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Title: Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama by David Mamet ISBN: 0-375-70423-X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 13 June, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: With a diamond stylus...
Comment: Mr. Mamet cuts and exposes the grooves that we both claim and deny. Three Uses of the Knife is much more than the subtitle "On the Nature and Purpose of Drama" would lead you to believe. (In fact, I am not quite sure that the Vanity Fair review that appears on the cover could have been written by someone who really read this book. It seems banal and patronizing = "[Mamet] brings his usual passion and provocation to his treatise on what makes good drama.")
Anyway..far from a "treatise on...good drama", this is a book that calls for honest introspection and critical consideration of the pop drama of daily living (sports, politics, race, etc.). A case in point: I dare you to lay the current drama of internet madness in the context of this book -- It will be most revealing and this will become the best internet book you have read.
O.K., nuff hyperbole -- the book is simply on target as a structure for social criticism. Whether you agree with his opinions or not, you can't shirk the debate and keep your integrity.
It is a very short book well worth reading and re-reading.
Rating: 5
Summary: An artistic credo well worth reading
Comment: While Mamet's booklet is essentially an exposition of opinions with little or no discourse, it is extremely thought provoking and provides ample fuel for thinking about drama - and art in general - as lying at the edge of reason.
In a treatise that mirrors the three act structure he discusses, Mamet eloquently puts forth the idea that much of political drama, by instructing us what to think and feel, is mere melodrama and that "the theatre exists to deal with problems of the soul, with the mysteries of human life, not with its quotidian calamities." He assails avant-garde artists for taking "refuge in nonsense" and electing themselves "superior to reason," yet also criticizes the "hard-bitten rationalist who rails against religious tradition, against the historical niceties, against ritual large and small."
"Three Uses of the Knife" is a book that will be read quickly, but will stick to the back of your mind for sometime afterwards.
Rating: 5
Summary: My Copy Is Torn To Shreds!
Comment: I bought this book when it first came out in hardcover. It was about triple the price that it is now on Amazon, and many people I knew thought I was insane to buy such a small book for a high price.
But to me -- it was all too worth it.
David Mamet is all at once a very clear writer and a very mysterious writer. Critics of this particular book mainly see fault in its "seeming" lack of clarity -- Mamet has the intellect of an academic but does not feel that he should write like a dry academic because ACADEMIC PAPERS ARE BORING -- right? At least, I think so.
Three Uses of The Knife -- I've read it about 30 times, I've underlined my favorite parts, and the dust jacket is falling to shreds. When I had Mamet sign it at a book reading he gave me this confused look because everyone had a brand-new book (it was South of the Northeast Kingdom) and I had this tattered one. I had to have that book signed because that book is really awesome and means a lot to me (it taught me alot).
Wether you love it or hate it you have to appriciate it. Mamet's genius is undeniable, and the confidence he enbues in his writing is unforgettable.
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Title: True and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor by David Mamet ISBN: 0679772642 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 22 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Writing in Restaurants by David Mamet ISBN: 0140089810 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: December, 1987 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: On Directing Film by David Mamet ISBN: 0140127224 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Playwriting In Process : Thinking and Working Theatrically by Michael Wright ISBN: 0435070347 Publisher: Heinemann Publishing Pub. Date: 04 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Cryptogram by David Mamet ISBN: 0679746536 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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