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The Play Goes On: A Memoir
A revealing and heartfelt memoir of a Pulitzer Prize–winning artist finding joy and inspiration after tragedy.
In his critically acclaimed Rewrites, Neil Simon talked about his beginnings—his early years of working in television, his first real love, his first play, his first brush with failure, and, most moving of all, his first great loss. Simon's same willingness to open his heart to the reader permeates The Play Goes On.
This second act takes the reader from the mid-1970s to the present, a period in which Simon wrote some of his most popular and critically acclaimed plays, including the Brighton Beach trilogy and Lost in Yonkers, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. Simon experienced enormous professional success during this time, but in his personal life he struggled to find that same sense of happiness and satisfaction. After the death of his first wife, he and his two young daughters left New York for Hollywood. There he remarried, and when that foundered he remarried again. Told with his characteristic humor and unflinching sense of irony, The Play Goes On is rich with stories of how Simon's art came to imitate his life.
Simon's forty-plus plays make up a body of work that is a long-running memoir in its own right, yet here, in a deeper and more personal book than his first volume, Simon offers a revealing look at an artist in crisis but still able and willing to laugh at himself.
In his critically acclaimed Rewrites, Neil Simon talked about his beginnings—his early years of working in television, his first real love, his first play, his first brush with failure, and, most moving of all, his first great loss. Simon's same willingness to open his heart to the reader permeates The Play Goes On.
This second act takes the reader from the mid-1970s to the present, a period in which Simon wrote some of his most popular and critically acclaimed plays, including the Brighton Beach trilogy and Lost in Yonkers, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. Simon experienced enormous professional success during this time, but in his personal life he struggled to find that same sense of happiness and satisfaction. After the death of his first wife, he and his two young daughters left New York for Hollywood. There he remarried, and when that foundered he remarried again. Told with his characteristic humor and unflinching sense of irony, The Play Goes On is rich with stories of how Simon's art came to imitate his life.
Simon's forty-plus plays make up a body of work that is a long-running memoir in its own right, yet here, in a deeper and more personal book than his first volume, Simon offers a revealing look at an artist in crisis but still able and willing to laugh at himself.
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
13 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Neil Simon
178 books272 followersMarvin Neil Simon was an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 plays and he received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. He was one of the most reliable hitmakers in Broadway history, as well as one of the most performed playwrights in the world. Though primarily a comic writer, some of his plays, particularly the Eugene Trilogy and The Sunshine Boys, reflect on the twentieth century Jewish-American experience.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 10, 2023
Transparent and Sad
An extremely honest memoir from a literary giant. I learned a lot about writing from it and was also reminded that decisions have consequences. Even the most celebrated artist can deeply suffer. I found myself wishing Mr. Simon could have had the joy I find in life.
An extremely honest memoir from a literary giant. I learned a lot about writing from it and was also reminded that decisions have consequences. Even the most celebrated artist can deeply suffer. I found myself wishing Mr. Simon could have had the joy I find in life.
August 28, 2015
Simon begins his hauntingly sad yet often quite funny second memoir (following his 1996 Rewrites) in 1973, on the day after the burial of his first wife, who died of cancer. Things look bad at first, as the massively successful American playwright (he's won the Pulitzer Prize and three Tony awards, and written 40 plays and almost as many original and adapted screenplays) can't even get out of bed.
It thus comes as a great relief, if also something of a surprise, when Simon meets and marries actress Marsha Mason three months later. In Mason, Simon finds not only an outstanding interpreter of his words (Goodbye Girl, Only When I Laugh), but also an inspiration (Chapter Two, a play about a widower's second marriage). When his relationship with Mason collapses nine years later, Simon plunges back into a depression that is exacerbated by his first-ever career slump.
Eventually, he applies a combination of innovative personal therapies (he spends a lot of time with his dog and shoots a pistol into his swimming pool) and professional luck (he stumbles over a draft of the eventual megahit Brighton Beach Memoirs that he had penned several years before) and claws his way out of his slump. His greatest successes still lay ahead (along with another marriage--and divorce and remarriage) in the form of his BB trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound), featuring his alter ego Eugene Jerome.
Simon says that a memoir should serve two functions: "to pass on as much as you're willing to tell" and "to discover a truth about yourself you never had the time or courage to face before." A superb and introspective raconteur, he achieves both goals many times over in this exhilarating book.
It thus comes as a great relief, if also something of a surprise, when Simon meets and marries actress Marsha Mason three months later. In Mason, Simon finds not only an outstanding interpreter of his words (Goodbye Girl, Only When I Laugh), but also an inspiration (Chapter Two, a play about a widower's second marriage). When his relationship with Mason collapses nine years later, Simon plunges back into a depression that is exacerbated by his first-ever career slump.
Eventually, he applies a combination of innovative personal therapies (he spends a lot of time with his dog and shoots a pistol into his swimming pool) and professional luck (he stumbles over a draft of the eventual megahit Brighton Beach Memoirs that he had penned several years before) and claws his way out of his slump. His greatest successes still lay ahead (along with another marriage--and divorce and remarriage) in the form of his BB trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound), featuring his alter ego Eugene Jerome.
Simon says that a memoir should serve two functions: "to pass on as much as you're willing to tell" and "to discover a truth about yourself you never had the time or courage to face before." A superb and introspective raconteur, he achieves both goals many times over in this exhilarating book.
September 5, 2018
The Play Goes On: A Memoir is an autobiography of Neil Simon, a prolific playwright, screenwriter, and author. This book continues the story where his first autobiography: Rewrites: A Memoir ended. This book is the second part of the autobiography written by Neil Simon.
Marvin Neil Simon was an American playwright, screenwriter, and author. He wrote more than thirty plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, granted most of them were of his plays. He received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer did.
Neil Simon died earlier this month (26 August 2018) and I was rather shocked to hear his death in the news, considering I did not even know he was ill in the first place. Over the years, I have seen many of his plays performed and many of his films that he has written. In fact, he was one of the first writers of plays and films that I consciously followed. Even though, I was a fan, I do not know much about Simon's life besides his work, so I thought it would be appropriate to read his autobiography.
The Play Goes On: A Memoir opens with a hauntingly sad (a reoccurring feeling in this autobiography) day after the burial of his first wife Joan Baim, a former dancer, who died of cancer. Things look bad at first, as he suffered from great depression that he could not get out of his bed. He meets and soon marries actor Marsha Mason three months later. In his second wife, Neil Simon finds not only an outstanding interpreter of his words, but also an inspiration.
However, it was not to last, when his relationship with Marsha Manson collapsed after nine years. Neil Simon plunges back into a depression that also exacerbated by his first-ever career slump. With his misgivings of psychotherapy – something mentioned in his first autobiography, he applies a combination of innovated (and questionable) therapies and professional luck to work his way back from his slump.
Neil Simon penned three great hits in a row: Brighton Beach Memories, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound, which were affectionately called the BB Trilogy, which stars his alter ego, Eugene Jerome. This trilogy of plays mirrored his trilogy of marriages as he was married three more times twice to actor Diane Lander and once with actor Elaine Joyce.
Unlike his first autobiography, The Play Goes On: A Memoir focused more on the romantic relationship of Neil Simon and how these relationships affected his professional life. Neil Simon frankly talks about his depression and his unconventional manner in dealing with it and in viewed deeply, perhaps his co-dependency. While this autobiography is sad in most parts, it is also filled with wonderful humor.
The autobiography is written rather well. I quite enjoyed the candor and most of the anecdote that was found within. It is an interesting tale of a struggling artist – even well after he found success. It is interesting to see how his relationship affected his well-being and in turn his work.
All in all, The Play Goes On: A Memoir is a well-written autobiography about a struggling artist and the relationships that guided, hampered, and eventual renaissance as the most prolific playwright, screenwriter, and writer in Hollywood.
Marvin Neil Simon was an American playwright, screenwriter, and author. He wrote more than thirty plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, granted most of them were of his plays. He received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer did.
Neil Simon died earlier this month (26 August 2018) and I was rather shocked to hear his death in the news, considering I did not even know he was ill in the first place. Over the years, I have seen many of his plays performed and many of his films that he has written. In fact, he was one of the first writers of plays and films that I consciously followed. Even though, I was a fan, I do not know much about Simon's life besides his work, so I thought it would be appropriate to read his autobiography.
The Play Goes On: A Memoir opens with a hauntingly sad (a reoccurring feeling in this autobiography) day after the burial of his first wife Joan Baim, a former dancer, who died of cancer. Things look bad at first, as he suffered from great depression that he could not get out of his bed. He meets and soon marries actor Marsha Mason three months later. In his second wife, Neil Simon finds not only an outstanding interpreter of his words, but also an inspiration.
However, it was not to last, when his relationship with Marsha Manson collapsed after nine years. Neil Simon plunges back into a depression that also exacerbated by his first-ever career slump. With his misgivings of psychotherapy – something mentioned in his first autobiography, he applies a combination of innovated (and questionable) therapies and professional luck to work his way back from his slump.
Neil Simon penned three great hits in a row: Brighton Beach Memories, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound, which were affectionately called the BB Trilogy, which stars his alter ego, Eugene Jerome. This trilogy of plays mirrored his trilogy of marriages as he was married three more times twice to actor Diane Lander and once with actor Elaine Joyce.
Unlike his first autobiography, The Play Goes On: A Memoir focused more on the romantic relationship of Neil Simon and how these relationships affected his professional life. Neil Simon frankly talks about his depression and his unconventional manner in dealing with it and in viewed deeply, perhaps his co-dependency. While this autobiography is sad in most parts, it is also filled with wonderful humor.
The autobiography is written rather well. I quite enjoyed the candor and most of the anecdote that was found within. It is an interesting tale of a struggling artist – even well after he found success. It is interesting to see how his relationship affected his well-being and in turn his work.
All in all, The Play Goes On: A Memoir is a well-written autobiography about a struggling artist and the relationships that guided, hampered, and eventual renaissance as the most prolific playwright, screenwriter, and writer in Hollywood.
May 5, 2022
The play goes on
My secondhand copy delivered embedded with essence of tobacco... thanks, Jan Nelson.
Just watched Neil on the Bob Hope show, first time hearing his voice. He is now capable of being a selfish human and of sounding and being like a young man. In the ’Rewrites’ photos it was hard to imagine a young man existing in the way he looked in stills. I also didn’t understand how he could sound like a New Yorker until actually it was proven to me. How nice.
Just reached the photos. Unfortunately this Diane person has never been mentioned, so spoiler warning for the images until a later chapter! In the 19th photo I realise how Billy Wilder looks like a shrunken Neil Simon. Oh geez #25 ft. Kevin Spacey.
He writes about feeling like he had no personality or identity, therefore he hides behind his writing—which both distracts him from, and creates, this lack of inner content. But from the outside looking in writing is a personality trait, and the plays are your mind’s content on paper, made public. It’s silly to think you are not as big as the most social person on the planet when you spend all your life creating from the stimulus that is your human experience.
Why is this not as good as ‘Rewrites’—the underlying narrative of success and endearing people, and the gutting emotional rollercoaster that it reveals. Where ‘The Play Goes On’ is the equivalent of that documentary following the end of Roger Ebert, ‘Life Itself’—the presence of death is constant.
It’s not that there are inconsistencies coming off of ‘Rewrites’ because I had read the first several chapters of this one in my elation coming off it with equal enthusiasm. But that this new marriage with Marsha which I have been left hanging on since the time of ‘Rewrites’ comes to an end. This is the start of a plateaued career. And in life he is getting older, but no less sharp as he writes from the end of these memoirs in his seventies!
I thought that I would be watching all the Simon movies I could through reading this. But I leave for England next month and have a lot of other media to prioritise. But as of yet I’ve never consumed a Neil Simon script aside from those excerpts which are included in these books. But dude, I’m still getting over Joan. :(
My secondhand copy delivered embedded with essence of tobacco... thanks, Jan Nelson.
Just watched Neil on the Bob Hope show, first time hearing his voice. He is now capable of being a selfish human and of sounding and being like a young man. In the ’Rewrites’ photos it was hard to imagine a young man existing in the way he looked in stills. I also didn’t understand how he could sound like a New Yorker until actually it was proven to me. How nice.
Just reached the photos. Unfortunately this Diane person has never been mentioned, so spoiler warning for the images until a later chapter! In the 19th photo I realise how Billy Wilder looks like a shrunken Neil Simon. Oh geez #25 ft. Kevin Spacey.
He writes about feeling like he had no personality or identity, therefore he hides behind his writing—which both distracts him from, and creates, this lack of inner content. But from the outside looking in writing is a personality trait, and the plays are your mind’s content on paper, made public. It’s silly to think you are not as big as the most social person on the planet when you spend all your life creating from the stimulus that is your human experience.
Why is this not as good as ‘Rewrites’—the underlying narrative of success and endearing people, and the gutting emotional rollercoaster that it reveals. Where ‘The Play Goes On’ is the equivalent of that documentary following the end of Roger Ebert, ‘Life Itself’—the presence of death is constant.
It’s not that there are inconsistencies coming off of ‘Rewrites’ because I had read the first several chapters of this one in my elation coming off it with equal enthusiasm. But that this new marriage with Marsha which I have been left hanging on since the time of ‘Rewrites’ comes to an end. This is the start of a plateaued career. And in life he is getting older, but no less sharp as he writes from the end of these memoirs in his seventies!
I thought that I would be watching all the Simon movies I could through reading this. But I leave for England next month and have a lot of other media to prioritise. But as of yet I’ve never consumed a Neil Simon script aside from those excerpts which are included in these books. But dude, I’m still getting over Joan. :(
February 27, 2019
Absolutely loved this book, although I picked it up and started reading it before knowing it was Chapter Two of his life's story. A brilliant writer, the book had me weeping within the first pages, laughing at his comic point-of-view throughout, and often doing both simultaneously, or by turns, like a rapid-cycling manic-depressive. As a 22-year inhabitant of New York City, and a theatre professional, I am familiar with almost every work he mentions in the book, having read, seen original productions, revivals, movies, and oftentimes community or college productions of these pieces.
Writers, playwrights, actors, and lovers of any or all of Neil Simon's prodigious body of work should read this memoir. It humanizes the great comedic playwright of his time, and gives wonderful insights into his plays.
(I am currently waiting for my copy of REWRITES, his Chapter One autobiography, to come from Amazon.)
Writers, playwrights, actors, and lovers of any or all of Neil Simon's prodigious body of work should read this memoir. It humanizes the great comedic playwright of his time, and gives wonderful insights into his plays.
(I am currently waiting for my copy of REWRITES, his Chapter One autobiography, to come from Amazon.)
September 4, 2021
THE PLAY GOES ON is the second of two memoirs that began with REWRITES. I found both books extremely illuminating and highly engaging. Neil Simon is one of our country's best playwrights. He properly belongs in a small collection of great writers that include Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, and maybe a few others. The sharing of his life gives us insights into the plays but more importantly into the man who wrote them. I highly recommend both books! I can also recommend reading some of the plays--- BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, THE ODD COUPLE, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, BILOXI BLUES, BROADWAY BOUND, LOST IN YONKERS, JAKE'S WOMEN, and LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR.
April 10, 2020
More meandering and less absorbing than his first memoir, Rewrites. The first book has more of a narrative drive, about a playwright coming into his own with unprecedented success and about his personal true love story. His stage work during the period this second book covers, which includes his Brighton Beach trilogy, became more focused and personally revealing. Ironically, his contemporaneous real life seemed to take many digressions into marriages and remarriages and depressions that he seems at a loss to fully explain here. So despite the sad end of his first marriage and memoir, this book is the more melancholy and less satisfying of the pair.
December 19, 2020
Has been a while since I first read this, but I'm starting it again.
I think this is the book in which Neil Simon admits to taking long, random rides on the NY bus lines just so he can listen in on the conversations of the other riders -
and tells of the night he and his wife had an argument, and it seemed to be such great dialogue that he automatically started making notes. Seeing this, she bounced a pork chop off his head.
This is a great read.
I think this is the book in which Neil Simon admits to taking long, random rides on the NY bus lines just so he can listen in on the conversations of the other riders -
and tells of the night he and his wife had an argument, and it seemed to be such great dialogue that he automatically started making notes. Seeing this, she bounced a pork chop off his head.
This is a great read.
May 20, 2019
la vita di un uomo rimasto spesso dietro le quinte, un viaggio coinvolgente e vero di ciò che significa scrivere.
Utile per chi scrive e anche per chi legge soltanto.
Finale commovente e indelebile.
Consiglio di leggerlo con evidenziatore alla mano.
Utile per chi scrive e anche per chi legge soltanto.
Finale commovente e indelebile.
Consiglio di leggerlo con evidenziatore alla mano.
September 8, 2018
Interesting. I finished it. Not familiar with his body of work, so was constantly checking Wikipedia. Knew of the plays but never moved to see them. Like the book ...more clever than warm
November 30, 2021
Disappointing follow-up to Simon's first autobiographical volume. The personal histories of the plays, at least a few of them, are still there but the spotlight has shifted to the women in his life, each a puzzle the romantically hapless Simon couldn't quite solve. The result is a generally melancholic work, occasionally relieved by showbiz anecdote or hard-earned wisdom.
January 28, 2022
Loved its honesty, vulnerability and backstage stories.
September 13, 2017
Francamente dalla penna che ha scritto alcune delle più esilaranti commedie di Broadway, basti citare “A piedi nudi nel parco” e “La strana coppia”, mi aspettavo una lettura più interessante e, soprattutto, divertente. Confesso invece che all’ennesima dettagliata descrizione del travaglio legato alla creazione di un copione teatrale, ho cominciato ad annoiarmi. Non mancano aneddoti gustosi, anche se spesso si riferiscono a nomi poco noti al di fuori del mondo dello spettacolo statunitense, ma se l’Autore avesse applicato a questo libro la stessa pratica di frenetiche e massicce riscritture utilizzata per i copioni (non a caso il titolo originale è Rewrite), penso che sarebbe venuto fuori qualcosa di meglio.
In ogni caso cinquecentocinquantacinque pagine per la propria biografia, anzi per la prima parte della propria biografia, ritengo siano davvero troppe: anche se ti chiami Neil Simon.
In ogni caso cinquecentocinquantacinque pagine per la propria biografia, anzi per la prima parte della propria biografia, ritengo siano davvero troppe: anche se ti chiami Neil Simon.
August 19, 2009
Not as good as its predecessor, at least from my perspective. While still funny and insightful, I was a lot less interested in his wealthy exploits and cavortings than the humble beginnings that were covered in Rewrites. The Play Goes On finds Simon as a less sympathetic character. Rich and important, but ultimately sad and discouraged over his inability to capture his earlier successes. I found myself think it was no wonder he was having a hard time. He sounded depressed as he vainly searched for the replacement of his late wife in several failed marriages. Unfortunately for the book he never seems to really reach down and explore this part of his life in the detail it deserves. Instead he just comes across as another celebrity malcontent that you have a hard time feeling sorry for as he talks about the loneliness he feels in his million-dollar homes.
November 15, 2011
In this second volume of Neil Simon's memoirs, I felt that somehow the narrative covered years that he himself remembered in less detail, at least as regards the work. His memory of the women who were his second and third wives, Marsha Mason and Diane Lander, seems sharp enough! This volume also seems more contemplative, and he has also given himself more rope to depart from the chronology of his story to tell an anecdote, say, about his mother. There are also at least one or two extended meditations on the nature of his creative process, which I found very interesting.
Just as in the first volume, there are still some wonderful funny turns of phrase, though less self-consciously prominent in the writing here, as though Simon has convinced himself he doesn't have to joke to keep our attention.
Just as in the first volume, there are still some wonderful funny turns of phrase, though less self-consciously prominent in the writing here, as though Simon has convinced himself he doesn't have to joke to keep our attention.
September 19, 2008
The sequel was a bit more introspective than the first book, mainly because it seems the Simon was in a bad way when he wrote it (as we learn at the end).
Simon has some wonderful anecdotes of people he's known, the successes he's achieved and the tough times he faced. He's prone to severe panic attacks and depression, but has many very jubilant experiences as well. He seems to feel things very deeply, which is both a blessing and a cure.
I realized that Josh Wolk of Entertainment Weekly has the same sort of rhythm in his writing. Probably a reason why I enjoy both of them
Simon has some wonderful anecdotes of people he's known, the successes he's achieved and the tough times he faced. He's prone to severe panic attacks and depression, but has many very jubilant experiences as well. He seems to feel things very deeply, which is both a blessing and a cure.
I realized that Josh Wolk of Entertainment Weekly has the same sort of rhythm in his writing. Probably a reason why I enjoy both of them
August 31, 2016
I've put this book aside several times, and now I'm just going to stop reading it. I loved his first memoir so much, but this one just does not catch me.
It was written after the death of his first wife and the tone is a sad one. Maybe if I stayed with it, his rich humor would reassert itself. In the first memoir, I found myself giggling often. This one, so far, feels like he's just going through the motions.
I've given it a good try. Perhaps someone else would feel differently, especially if they persisted further than I read, but I'm tired of trying to read it.
It was written after the death of his first wife and the tone is a sad one. Maybe if I stayed with it, his rich humor would reassert itself. In the first memoir, I found myself giggling often. This one, so far, feels like he's just going through the motions.
I've given it a good try. Perhaps someone else would feel differently, especially if they persisted further than I read, but I'm tired of trying to read it.
April 27, 2008
Neil Simon is one of if not the greatest American playwright. His gift for story-telling and comedic timing exist not only in his fictional work but in the story of his life.
Want to read
July 7, 2011I've never read (or even seen) this book! How did it get here??
December 18, 2012
It was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed 'Rewrites' more, but this helped me have a better picture of his entire life.
January 13, 2014
Rewrites was better, and he sounded less self-important.
June 28, 2011
More whining from Simon, with less content than before.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews