Goldberg Street: Short Plays and Monologues

by David Mamet

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross , here is a collection of thirty-two one-act plays and short dramatic pieces that David Mamet himself considers to be some of the best writing he has ever done. In this single volume are all seven plays that makeup Vermont Sketches , which Frank Rich of The New York Times has called ‘remarkable . . . as terrifying as a stranglehold.” Here also are the six plays that The Blue Hour , The Spanish Prisoner , and Goldberg Street comprise, and seventeen more short pieces from one of our greatest living playwrights.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

David 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.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many of these shorts interest only as attempts to capture how people talk.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

These short plays are like little turd nuggets that have been mashed together to form the colossal pile of shit that is this book. David Mamet once wrote that ABC is Always Be Closing. I wish I had always been closing this book. Instead I am forever marked by its thick stench of naval-gazing pomposity.

[Liv · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, David Mamet is not for me. I find him too bossy of a playwright, putting in all of the emphasis, pauses, overlaps, and vocal affectations, instead of allowing for an actor or director to make performance decisions. Most of the short plays in this collection are mashups of simultaneous dialogue, where characters without definition are either talking AT each other about five different things, or about nothing--or more likely, five different nothings.

The monologues provide more meat, and there are a few plays that stand out: 4 a.m., the Blue Hour Sketches, and All Men Are Whores, which eliminates dialogue and is just alternating monologues, but most of its appeal is just in imagining the original 1977 cast with Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a rule, these types of anthologies are uneven but overall, this is an excellent resource for writers and actors. The short plays are most uneven--most are sketches at best and, occasionally, idiosyncratic verbal tics. The monologues are great though, vivid and filled with actors' treats.

[Matt Martell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried my best to read between the lines, piece characters together, and look for meaning in different angles but I was either missing it or it wasn't there.

[James Binz · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding example of Mamet dialogue. a truly special skill.

[Ben Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

These so called "experiments" in verbal rhythm are so much fun to read aloud that I must look a little unhinged whispering them to myself in Starbucks. These really ought to be heard and seen, rather than read, but if you can conjure up a little William H. Macy on your shoulder to read these short plays and monologues to you, you will be stimulated and delighted by each one.

[Kenning JP Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the Mamet we're used to. It's better. Quick. Quirky. Experimental. These dialogues and monologues work with sound and insight into interpersonal convergences/interruptions/occurrences. Everyday and routine realistic situations are on display. It's Mamet minus the bombast.

[Chloe Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Variable quality. Some really detailed observations of snapshots of interaction and conversation.