unobtrusives”, the people who serve our food and deliver our mail; or describing his upbringing in the sheltered world of Manhattan’s cultural elite, Shawn reveals a unique ability to step back from the appearance of things to explore their deeper social meanings. He grasps contradictions, even when unpleasant, and challenges us to look, as he does, at our own behavior in a more honest light. He also finds the pathos in the political and personal challenges of everyday life.

©2009 Wallace Shawn (P)2010 Wallace Shawn

What the Critics Say

Full of what you might call conversation starters: tricky propositions about morality… politics, privilege, runaway nationalist fantasies, collective guilt, and art as a force for change (or not)…It’s a treat to hear him speak his curious mind.” (O Magazine)

“Wally Shawn’s essays are both powerful and riveting. How rare to encounter someone willing to question the assumptions of class and the disparity of wealth that grows wider every year in this country. To have such a gentle and incisive soul willing to say what others may be afraid to is considerably refreshing.” (Michael Moore)

“Wallace Shawn is a bracing antidote to the op-ed dreariness of political and artistic journalism in the West. He takes you back to the days when intellectuals had the wit and concentration to formulate great questions - and to make the reader want to answer them.” (David Hare, playwright)