"'Sexual perversity in Chicago' is about two young men, Bernie and Danny, and two young women, Deborah and Joan, trying to sort out their sex lives amid filing cabinets and the nervous regimentation of the singles bar scene. 'The duck variations' is a dialogue between two old men sitting on a park bench. The conversation turns to the mating habits of ducks, but soon begins to reveal their feelings about natural law, friendship, and death"--Back cover....

The Water Engine is a story of a poor young factory worker who invents an engine that runs on water. Big business tries to force him to sell the rights. Mr. Happiness is a companion piece where a host of a radio show attempts to help his listeners in their personal problems.

In this gripping short play, David Mamet combines mercurial intelligence with genuinely Hitchcockian menace. The Cryptogram is a journey back into childhood and the moment of its vanishing - the moment when the sheltering world is suddenly revealed as a place full of danger. On a night in 1959 a boy is waiting to go on a camping trip with his father. His mother wants him to go to sleep. A family friend is trying to entertain them - or perhaps distract...

The author describes his love for Vermont, sharing his thoughts on the history of the region, the reason for the state's live and let live attitude, and how Vermont's free-thinking traditions can survive in the modern world.

A college student, Carol, drops by her professor's office in an effort to gain his help to do better in class. John, the professor, in the midst of buying a house to celebrate his nomination for tenure, at first seems distant. As the first meeting progresses the two discuss the nature of understanding and judgment in society, as well as their very own natures and places in our society. It seems as if a bond has been made. When next they meet we find...

David Mamet has said that if he hadn't found a life in the theater, it is very likely he would have become a criminal. In Jafsie and John Henry the master improviser takes on a range of roles and personae in a lively and personal way. Mamet in this diverse collection turns his unique lens on subjects ranging from houses to Hollywood producers. As the writer turns fifty, he not only shares his reflections on the nature of creativity and the challenges...

"A Practical Handbook for the Actor is a simple and essential book about the craft of acting, describing a technique developed and refined by the authors, all of them young actors, in their work with Pulitzer Prize-- winning playwright David Mamet, actor W.H. Macy and director Gregory Mosher. It is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable...

Two western train robbers keep one step ahead of the law until they are tracked down in Bolivia (Butch Cassidy). Fast Eddie Felson, a hot-headed, small-time pool shark, teams up with a manager who promises him real money in a showdown with the legendary Minnesota Fats (Hustler). A tough-talking, hard-drinking, cynical lawyer on the skids fights for justice when a mysterious accident at a hospital destroys the life of a vital young woman (Verdict)....