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Love Letters and Two Other Plays: The Golden Age, What I Did Last Summer
FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA
In such critically acclaimed plays as The Dining Room and The Cocktail Hour , A. R. Gurney has wittily captured the manners of upper-middle-class WASP America, but never as gracefully or with such dazzling economy as in Love Letters . Tracing the lifelong correspondence of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner, the story of their bittersweet relationship gradually unfolds from what is written—and what is left unsaid—in their letters. A smash hit both off and on Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a precision of detail and depth of feeling that only Gurney can command. Two other, thematically related plays by Gurney, The Golden Age and What I Did Last Summer , are included, providing a trio of wry and affectionate paeans to love lost, found, and fleetingly glimpsed.
In such critically acclaimed plays as The Dining Room and The Cocktail Hour , A. R. Gurney has wittily captured the manners of upper-middle-class WASP America, but never as gracefully or with such dazzling economy as in Love Letters . Tracing the lifelong correspondence of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner, the story of their bittersweet relationship gradually unfolds from what is written—and what is left unsaid—in their letters. A smash hit both off and on Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a precision of detail and depth of feeling that only Gurney can command. Two other, thematically related plays by Gurney, The Golden Age and What I Did Last Summer , are included, providing a trio of wry and affectionate paeans to love lost, found, and fleetingly glimpsed.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
8 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 19, 2020
I really enjoyed this.
October 1, 2016
"Most of the things I did with her partly in mind. And if I said or did an inauthentic thing, I could almost hear her groaning over my shoulder."
The edition I found at the library only has Love Letters, no other plays, so this review is about Love Letters.
I saw the stage performance of this play some time ago, in the late 90s, just two actors sitting and vocalizing their lines. And it was funny and lovely. In a sense, they are very different; a conservative man who likes writing and a wacky woman who likes art. But they are also similar, coming from the same community, and having difficulty understanding oneself and love.
I don't think the ideal ending of a love story is the two getting married. (Of course, it's a lot story. They like each other enough to keep lifelong correspondences.) If you are also on this camp, you might like this.
The edition I found at the library only has Love Letters, no other plays, so this review is about Love Letters.
I saw the stage performance of this play some time ago, in the late 90s, just two actors sitting and vocalizing their lines. And it was funny and lovely. In a sense, they are very different; a conservative man who likes writing and a wacky woman who likes art. But they are also similar, coming from the same community, and having difficulty understanding oneself and love.
I don't think the ideal ending of a love story is the two getting married. (Of course, it's a lot story. They like each other enough to keep lifelong correspondences.) If you are also on this camp, you might like this.
July 4, 2017
With the recent passing of A.R. Gurney, I wanted to re-read Love Letters. It still made me cry at the end; such beautiful dialogue, powerful story.
The other plays were new to me and I enjoyed them as well. "The Golden Age" was a sweet take on James' "The Aspern Papers," and "What I Did Last Summer" really hit home for me reading it now, as the mother of a 14 year old boy in the summer. I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Gurney, and hopefully there will be a revival of his work on a local stage.
The other plays were new to me and I enjoyed them as well. "The Golden Age" was a sweet take on James' "The Aspern Papers," and "What I Did Last Summer" really hit home for me reading it now, as the mother of a 14 year old boy in the summer. I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Gurney, and hopefully there will be a revival of his work on a local stage.
February 7, 2015
✭✭✭½
Incorporates:
Love Letters, A. R. Gurney (1988). ✭✭✭½
What I Did Last Summer, A. R. Gurney (1983). Not yet read.
The Golden Age, A. R. Gurney (1984). Not yet read.
Incorporates:
Love Letters, A. R. Gurney (1988). ✭✭✭½
What I Did Last Summer, A. R. Gurney (1983). Not yet read.
The Golden Age, A. R. Gurney (1984). Not yet read.
January 15, 2018
The love story between Andrew and Melissa is heartbreaking in that it spanned for decades, with timing troubles plaguing the couple (when one was ready, the other was in a relationship or not ready to settle down), and that it evades the happy endings that I hold so dear. Their love seems painstakingly real, captured in correspondence, leaving the reader to assume what happens in between (a very nice touch).
January 1, 2025
My quest for the script of Tumhari Amrita lead me to the play which inspired it. Love letters is a brilliant tale of two friends through missives to each other over fifty years of their lives, the other two plays are okayish at best. Love letters is brilliant.
June 7, 2021
Gurney is a good playright. Love Letters is the hook for reading his other works.
May 8, 2024
Solid Gurney.
February 25, 2017
I confess I only read/skimmed the first play. Enough to know not to continue.
January 12, 2009
This lovely script has been read by several folks since the last entry. It has done the rounds with my non-BookCrossing friends, who all thought it wonderful.
As I was reading it, particularly in the beginning, I couldn't stop chuckling. I Kept imagining the how it would be staged as well, and some of the wonderful folks who brought Melissa and Andy to life.
I am blessed with several close friends who believe in keeping in touch by letter and email. It really is a gift and a treasure to be able to read over those correspondences. I think I side with Andy on the value of the written word over the telephone, but like to hear someone's voice, too.
All in all, I found this a lovely, poignant recounting and I will have difficulty deciding which BookCrosser should receive this next. I'd hate for it to get lost in the wild....
As I was reading it, particularly in the beginning, I couldn't stop chuckling. I Kept imagining the how it would be staged as well, and some of the wonderful folks who brought Melissa and Andy to life.
I am blessed with several close friends who believe in keeping in touch by letter and email. It really is a gift and a treasure to be able to read over those correspondences. I think I side with Andy on the value of the written word over the telephone, but like to hear someone's voice, too.
All in all, I found this a lovely, poignant recounting and I will have difficulty deciding which BookCrosser should receive this next. I'd hate for it to get lost in the wild....
February 3, 2016
It's been some time since I read a play; however, because I will be seeing Love Letters with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal during its Boston run, I decided to read the play. It is so easy to picture these two actors reading 50 years of correspondence that started in second grade. Melissa and Andrew blend and become Jenny and Oliver of 45 years ago. And the ending? Well, let's just say I will once again have the tissues at hand on Saturday afternoon.
Andrew on writing letters...
As you know, I've always like to write letters. I decided I might do better trying to write laws, which, after all, are the letters that civilization writes to itself.
The other two plays in the book, The Golden Age and What I Did Last Summer were good but just didn't hold the same appeal to me as did Love Letters.
Andrew on writing letters...
As you know, I've always like to write letters. I decided I might do better trying to write laws, which, after all, are the letters that civilization writes to itself.
The other two plays in the book, The Golden Age and What I Did Last Summer were good but just didn't hold the same appeal to me as did Love Letters.
May 14, 2014
I love his working and I have seen some of it actually performed live . This is supposed to be done with only two actors and they just sit there reading these letters back and forth, it does not seem like effective acting but done right this play I found very moving. So far I've only read love letters but I would like to read the others soon. It is a wonderfully told story of young pen pals that grow to be more, but things take a turn for the words as they get older. And how they have a great relation ship but he gets to caught up with getting his feelings down on a page that he forgets what is in from of him. I would never change a thing about this book.
May 27, 2014
Awful, awful, awful. Please stop treating this as if it's anything other than awful. Stop putting this on stage; it's awful. Two awful people writing awful letters to each other, some of which are only a few awful words long. This awful "play" is a waste of time, paper, and postage.
Awful.
PS - Did I say it's awful? Because it is.
Awful.
PS - Did I say it's awful? Because it is.
November 29, 2007
Rated only on the title play, which I thought was fantastic. Reminded me of something you'd have seen directed by George Cukor, starring maybe Gary Cooper and Irene Dunne, a cinematic coupling I don't think ever happened, but should have...
May 7, 2008
Read this play in high school English senior year and read it again and again year after year.
Read
June 8, 2018Spring 2002 Mannocchi
October 6, 2008
Love Letters is respectable, but there's really only so much Gurney I can read in one sitting before I get really restless. He's competent, but he doesn't tend to excite me.
Read
December 4, 2008Love Letters and Two Other Plays : The Golden Age, What I Did Last Summer (Plume Drama) by A. R. Gurney (1990)
March 15, 2009
Love Letters is my favorite play of all time. Romantic, funny, heartbreaking, haunting. I quote it all the time. And I saw it on Broadway with Timothy Hutton. What could be bad?
May 5, 2009
Touching plays.
June 12, 2009
Cute story. I read the Golden Age. Very comical. Themes related to the Great Gatsby. I think Gurney looked up to Fitzgerald.
July 27, 2009
The play love letters has some really beautiful thoughts about the richness of writing and the importance correspondence can play on our lives.
December 8, 2009
I really liked all three of the "plays" in this book. However, while I enjoyed reading them, I am almost entirely certain that I would not have liked them had I seen them in the theatre.
February 8, 2012
didn't really like the last 2 plays. loved love letters!
August 29, 2012
So far I have only read "The Love Letters", but it was absolutely amazing. Just the right mix of snarky humor and heartfelt sentiment.
April 21, 2014
Loved this play!
November 13, 2015
Absolutely amazing play. I love it. Took me a bit to get into it, but then it hit my heart and hit real fast. Definitely recommend it!!
Want to read
April 4, 2008I have read The Golden Age, would like to read the other two.
June 7, 2008
great plays
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews