The Art of Crime: The Plays and Film of Harold Pinter and David Mamet

by Leslie Kane (Editor)

Overview

This collection of 15 original essays, assembled by renowned Mamet and Pinter scholar Leslie Kane, examines the pervasiveness of crime and criminality in the plays and screenplays of two of the most influential contemporary dramatists. The contributors generally focus on one or more works by a single writer, while a few take a comparative approach. Often the works studied are lesser-known or infrequently discussed works, thereby making this volume a valuable addition to current scholarship. In addition, this volume complements other works on Mamet and Pinter on our backlist, including Kane's earlier edited volumes on Mamet which both received solid sales and accolades from Choice. Assembled by a Garland/Routledge author with a proven sales record and impressive critical reception, this collection should be an easy sell to academic and theater libraries, as well as Pinter and Mamet specialists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415968300
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/28/2004
Series:	Studies in Modern Drama , #21
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. A Poetics for Thugs Varun Begley 2. You'll Never Be Without a Police Siren: Pinter and the Subject of Law Marc Silverstein 3. Harold Pinter Before the Law Steven Price 4. Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes: Violation, Empathy, and Historical Remembrance Charles Grimes 5. Comedy and Crime: Pinter's Primal Power and Celebration Penelope Prentice 6. Lost in the Funhouse: Pinter's Screenplay of Kafka's The Trial Ann C. Hall 7. Lie Detectors: Pinter/Mamet and the Victorian Concept of Crime Ira Nadel 8. Gradations of Criminality in the Plays of David Mamet Kimball King 9. Melville's The Confidence Man and his Descendants in David Mamet's Work Barry Goldensohn 10. Fantasy Crimes/Fictional Lives: Lakeboat Anne M. Dean 11. David Mamet's House of Games: Performance and the Already Played Elizabeth Klaver 12. More Uses of the Knife as Signifier in The Cryptogram, The Old Religion, and The Edge Thomas P. Adler 13. Mamet's The Edge as a Figura of Otherness Claire Magaha 14. Suckered Again: The Perfect Patsy and The Spanish Prisoner Leslie Kane