Title: The black comedy of John Guare
First published: 2002
Description: "During the last thirty years of the twentieth century, John Guare, largely due to the universal appeal of his best-known dramas, The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation, has been lauded as one of the most successful American playwrights. However, his plays have been perceived by critics as problematic and paradoxical; as a result, with no books and a paucity of articles written about his theater, Guare has not received the critical attention he deserves.

This book, the first full-length study of Guare's theater, will make his plays more accessible through an examination of the often unnerving type of black comedy that makes his plays work.".

"With regard to content, Guare's plays offer insights as profound as any in twentieth-century American drama. Acting as a sociologist examining a troubled contemporary American society, Guare is motivated by scorn for the fraudulence of our own way of life. His protagonists fail to "connect" with others and with their own unique sense of individuality. Instead, they are lured by the glitz and glamour of the promised American dream.

Guare demonstrates how we are inculcated with the notion that success in America is equated with money, beauty, and fame. Dreaming of an idyllic life in the past or future, Guare's characters have no time for relationships in the present and thus are left with a life that is passionless, love-starved, and devoid of friendship or spirituality. Guare's theater depicts how American society has turned individuals into neurotic automatons out of tune with self and others. He demonstrates how commercial values and the media hype of American life have channeled its citizens into a worship of celebrities.

In short, Guare writes about a crazed, chaotic society of bewildered people out of touch with their individuality, mesmerized by a media and pop culture hype of fame and fortune. Guare's theater suggests that the neuroticism of the modern age must be subsumed by our personal dreams that will help us create our own unique mythologies free from pop art and commercialized media icons."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Comedy, Criticism and interpretation, Black humor, Satire
People: John Guare
LC classification: PS3557.U2 Z8 2002