What do you think?
Rate this book
Fool for Love and Other Plays
Here are eight of Pulitzer-prizewinning Sam Shepard's most stunning plays. This brilliant American dramatist creates what The New Yorker dubbed "Shepard Country"--a landscape of the imagination, a unique theatrical experience that captures our culture and consciouness, our fears and fantasies.
FOOL FOR LOVE * ANGEL CITY * GEOGRAPHY OF A HORSE DREAMER * ACTION * COWBOY MOUTH * MELODRAMA PLAY * SEDUCED * SUICIDE IN Bb
With an Introduction by Ross Wetzsteon
“Sam Shepard is phenomenal...the best practicing American playwright.” — The New Republic
“Sam Shepard is the most exciting presence in the movie world and one of the most gifted writers ever to work on the American stage.” —Marsha Norman
“The most ruthlessly experimental and uncompromising of today's young writers.” —John Lahr
“Sam Shepard fills the role of professional playwright as a good ballet dancer or acrobat fulfills his role in performance. That is, he always delivers, he executes feats of dexterity and technical difficulty that an untrained person could not, and makes them seem easy.” —Michael Feingold, The Village Voice
"One of the most original, prolific, and gifted dramatists at work today.” — The New Yorker
“Increasingly recognized as one of the more significant dramatists in the English-speaking world.” —Charles R. Bachman, Modern Drama
FOOL FOR LOVE * ANGEL CITY * GEOGRAPHY OF A HORSE DREAMER * ACTION * COWBOY MOUTH * MELODRAMA PLAY * SEDUCED * SUICIDE IN Bb
With an Introduction by Ross Wetzsteon
“Sam Shepard is phenomenal...the best practicing American playwright.” — The New Republic
“Sam Shepard is the most exciting presence in the movie world and one of the most gifted writers ever to work on the American stage.” —Marsha Norman
“The most ruthlessly experimental and uncompromising of today's young writers.” —John Lahr
“Sam Shepard fills the role of professional playwright as a good ballet dancer or acrobat fulfills his role in performance. That is, he always delivers, he executes feats of dexterity and technical difficulty that an untrained person could not, and makes them seem easy.” —Michael Feingold, The Village Voice
"One of the most original, prolific, and gifted dramatists at work today.” — The New Yorker
“Increasingly recognized as one of the more significant dramatists in the English-speaking world.” —Charles R. Bachman, Modern Drama
307 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
42 people are currently reading
1443 people want to read
About the author
Sam Shepard
227 books665 followersSam Shepard was an American artist who worked as an award-winning playwright, writer and actor. His many written works are known for being frank and often absurd, as well as for having an authentic sense of the style and sensibility of the gritty modern American west. He was an actor of the stage and motion pictures; a director of stage and film; author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs; and a musician.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
February 19, 2018
These are (mostly) swirly surrealistic melodramas cooked to medium rare psychological taste for to outsource some brain twist imagery. Goon-ball broke-down characters doin' schemes as "Auggie March" might say. Too, fit nicely into a Denis Johnson short. Cowboy Junkies ropin' phantasy. Hehe, go ahead, build the wall, nuts and rapists will fly in anyway, may as well throw a welcome party an pass the pipe. Pay fer play!
September 11, 2024
finally some good f food 😤
February 25, 2014
Sam Shepard will have to slug it out with Lanford Wilson for Best American Playwright of the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Whatever the outcome Shepard is in contention for his startling ability to delineate the various degrees of obscene psychic cruelty that family members are capable of inflicting on one another, and to put this on the stage in a way that's not only palpable, but riveting, and even comic -- without ever diminishing our comprehension of the horrors being perpetrated.
I have no idea if Shepard's plays meet the definition of "tragedy" (and Thank God I don't have to take a position on that). But one thing I know is that when I see, read, or hear one of his plays I come away with a severe case of almost giddy Catharsis -- which is, I suppose, what brings me back to him again and again.
Whatever the outcome Shepard is in contention for his startling ability to delineate the various degrees of obscene psychic cruelty that family members are capable of inflicting on one another, and to put this on the stage in a way that's not only palpable, but riveting, and even comic -- without ever diminishing our comprehension of the horrors being perpetrated.
I have no idea if Shepard's plays meet the definition of "tragedy" (and Thank God I don't have to take a position on that). But one thing I know is that when I see, read, or hear one of his plays I come away with a severe case of almost giddy Catharsis -- which is, I suppose, what brings me back to him again and again.
September 18, 2019
The eight plays in Fool for Love and Other Plays make a strong case that Sam Shepard was blessed beyond being tall and handsome with an enviable head of lasting hair. If you are the begrudging type, leave this book and the man’s legacy beyond it alone.
May 20, 2020
Favorite Plays:
— Fool for Love
— Action
— Cowboy Mouth
— Geography of a Horse Dreamer
— Fool for Love
— Action
— Cowboy Mouth
— Geography of a Horse Dreamer
Read
March 27, 2018This man was Pluto to the theatre universe. Despite what modern science says re Pluto’s status! He was in the same solar system but on a totally skewed orbit that was his own path, alone. I’ve been in “Fool for Love.” I’ve directed “Savage/Love.” I’ve seen (this year) “Action” and “Cowboy Mouth” as well as “True West” and “Curse of the Starving Class” back in the 80s. And I’ve read pretty much every script he published up to at least 1987. Every re-read/re-view is new. Never less than astonishing.
January 3, 2016
Loved Fool For Love, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, and Cowboy Mouth. Could take or leave the others.
July 11, 2023
Dopo averci riflettuto attentamente, ho deciso che il modo migliore per recensire questa raccolta fosse andare a parlare rapidamente di tutte le piece presenti – giusto un paio di righe ciascuna per non perdermi in commenti super generali e fiacchi. Come al solito, ci tengo a specificare che non sono un’esperta di teatro, però ogni tanto mi piace dedicare del tempo a questo tipo di letture. Soprattutto se mi sono consigliate da qualcuno.
Fool for love
Ovvero, il motivo per cui ho acquistato questo libro. Nonostante sapessi vagamente quali temi trattasse, sono rimasta comunque molto colpita dalla sua brevità e incisività – in pochissime pagine viene analizzata la reazione tra Eddie e May, densa di sottointesi e ancorata a un passato impossibile da trascurare. La chiusura è meravigliosa, di una potenza che non mi aspettavo considerando come stavano procedendo le cose.
Piccola nota finale: la messa in scena pensata da Shepard mi ha colpito tantissimo, tanto che sono riuscita a immaginarla alla perfezione.
Angel City
Ho la sensazione che questo sia un testo che meriti di essere letto (o visto) più di una volta. Infatti, nonostante la sovrastruttura stessa sembri abbastanza ovvia e chiara – si parla dell’industria di Hollywood e della creatività –, bastano poche pagine per ritrovarsi completamente spiazzati e non capire più niente.
Non riesco neppure a comprendere se in effetti mi sia piaciuto, a essere onesta. Certo è che la conclusione è decisamente inaspettata e, ancora una volta, molto potente.
Melodrama Play
Più vado avanti con la lettura, più sono sorpresa e allo stesso tempo intimorita dalle opere teatrali di Shepard. Questo è (appunto) un melodramma – ovverosia, tanta musica che sicuramente rende molto più in scena che su carta – ed è incentrato sulla storia di un cantante che, dopo aver prodotto una hit incredibile, non è stato più un grado di scrivere nulla di buono.
È una storia strana, che gioca sugli scambi e la confusione, e che nel complesso mi ha lasciato addosso un vago senso di viscido e inquietante che non mi aspettavo. In una parola: particolare.
Cowboy Mouth
Rapido, indolore e sorprendente. Si parte da quella che sembra essere la rappresentazione perfetta della sindrome di Stoccolma e si finisce a parlare di Dio e dalla musica. Sicuramente ha anche questo una dose di stranezza non indifferente, ma ho trovato Slim e Cavale dei personaggi interessantissimi, che avrebbero forse meritato un po’ più di spazio per essere capiti fino a fondo.
Menzione d’onore alle metafore animali e alcune battute lunghe che mi hanno letteralmente incantata.
Action
Non l’ho capito. Vorrei davvero dire qualcosa di intelligente, spiegare cose e fare analisi, ma onestamente non sono riuscita a capirci nulla. Mi sono rimaste in mente giusto un paio di battute lunghe e qualche immagine molto particolare, nulla di più.
Che devo dire? Accade.
Suicide in Bb
Nel complesso l’ho trovato interessante, visto che è una sorta di giallo ancora una volta incentrato sulla musica e diverse relazioni umane, però una parte di me è rimasta ancora una volta confusa da ciò che ha letto – soprattutto riguardo i movimenti di uno specifico personaggio, che è stato difficile capire dove fosse in scena e perché. Molto bello però il finale, che mi ha decisamente sorpresa.
Seduced
A mani basse, la sceneggiatura che ho preferito di più assieme a Fool for love. Arrivata a questo punto, ormai mi è semplice riconoscere i temi principali usati da Shepard – la musica e l’atto creativo sopra tutti, ma anche l’amore e le relazioni umane –, e ho trovato questo lavoro molto esemplificativo.
Henry e la sua decisione di allontanarsi dal mondo, di sparire completamente da esso, mi hanno affascinata, così come ho trovato costruita benissimo la tensione dal primo al secondo atto. La struttura è veramente fatta bene, tanto che mi sono ritrovata a divorarla in pochissimo.
Geography of a Horse Dreamer
Una piece diversa per chiudere in bellezza. Anche questa mi è piaciuta molto, probabilmente per il fatto che tenta di raccontare una storia più complessa e strutturata e per il leggero tocco sovrannaturale – che, tra l’altro, mi ha anche vagamento ricordato Maggie Stiefvater, ma dettagli.
L’unico aspetto che non mi ha convinta più di tanto è stata la chiusura che, per quanto sorprendente, ho trovato troppo improvvisa rispetto al resto.
3/5⭐
Fool for love
Ovvero, il motivo per cui ho acquistato questo libro. Nonostante sapessi vagamente quali temi trattasse, sono rimasta comunque molto colpita dalla sua brevità e incisività – in pochissime pagine viene analizzata la reazione tra Eddie e May, densa di sottointesi e ancorata a un passato impossibile da trascurare. La chiusura è meravigliosa, di una potenza che non mi aspettavo considerando come stavano procedendo le cose.
Piccola nota finale: la messa in scena pensata da Shepard mi ha colpito tantissimo, tanto che sono riuscita a immaginarla alla perfezione.
Angel City
Ho la sensazione che questo sia un testo che meriti di essere letto (o visto) più di una volta. Infatti, nonostante la sovrastruttura stessa sembri abbastanza ovvia e chiara – si parla dell’industria di Hollywood e della creatività –, bastano poche pagine per ritrovarsi completamente spiazzati e non capire più niente.
Non riesco neppure a comprendere se in effetti mi sia piaciuto, a essere onesta. Certo è che la conclusione è decisamente inaspettata e, ancora una volta, molto potente.
Melodrama Play
Più vado avanti con la lettura, più sono sorpresa e allo stesso tempo intimorita dalle opere teatrali di Shepard. Questo è (appunto) un melodramma – ovverosia, tanta musica che sicuramente rende molto più in scena che su carta – ed è incentrato sulla storia di un cantante che, dopo aver prodotto una hit incredibile, non è stato più un grado di scrivere nulla di buono.
È una storia strana, che gioca sugli scambi e la confusione, e che nel complesso mi ha lasciato addosso un vago senso di viscido e inquietante che non mi aspettavo. In una parola: particolare.
Cowboy Mouth
Rapido, indolore e sorprendente. Si parte da quella che sembra essere la rappresentazione perfetta della sindrome di Stoccolma e si finisce a parlare di Dio e dalla musica. Sicuramente ha anche questo una dose di stranezza non indifferente, ma ho trovato Slim e Cavale dei personaggi interessantissimi, che avrebbero forse meritato un po’ più di spazio per essere capiti fino a fondo.
Menzione d’onore alle metafore animali e alcune battute lunghe che mi hanno letteralmente incantata.
Action
Non l’ho capito. Vorrei davvero dire qualcosa di intelligente, spiegare cose e fare analisi, ma onestamente non sono riuscita a capirci nulla. Mi sono rimaste in mente giusto un paio di battute lunghe e qualche immagine molto particolare, nulla di più.
Che devo dire? Accade.
Suicide in Bb
Nel complesso l’ho trovato interessante, visto che è una sorta di giallo ancora una volta incentrato sulla musica e diverse relazioni umane, però una parte di me è rimasta ancora una volta confusa da ciò che ha letto – soprattutto riguardo i movimenti di uno specifico personaggio, che è stato difficile capire dove fosse in scena e perché. Molto bello però il finale, che mi ha decisamente sorpresa.
Seduced
A mani basse, la sceneggiatura che ho preferito di più assieme a Fool for love. Arrivata a questo punto, ormai mi è semplice riconoscere i temi principali usati da Shepard – la musica e l’atto creativo sopra tutti, ma anche l’amore e le relazioni umane –, e ho trovato questo lavoro molto esemplificativo.
Henry e la sua decisione di allontanarsi dal mondo, di sparire completamente da esso, mi hanno affascinata, così come ho trovato costruita benissimo la tensione dal primo al secondo atto. La struttura è veramente fatta bene, tanto che mi sono ritrovata a divorarla in pochissimo.
Geography of a Horse Dreamer
Una piece diversa per chiudere in bellezza. Anche questa mi è piaciuta molto, probabilmente per il fatto che tenta di raccontare una storia più complessa e strutturata e per il leggero tocco sovrannaturale – che, tra l’altro, mi ha anche vagamento ricordato Maggie Stiefvater, ma dettagli.
L’unico aspetto che non mi ha convinta più di tanto è stata la chiusura che, per quanto sorprendente, ho trovato troppo improvvisa rispetto al resto.
3/5⭐
July 3, 2011
AWFUL. I hated most if not all of these plays. I was surprised, considering how I thought True West was pretty good and he's supposed to be a renowned playwright and all. The best thing I can say about Fool for Love (the only one I even remember afterwards) was that it had an interesting sense of place. Other than that, it was implausible and unnatural to the point of the grotesque. It was well written, sure, but I ended the play not caring a single bit about the main characters and happy that it was over.
May 13, 2019
Aside from "Melodrama Play" which is a bit of a clunker, I thoroughly enjoyed all the plays in this collection and was particularly struck by how often Shepard deals with a profound desire to escape the self. You also really get a feel for his obsessions with role playing, self-deception, and control, and his restless way of pushing these preoccupations into different realms like romance ("Fool for Love"), jazz ("Suicide in B-flat"), dystopia ("Action"), and noir ("Geography for a Horse Dreamer"). Like "Seven Plays," this is one goddamned anthology I always want to see on my shelf.
January 3, 2018
Shepard's themes of the West, the pressured artist, the outside world vs. the inner world, and character as an abstract concept jump out on every page of his work. Each of these plays gives you a feeling when you read it. You are consumed by the force of these characters and the rhythm of the text if nothing else. I enjoyed getting a more in-depth look at Shepard, and Fool for Love is the ultimate masterpiece for me.
Fool for Love: *****
This play is so extremely visceral to me. As I read it I could hear the doors slam with a boom from the kick drum. Every word spoken seemed to carry so much weight. The stakes for these characters are higher than they have ever been, ever increasing with each interaction they share. Here we are witnessing the climax of their lives in this seedy motel. I want to perform this play so badly. I want to investigate May and figure out who she is and why she makes the decisions she does. I want to know what effect love has on her more than just making her a fool. The intensity of this play jumps off the page, and I dream of bringing it to life.
Angel City: ***1/2
"The term 'character' could be thought of in a different way when working on this play. Instead of the idea of a 'whole character' with logical motives behind his behavior which the actor submerges himself into, he should consider instead a fractured whole with bits and pieces of character flying off the central theme. In other words, more in terms of collage construction or jazz improvisation."
Understanding this note is crucial to reading this play. I felt thrown into this high-stakes story, flailing to latch on to any of the characters. It was as if each one was twisting and writhing just as I started to grasp them. I started thinking of the characters less as people and more as emotions and actions, which I felt was necessary after reading Ross Wetzsteon's introduction. This helped me get into the play more and stop thinking about what was happening and focus on how it made me feel.
Melodrama Play: ***1/2
As a deep look into how the pressure of creativity can crush us and everyone around us, this play works. I think of it as a hyper-focused look at that pressure as well as wrongly assigned identities as a result of the need to churn out content. I can't say this is my favorite of Shepard's work, but I appreciate when a writer is able to turn their inner thoughts so accurately into art.
Cowboy Mouth: ****
The true story of Sam and Patti. Pretty heartbreaking, touching story within about the ugly duckling. I wanna read this play 100 times and learn something new with each read.
Action: ***
This play is all over the place. It's very hard to follow, and I feel that it would be so appreciated by huge Sam Shepard fans. I hope to meet someone who is obsessed with Sam Shepard and can explain it to me in person.
Suicide in Bb: ****1/2
I liked this play. It gave me noir vibes and the air of mystery made it sexy. "Too much is demanded of the visionary" is what Ross Wetzsteon argues as Sam Shepard's point in many of his works. And I would agree. It's interesting that he's created these loose narratives that study the downfall of an artist under pressure, cutting the story of how they got there and pointing straight to the "Now what", dropping us into the aftermath. The jazziness matches perfectly that feeling of wanting to shed your current self and improvise a new life, as many times as it takes for you to feel removed.
Seduced: ***1/2
A pretty unlikable protagonist bosses people around. Though it was intriguing trying to figure out why we should sympathize with Henry, it was mostly frustrating as a lot of his actions are droning on about himself and bossing people around with an attitude. I enjoyed the presence of Luna and Miami, and the sequence set to "You can leave your hat on" by Randy Newman seemed visually provocative, but I'm not sure it fit the rest of the play for me. My favorite part was Luna seducing Henry with her 'femaleness'.
Geography of A Horse Dreamer: ***1/2
Again with the tortured, used up, pressured artist. Shepard tells this story well in so many of his plays, it's clearly personal for him. My favorite part while reading this play was tracking the arc of each character. They were all so distinct. Cody goes from externally tortured to a more internal suffering. He's not so much a prisoner of Santee and Beaujo, but now a prisoner of his own mind. Santee goes from demanding, no-bullshit boss to servant of Fingers. The descriptions of Fingers before his entrance paint him as the ultimate authority of power and intimidation, but his business with The Doctor leads us to make other assumptions. Each character has a lot to play with in this script. While the Deus Ex Machina provided a hopeful end for our protagonist, it also felt abrupt. I would have liked more of the brothers.
Fool for Love: *****
This play is so extremely visceral to me. As I read it I could hear the doors slam with a boom from the kick drum. Every word spoken seemed to carry so much weight. The stakes for these characters are higher than they have ever been, ever increasing with each interaction they share. Here we are witnessing the climax of their lives in this seedy motel. I want to perform this play so badly. I want to investigate May and figure out who she is and why she makes the decisions she does. I want to know what effect love has on her more than just making her a fool. The intensity of this play jumps off the page, and I dream of bringing it to life.
Angel City: ***1/2
"The term 'character' could be thought of in a different way when working on this play. Instead of the idea of a 'whole character' with logical motives behind his behavior which the actor submerges himself into, he should consider instead a fractured whole with bits and pieces of character flying off the central theme. In other words, more in terms of collage construction or jazz improvisation."
Understanding this note is crucial to reading this play. I felt thrown into this high-stakes story, flailing to latch on to any of the characters. It was as if each one was twisting and writhing just as I started to grasp them. I started thinking of the characters less as people and more as emotions and actions, which I felt was necessary after reading Ross Wetzsteon's introduction. This helped me get into the play more and stop thinking about what was happening and focus on how it made me feel.
Melodrama Play: ***1/2
As a deep look into how the pressure of creativity can crush us and everyone around us, this play works. I think of it as a hyper-focused look at that pressure as well as wrongly assigned identities as a result of the need to churn out content. I can't say this is my favorite of Shepard's work, but I appreciate when a writer is able to turn their inner thoughts so accurately into art.
Cowboy Mouth: ****
The true story of Sam and Patti. Pretty heartbreaking, touching story within about the ugly duckling. I wanna read this play 100 times and learn something new with each read.
Action: ***
This play is all over the place. It's very hard to follow, and I feel that it would be so appreciated by huge Sam Shepard fans. I hope to meet someone who is obsessed with Sam Shepard and can explain it to me in person.
Suicide in Bb: ****1/2
I liked this play. It gave me noir vibes and the air of mystery made it sexy. "Too much is demanded of the visionary" is what Ross Wetzsteon argues as Sam Shepard's point in many of his works. And I would agree. It's interesting that he's created these loose narratives that study the downfall of an artist under pressure, cutting the story of how they got there and pointing straight to the "Now what", dropping us into the aftermath. The jazziness matches perfectly that feeling of wanting to shed your current self and improvise a new life, as many times as it takes for you to feel removed.
Seduced: ***1/2
A pretty unlikable protagonist bosses people around. Though it was intriguing trying to figure out why we should sympathize with Henry, it was mostly frustrating as a lot of his actions are droning on about himself and bossing people around with an attitude. I enjoyed the presence of Luna and Miami, and the sequence set to "You can leave your hat on" by Randy Newman seemed visually provocative, but I'm not sure it fit the rest of the play for me. My favorite part was Luna seducing Henry with her 'femaleness'.
Geography of A Horse Dreamer: ***1/2
Again with the tortured, used up, pressured artist. Shepard tells this story well in so many of his plays, it's clearly personal for him. My favorite part while reading this play was tracking the arc of each character. They were all so distinct. Cody goes from externally tortured to a more internal suffering. He's not so much a prisoner of Santee and Beaujo, but now a prisoner of his own mind. Santee goes from demanding, no-bullshit boss to servant of Fingers. The descriptions of Fingers before his entrance paint him as the ultimate authority of power and intimidation, but his business with The Doctor leads us to make other assumptions. Each character has a lot to play with in this script. While the Deus Ex Machina provided a hopeful end for our protagonist, it also felt abrupt. I would have liked more of the brothers.
August 12, 2020
Don't grow up without reading this play. It's full of passion and hunger, pulsating with the pain and desire of living in our flesh. Read it, watch it, stage it. Nobody tells it like Sam.
December 9, 2022
some good plays, some lame plays, and no great plays.
December 13, 2023
The title play is 4.5 stars.
Several others held less for me. Nevertheless, I remain a Sam Shepard fan, since the 80s.
Several others held less for me. Nevertheless, I remain a Sam Shepard fan, since the 80s.
July 24, 2024
Cowboy Americana beam me up Jesus
August 5, 2024
Fool for Love is great! Action is fun to play (hard to read). Angel City is proto-True West (but weirder). Suicide in B Flat is fun but probably works better on the stage. Cowboy Mouth really only has magic with Sam and Patti. Seduced is underrated (and a new dream role)!!
October 22, 2025
a masterful American voice in the theater. best characters of his time.
November 6, 2025
fool for love wow
December 15, 2025
i want to do this play and i desperately want to be may
March 11, 2024
Beautiful…
January 12, 2021
Finished the whole thing on 1/12/21 by finally reading "Fool for Love," and I've adjusted my star rating accordingly. "Fool for Love," "Action," "Angel City," and "Geography of a Horse Dreamer" are all variations of great and very good. "Seduced," "Suicide in B Flat," and "Cowboy Mouth" all have their moments [all of the other plays have been reviewed and logged separately]. And, of course, my thoughts on "Melodrama Play" are below.
Notes on "Melodrama Play"
A fairly wild and abstract play that’s mostly about crabs and speaks to a greater sophistication w/r/t Shepard’s dialogue, and florid monologues (Carol has one about dying while skiing that’s fairly...visceral and also amazing). Loosely, as a vignette there’s a lot going on here regarding privilege and waste, the idea that those who have everything (or who have a lot) squander it either through obliviousness to others’ struggles, paranoia, or simple laziness. It’s kind of fascinating in that regard, and I’m not certain how literally we’re supposed to take the swimming portion of the proceedings. Is it Jim figuratively teaching the maid how to get ahead in life, or is it an illustration of how the lesson that’s true for him is far from true for her or for anyone else? A lot to unpack, and I’m starting to have my brain re-wired by these plays in interesting ways.
Will update this entry (and the rating) accordingly as I read the other plays included here.
Notes on "Melodrama Play"
A fairly wild and abstract play that’s mostly about crabs and speaks to a greater sophistication w/r/t Shepard’s dialogue, and florid monologues (Carol has one about dying while skiing that’s fairly...visceral and also amazing). Loosely, as a vignette there’s a lot going on here regarding privilege and waste, the idea that those who have everything (or who have a lot) squander it either through obliviousness to others’ struggles, paranoia, or simple laziness. It’s kind of fascinating in that regard, and I’m not certain how literally we’re supposed to take the swimming portion of the proceedings. Is it Jim figuratively teaching the maid how to get ahead in life, or is it an illustration of how the lesson that’s true for him is far from true for her or for anyone else? A lot to unpack, and I’m starting to have my brain re-wired by these plays in interesting ways.
Will update this entry (and the rating) accordingly as I read the other plays included here.
June 2, 2024
I picked this up in the late 90s after I discovered what a great playwright Sam Shepard was when assigned to study Buried Child a few years before in college. My favorites of this collection are "A Fool For Love", which has an easy setting and small cast that made the dialogue easy to follow and was a critique from Shepard on family, love, and responsibility, with a big reveal about halfway through; "Action", where a foursome of men and women try to celebrate Christmas under isolation in a cabin after some kind of cataclysmic event; and "Suicide in B", which features two detectives investigating a suspected suicide, two friends of the deceased who argue with the detectives, and finally, the presumed deceased and another friend.
March 3, 2017
Sam Shepard is the strange spiritual core of the American West. This book of plays is essential.
May 31, 2014
I really just wanted to read "Fool for Love" and "Suicide in B♭" because I wanted to compare them to Eugene O'Neill's early expressionism and saw more of it in "Fool For Love," where the characters subjectivism fuels the plot. Eddie's desire for May moves the plot along based on whether he really does want her (or not). For May, she feels Eddie does not want her, but is merely stringing her along. Here, the play becomes a departure from O'Neill because it's not allowing Eddie to become the sole authority on what he wants (or knowing what he does not want), but instead, it becomes an issue of "imagining" what he wants. Shepard steers more into Beckett territory at this point, where answers are created after the action. The play begins with Eddie showing up at hotel room, why? Well, Eddie starts to tell May it's because he's in love with her and no one really knows if this is true or not.
The blurring of what is real and imagined is more prevalent in "Suicide in B♭." Two detectives investigate whether a death is a suicide or murder and here once again, the action occurs first (murder) and then the answers must be formed after. But the idea of what kind of death seems so much like Beckett's "Waiting For Godot."There is a moment in "Waiting" where Estragon reminds Vladamir of how Vladamir saved him from drowning in the river. It's such a small sentence and I don't know how much scholarship has been devoted to it,and quite possibly could generate a great paper . . . but it would be worthwhile to consider it in terms that Estragon killed himself and that Vladamir pulled him out and the whole play is about figuring out whether they died in that moment, or are trying to re-create the moment. But I find this scene important to parallel with "Suicide in B♭" because not only are the detectives trying to create answers, but Niles and Paulette, who may, or may not be dead, are also trying to create answers as to whether Niles is dead (or not). It's such an interesting comparison between "Waiting" and "Suicide" that Shepard must devote great amounts of reading to Beckett.
I recently watched a documentary on Shepard about his relationship with Johnny Dark and in one of his letters, he mentions obsessing over Murphy, Molly, and Malone Dies, so I felt justified in making the connection and Shepard's language is so inspired by Beckett that a 3rd grader should be able to make the connection.
The blurring of what is real and imagined is more prevalent in "Suicide in B♭." Two detectives investigate whether a death is a suicide or murder and here once again, the action occurs first (murder) and then the answers must be formed after. But the idea of what kind of death seems so much like Beckett's "Waiting For Godot."There is a moment in "Waiting" where Estragon reminds Vladamir of how Vladamir saved him from drowning in the river. It's such a small sentence and I don't know how much scholarship has been devoted to it,and quite possibly could generate a great paper . . . but it would be worthwhile to consider it in terms that Estragon killed himself and that Vladamir pulled him out and the whole play is about figuring out whether they died in that moment, or are trying to re-create the moment. But I find this scene important to parallel with "Suicide in B♭" because not only are the detectives trying to create answers, but Niles and Paulette, who may, or may not be dead, are also trying to create answers as to whether Niles is dead (or not). It's such an interesting comparison between "Waiting" and "Suicide" that Shepard must devote great amounts of reading to Beckett.
I recently watched a documentary on Shepard about his relationship with Johnny Dark and in one of his letters, he mentions obsessing over Murphy, Molly, and Malone Dies, so I felt justified in making the connection and Shepard's language is so inspired by Beckett that a 3rd grader should be able to make the connection.
July 14, 2011
While plays like "Action" and "Seduced" have a sort of going-around-in-circles feeling to them, almost everything in this collection is well worth reading, both for the amount of disorientation from the world that they lead you to, and for their pure entertainment value. Shepard is funny in equal parts to how gruesome he can be at times, and also incredibly surreal.
My favorite play here is "Geography of a Horse Dreamer", seriously one of the strangest ideas for a play I have ever read, in which a man has been kidnapped and kept tied to a bed where he is supposed to dream up the winners of the horse races. It is bizarre but strangely, Shepard manages to make the plot feel like it's a natural thing, until there's a shift in the action that destroys the normalcy within the play.
Overall, an enjoyable set of plays.
My favorite play here is "Geography of a Horse Dreamer", seriously one of the strangest ideas for a play I have ever read, in which a man has been kidnapped and kept tied to a bed where he is supposed to dream up the winners of the horse races. It is bizarre but strangely, Shepard manages to make the plot feel like it's a natural thing, until there's a shift in the action that destroys the normalcy within the play.
Overall, an enjoyable set of plays.
September 30, 2015
Fool For Love is a perfect play. Although the other plays in the collection aren't as strong on their own, it is an extraordinary gift to have the opportunity to see the work that formed one of America's most prominent playwright.
From Action:
"The candles draw you. You get a cold feeling outside. Separated. You have an idea that being inside is cosier. Friendlier. Warmth. People. Conversation. Everyone using a language. Then you go inside. It's a shock. It's not like you expected. You lose what you had outside. You forget that there even is an outside. The inside is all you know. You hunt far a way of being with everyone. A way of finding how to behave. You find out what's expected of you. You act yourself out."
From Action:
"The candles draw you. You get a cold feeling outside. Separated. You have an idea that being inside is cosier. Friendlier. Warmth. People. Conversation. Everyone using a language. Then you go inside. It's a shock. It's not like you expected. You lose what you had outside. You forget that there even is an outside. The inside is all you know. You hunt far a way of being with everyone. A way of finding how to behave. You find out what's expected of you. You act yourself out."
February 13, 2009
If you are looking to read some of Shepard's more abstract plays, look no further than this collection. With the exception of Fool For Love, this collection of mostly one-acts hover around the same theme: The simulatanious idolization and destruction of the artist. My favorites: Suicide in Bflat and Geography of a Horse Dreamer. There is also a peice entitled Cowboy Mouth that he co-wrote and performed with his then girlfriend, Patti Smith. Crazy stuff! The plays were wonderful reads but I urge anyone to see them peformed if they are showing. The images are extremely provoking and haunting.
January 27, 2013
I just read Fool For Love. Larger than life characters at the end of their tethers. The crushing of the family (and I guess that implies the American Dream?). Untold secrets loom large, with the predictable shotgun ending. There was one passage where the male family character and his dad take a walk and the description drifted into Steinbeck. I guess once you know what theatrical style you're letting yourself in for then the bombshells aren't so bad. The theatre ticket should come with the caveat 'brace yourself' :). Would like to read something set in a more modern context, not a hut in the wilderness with shotguns on every wall.
March 16, 2008
I love Shepard. And "Fool for Love" is my favorite of his plays. I can't remember how I got turned on to it. But the sad, sexy, tragedy of this strange love "triangle" is delicious. I've seen the film with Basinger and Shepard and enjoyed it. I thought the chemistry burned well, if overall the film was a bit flat. Maybe I just liked seeing it performed. Shepard's stories work better through actors.
March 4, 2008
I LOVE this man. Fantastic playwright, with a weird and wonderfully imaginative mind. He's very insightful and entertaining. I love "Fool for Love" especially. I would love to see it staged, though the film version (with Shepard himself, Kim Basinger, and Harry Dean Stanton in the leads) is pretty damn cool. I own it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews