Product Description

Compared to some of its New England neighbors, Vermont has seemed to long-time resident David Mamet a place of intrinsic energy and progressiveness, love and commonality. It has lived up to the old story that settlers came up the Connecticut River and turned right to get to New Hampshire and left to get to Vermont. Is Vermont's tradition of live and let live an accident of geography, the happy by-product of 200 years of national neglect, an emanation of its Scots-Irish regional character? Exploring the ways in which his decades in Vermont have shaped his character and his work, Mamet examines each of these strands and how the state's free-thinking tradition can survive in an age of increasing conglomeration. The result is a highly personal and compelling portrait of a truly unique place.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1749365 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Released on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.30" h x .80" w x 5.50" l, .55 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Booklist
In this stimulating collection of essays, the author reflects on his corner of Vermont, the state he's called home for most of his adult life. Told in a digressive style that recalls languid conversation by an embering stove, the narratives begin with personal anecdotes, or stories of neighbors, then enter the world at large to find relevance to issues of the day: the attacks of September 11, the failure of Enron. Whether musing on the superiority of learning practical skills to abstract education or the honesty demanded by a show of hands at a town meeting versus the anonymity allowed by the Australian ballot, Mamet continues to offer economically sound reading, getting twice the mileage out of half the fuel. But despite generally rigorous thought and a lack of self-delusion (he admits, for example, he may be an interloper in the community he idealizes), it feels a bit romantically rustic that he should always find all is best in his small village. The rural lifestyle, after all, is not available to all, nor is character totally wanting in cities. Keir Graff
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About the Author
David Mamet was born in Chicago in 1947. He has taught at Yale Drama School, New York University, and Goddard College. His plays include American Buffalo and Speed-the-Plow. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, two Obies, two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, and a Tony. He lives in Vermont.