Overview

"Plays on Words collects for the first time six satirical plays, five never before published, written in the early 1980s by American essayist, novelist, playwright, poet, humorist, and surrealist Marvin Cohen. Also included are two short theater-related pieces (""How He/She Dramatizes His/Her Life"" and ""A Complaint as a Theatre Goer""), an excerpt from a 1981 interview, and a new brief preface written by Cohen for this collection."

Full Product Details

9780578689067

Table of Contents

Reviews

The term 'character' was coined with Marvin Cohen in mind. A gentle observer of the unpredictable and slightly absurd, Marvin has a fondness for mankind that is unmistakably his own. Sometimes I think of him as a comedian-chronicler standing at the center, his head turned slightly toward your line of speaking to accommodate his hearing aid. . . . The strength of his writing stems from his baroque sense of humor and his ability to see both the world and himself as wonderfully delightful miscreants. -- Joseph Papp, Plays from the New York Shakespeare Festival Once you start reading Marvin Cohen, it's very hard not to start thinking like him and then eventually talking like him, which can raise the eyebrows of your more conventional friends. His stream-of-consciousness paragraphs are like delicious Christmas puddings, as if Virginia Woolf had hired a wild group of Restoration writers like Sheridan and Congreve to make her desserts for her. All paragraphs are served with a brandy-infused hard sauce of cold, blunt frankness. Unforgettable, and you'll beg for more. -- Wallace Shawn

"""The term 'character' was coined with Marvin Cohen in mind. A gentle observer of the unpredictable and slightly absurd, Marvin has a fondness for mankind that is unmistakably his own. Sometimes I think of him as a comedian-chronicler standing at the center, his head turned slightly toward your line of speaking to accommodate his hearing aid. . . . The strength of his writing stems from his baroque sense of humor and his ability to see both the world and himself as wonderfully delightful miscreants."" -- Joseph Papp, Plays from the New York Shakespeare Festival ""Once you start reading Marvin Cohen, it's very hard not to start thinking like him and then eventually talking like him, which can raise the eyebrows of your more conventional friends. His stream-of-consciousness paragraphs are like delicious Christmas puddings, as if Virginia Woolf had hired a wild group of Restoration writers like Sheridan and Congreve to make her desserts for her. All paragraphs are served with a brandy-infused hard sauce of cold, blunt frankness. Unforgettable, and you'll beg for more."" -- Wallace Shawn"

Author Information

"Marvin Cohen (born July 6, 1931) is an American essayist, novelist, playwright, poet, humorist, and surrealist. He is the author of numerous books, two of which were published by New Directions Publishing, and several plays. His shorter writings-stories, parables, allegories, and essays-have appeared in more than 80 publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Nation, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Fiction, The Hudson Review, Quarterly Review of Literature, Transatlantic Review and New Directions annuals. His 1980 play The Don Juan and the Non-Don Juan was first performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival as part of the Poets at the Public Series. Staged readings of the play have featured actors Richard Dreyfuss, Keith Carradine, Wallace Shawn, Jill Eikenberry, Larry Pine, and Mimi Kennedy. Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He has described himself as one who has ""risen from lower-class background to lower- class foreground."" He studied art at Cooper Union but left college to focus on writing. He supported himself with a series of odd jobs including mink farmer and merchant seaman. Although not typically associated with the Beat Generation, his first published piece appeared in The Beat Scene (Corinth Books, 1960) alongside works by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Cohen also taught creative writing at The New School, the City College of New York, C.W. Post of Long Island University, and Adelphi University. He is married and currently lives with his wife in New York City."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available