Pointless Man

It's only been 9 years since I set out to find myself a copy of Eugene Ionesco's collected essays and lectures after running across a snippet in a class on avant garde theatre. The effort hasn't been sustained, but I've never really forgotten. Out of print in English since its initial release in 1964, I have never seen it at any used book store in Seattle--and I've checked around. When I was able to find it online, it was either way too expensive ($40 to $75 plus fees), or I was broke. But! I finally found a copy for less than $10 after shipping, and it arrived today. Formerly of Euclid Public Library in Euclid Ohio, it still has its checkout card attached, and there's a sticker on the back reminding whoever last borrowed it to return the volume by March 21, 1994. This is it. Theory from the master absurdist on art, drama, what it means to be in the vanguard, and how to stay there. Explanations and thoughts from the man who wrought Rhinoceros , Macbett , and Ame...

Douglas Post is an excellent, articulate, and accomplished playwright of multiple genres, a fair and original lyricist and composer, and my favorite uncle (out of anybody's uncles anywhere). It disappoints me to see that many in the drama world outside Chicago are unfamiliar with the man and his plays. Personal bias aside, his Earth and Sky stands as perhaps the best play I have ever read. It was going to be a movie for a while. Somebody bought the rights, commissioned Doug to do the screenplay, then they had him do it over again, then they asked someone else, and then the project died down. But Doug deserved to have that play known. I would suggest reading the play (or getting ahold of the radio production of it) to anybody, even people who aren't into reading scripts. Likewise for Drowning Sorrows . Doug excels at writing mysteries unbound by genre, where the gripping matters are personal more than plot related, and these are my favorite examples of his work in that vein. He...