This is required reading for anyone passionate about the theater, acting, and the teaching of it. The struggles of a young actor, the actor/director relationship, the challenges of teaching art in universities, ageism, and techniques for teaching realistic acting are all communicated through a fictional series of letters between Andy, an anguished young New York City actor and Alice, his Quaker grade-school acting teacher.
I foolishly lent this to a friend and haven't found it since ... but I will eventually. It's the kind of book that settles in a person's skin and can't stop being felt a decade-plus later.