Ishmael Reed: The Plays (American Literature (Dalkey Archive)) (American Literature Series) - Softcover

Ishmael Reed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1564785513 ISBN 13: 9781564785510

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press, 2009

Synopsis

Ishmael Reed's career as one of our great playwrights has long been eclipsed by his other work. Here published for the first time, Reed's plays follow the ancient tradition of using the theater as a forum in which the official versions of our history can be critiqued. Dealing with subjects that mainstream theatergoers might find disturbing-homelessness, the arbitrary entrapment of a black politician, the excesses of the radical feminist movement, the use of black conservatives to promote right-wing agendas, the exploitation of blacks and Africans as unsuspecting guinea pigs by the pharmaceutical industry, and the hypocrisy of the Christian church-Reed's plays are a pungent antidote to the watered-down world of contemporary pop culture, where, Reed argues, minority voices remain as marginalized and stigmatized as they were a hundred years ago.

About this title

Review:

A great writer. (James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It on the Mountain)

A modern day Moliere. (Backstage)

A modern day Moliere.

A great writer.--James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It on the Mountain

Reed s gift is for the outrageous, for giving vivid expression to cultural controversies very much in the air . . . He is one of the most underrated writers in America.

A great writer. --James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It on the Mountain

A modern day Moli re.

Literature is lucky to have Ishmael Reed around. If only for the fun of it. --David Remnick

About this edition

• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1564785513
• ISBN 13: 9781564785510
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 540