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Collected Plays #1
Mamet Plays: 1: Duck Variations; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; Squirrels; American Buffalo; The Water Engine; Mr Happiness
Duck Variations: "A brilliant little play...about two old men sitting on a park bench discussing ducks" (Guardian); Sexual Perversity in Chicago, bar-room banter and sexual exploits in Mamet's home town "sweet sad understanding and utterly believable" (Chicago Daily News); Squirrels is a sequence of philosophising between a younger writer, an older writer and a cleaning lady which "memorably captures the agony of the creative process" (Daily Telegraph); American Buffalo, one of Mamet's most famous plays, is set in a junk shop where Three small-time crooks plot to carry out the midnight robbery of a coin collection - in the hours leading up to the heist, friendship becomes the victim in a conflict between loyalty and business. The Water Engine is "a propulsive, kaleidoscopic nightmare" and Mr Happiness is a short ironic monologue by a Radio DJ commenting on the letters from his listeners.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 1994
8 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
David Mamet
228 books739 followersDavid Alan Mamet is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. His works are known for their clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue and arcane stylized phrasing, as well as for his exploration of masculinity.
As a playwright, he received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).
Mamet's recent books include The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary, with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; and Bambi vs. Godzilla, an acerbic commentary on the movie business.
As a playwright, he received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).
Mamet's recent books include The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary, with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; and Bambi vs. Godzilla, an acerbic commentary on the movie business.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 24, 2019
This was my first saunter into the plays of Mamet and I can't help but feel I took a wrong turn. Nothing in this collection really wowed me, in fact the only works that I warmed to were the final two, The Water Engine and its companion piece Mr. Happiness. Mamet's plays are overwhelmingly heterosexual. Straight men saying horrible things very quickly. It's quite tiring.
February 1, 2025
It’s like overhearing a conversation on a bus, someone talking on speaker phone. Mamet tries to forge a large metaphorical connection between the ducks and these friend’s ideas on natural law, friendship, and their coming deaths through George & Emil’s bumbling cut-off, natural conversation as they sit and watch the ducks in a Chicago park. sometimes it really is just these things, just life. it is simply and quaint-ly a masterpiece of dialogue. you ever hear someone say offhandedly a thing that sticks with you forever? this is the closest comparison I have.
February 12, 2019
David Mamet’s dialogue is absolutely spot-on. I love the way his characters lose their train of thought, interrupt each other, say things under their breath, say one thing but mean an other… etc etc. The reason I started writing these sort of plays myself.
Duck Variations
Two men on a bench in a park, discussing, quite humorously, ducks, and touching on many different subjects while they’re at it.
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Two men (Danny and Bernie) in Chicago over the coarse over a few months. They talk and fantasise about women. Bernie tells the strangest stories about weird sex with women and clearly is the more perverse of the two, whereas Danny is more reserved, yet goes along with the act.
Two women, living together; Deborah and Joan. Deborah meets Danny and they go from having sex to moving in together, something Joan is not happy about. Danny and Deborah then fight and break up. Danny and Bernie end up on the beach women-watching, in their own, crude way.
Squirrels
Two writers are stuck on a story involving a man in a park and his encounter with a squirrel. Even the cleaning lady gives it a go, but they get nowhere.
American Buffalo
A pawn shop owner sells a nickel (the American Buffalo) and suspects it’s worth much more than he sold it for. Together with some poker friends he sets out to rob the customer’s house and get the nickel back, but things go different than planned and the burglary never takes place.
The Water Engine
Charles Lang invents a machine that runs on water and contacts a lawyer for a patent, but ends up taken advantage of and finds himself cornered and eventually, together with his sister, killed.
Mr Happiness
A conservative radio host receives and reads letters from people asking advice on their problems.
Duck Variations
Two men on a bench in a park, discussing, quite humorously, ducks, and touching on many different subjects while they’re at it.
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Two men (Danny and Bernie) in Chicago over the coarse over a few months. They talk and fantasise about women. Bernie tells the strangest stories about weird sex with women and clearly is the more perverse of the two, whereas Danny is more reserved, yet goes along with the act.
Two women, living together; Deborah and Joan. Deborah meets Danny and they go from having sex to moving in together, something Joan is not happy about. Danny and Deborah then fight and break up. Danny and Bernie end up on the beach women-watching, in their own, crude way.
Squirrels
Two writers are stuck on a story involving a man in a park and his encounter with a squirrel. Even the cleaning lady gives it a go, but they get nowhere.
American Buffalo
A pawn shop owner sells a nickel (the American Buffalo) and suspects it’s worth much more than he sold it for. Together with some poker friends he sets out to rob the customer’s house and get the nickel back, but things go different than planned and the burglary never takes place.
The Water Engine
Charles Lang invents a machine that runs on water and contacts a lawyer for a patent, but ends up taken advantage of and finds himself cornered and eventually, together with his sister, killed.
Mr Happiness
A conservative radio host receives and reads letters from people asking advice on their problems.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2021
These plays have high shock value. I didn’t love them, nor did I hate them. Some of the dialogue was charming (I enjoyed Mr Happiness), but I can’t really speak to how the others were. Nevertheless, it reminded me of modern French plays in its crudeness but also in its everyday flair of dialogue.
March 4, 2015
Well, I can see that it's clever. I can see that it's an interesting comment on society and how certain things are viewed. Did I enjoy it? No. Just not my thing.
March 29, 2025
I was amazed by these plays. They are absurdist, peculiar, funny, disturbing and sharp. Some of the dialogue reminds me of verbal exchanges in the short stories of Donald Barthelme, but they are rather nastier. The first play in this volume, Duck Variations, is perhaps the most innocous. It is offbeat, seemingly inconsequential and eccentric. As soon as I began reading it, I knew I was going to become an admirer of David Mamet.
However, nothing in this first play prepared me for the savage genius of Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which is a really remarkable work. It's unpleasant but also very true, even though the truths are not granted mimetically but are cast in the form of absurdist exaggerations. The dialogue is an assault on the senses, funny but with a slant to the humour that isn't even the slant one associates with dark humour: it's somehow more visceral than I was prepared for. Brutal and brilliant and more witty than it has any right to be.
Squirrels is the most obtuse and cryptic play in this book, in my view. It's about the creative process. Again there seem to be Barthelme techniques at play. It affected me less deeply than the plays that come immediately before and after it. It's almost like a soft buffer between those grimmer works.
American Buffalo is like a warped Ionesco version of a Scorsese gangster film. The characters speak over each other, ignore each other, even ignore themselves. The plot, such as it is, involves the planning of a heist, but almost from the very beginning it is clear that nothing will happen. Even the basic notion of preparing a plan is thwarted by the stubbornness and pride of the protagonists and their unwillingness to admit defeat in anything whatsoever, no matter how trivial.
The Water Engine is perhaps my favourite play in this collection. It outlines a tragedy that is horribly ironic and pertinent to our age, and the complex layering of the contributory voices to the development of what is essentially a betrayal of the entire human race, is expertly done. I regard this as not just a magnificent play but as a work of genius.
The final play in the book, Mr Happiness, is the only one that left me feeling less than utterly enthralled. It's extremely short, more a sketch than a play, and it seems to me to be partly inspired by Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts. It can be read quickly and then forgotten about. But I don't think I will forget the other five plays in this book anytime soon.
However, nothing in this first play prepared me for the savage genius of Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which is a really remarkable work. It's unpleasant but also very true, even though the truths are not granted mimetically but are cast in the form of absurdist exaggerations. The dialogue is an assault on the senses, funny but with a slant to the humour that isn't even the slant one associates with dark humour: it's somehow more visceral than I was prepared for. Brutal and brilliant and more witty than it has any right to be.
Squirrels is the most obtuse and cryptic play in this book, in my view. It's about the creative process. Again there seem to be Barthelme techniques at play. It affected me less deeply than the plays that come immediately before and after it. It's almost like a soft buffer between those grimmer works.
American Buffalo is like a warped Ionesco version of a Scorsese gangster film. The characters speak over each other, ignore each other, even ignore themselves. The plot, such as it is, involves the planning of a heist, but almost from the very beginning it is clear that nothing will happen. Even the basic notion of preparing a plan is thwarted by the stubbornness and pride of the protagonists and their unwillingness to admit defeat in anything whatsoever, no matter how trivial.
The Water Engine is perhaps my favourite play in this collection. It outlines a tragedy that is horribly ironic and pertinent to our age, and the complex layering of the contributory voices to the development of what is essentially a betrayal of the entire human race, is expertly done. I regard this as not just a magnificent play but as a work of genius.
The final play in the book, Mr Happiness, is the only one that left me feeling less than utterly enthralled. It's extremely short, more a sketch than a play, and it seems to me to be partly inspired by Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts. It can be read quickly and then forgotten about. But I don't think I will forget the other five plays in this book anytime soon.
June 16, 2022
American Buffalo *** -- This is an interesting portrait of less than esteemed members of society. It’s notable (infamous?) for its coarse language and imitation of actual American speech. Like Pinter (without the absurdity), Mamet provides a snapshot of the life of people not normally featured in plays.
This is not the style of theatre I prefer, but it has a certain power. If you enjoy the Pinteresque Theater of Menace, you will enjoy this play.
This is not the style of theatre I prefer, but it has a certain power. If you enjoy the Pinteresque Theater of Menace, you will enjoy this play.
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June 18, 2025Had found myself watching some of Mamet’s films this year, so when I saw this in a charity shop I felt like I had to pick it up. Actually so nice to change track and read some plays - Mamet has such a distinct way of writing dialogue. It’s nice to see his voice develop over the plays - American Buffalo was my favourite.
March 12, 2024
Ranking of the plays in this collection (from best to worst)
1. American Buffalo
2. The Water Engine
3. Sexual Perversity in Chicago
4. Squirrels
5. Duck Variations
6. Mr Happiness
But I only really enjoyed reading the top two on the list.
1. American Buffalo
2. The Water Engine
3. Sexual Perversity in Chicago
4. Squirrels
5. Duck Variations
6. Mr Happiness
But I only really enjoyed reading the top two on the list.
August 15, 2018
Didn’t care for the others, but American Buffalo and The Water Engine are worth the price of admission.
September 9, 2008
Years ago I’d seen a performance of ‘Sexual Perversity’, my first exposure to Mamet, and the heavily diluted film “About Last Night”. Unfortunately I missed Pacino doing American Buffalo (and before that the stellar cast of Robert Duvall, John Savage and Kenneth McMillan), but saw the Dustin Hoffman filmed version. This pre-exposure sometimes hurts (I can still hear Jim Belushi delivering some of the lines from a viewing 20-something years ago) and other times doesn’t do anything (nothing about Hoffman is in my memory). Maybe sometime it helps.
Squirrels I had never heard of before. And after having recently seen the Kevin Spacey/Jeff Goldblum version of Speed the Plow (and having seen the infamous Madonna version 20 years before that), not in any way a good play, I can’t but wonder why they didn’t choose Squirrels instead. Far funnier and far more biting toward the ‘creative process’ of film etc etc etc.
All in all, a fine collection of Mamet’s early work.
The Duck Variations ***00 (3 stars)
Sexual Perversity in Chicago ***00
Squirrels ****0
American Buffalo ****0
The Water Engine ***00
Mr Happiness **000
Squirrels I had never heard of before. And after having recently seen the Kevin Spacey/Jeff Goldblum version of Speed the Plow (and having seen the infamous Madonna version 20 years before that), not in any way a good play, I can’t but wonder why they didn’t choose Squirrels instead. Far funnier and far more biting toward the ‘creative process’ of film etc etc etc.
All in all, a fine collection of Mamet’s early work.
The Duck Variations ***00 (3 stars)
Sexual Perversity in Chicago ***00
Squirrels ****0
American Buffalo ****0
The Water Engine ***00
Mr Happiness **000
September 19, 2014
The rhythm, cadence and wit of Mamet's dialogue simply has very few rivals. It's great music.
January 7, 2024
My favorite ones: American Buffalo and The Water Engine.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews