Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman: What Men Know About Success that Women Need to Learn

Average customer rating:

THE BEST book on Success in the business arena for Women!

Gail Evans is my new hero!

My wife loved it.

Also applies to women who own a business or are self-employed

Common Sense Reminders

Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman: What Men Know About Success that Women Need to Learn
Gail Evans
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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She Wins, You Win

ASIN: 076790463X
Release Date: 2001-09-11

Amazon.com

The fact that there are few women occupying top-level positions in corporate America has, for a long time, been blamed on a ubiquitous "glass ceiling." But according to Gail Evans, this is a tired myth implying a woman is a "person-who's-done-to instead of a person-who's-doing." In Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, CNN's ebullient--and successful--executive vice president puts forth a new thesis: women are not in star positions because they haven't yet learned how to play the game.

The game of business is played on a field where males have been comfortable since they were very young, says Evans. It's a game where winning is the obvious (and only) objective and where aggression, self-promotion, a tough skin, and an effective display of power are the signs of a winner. Women, on the other hand, enter the game disadvantaged, having been taught to be cooperative rather than competitive, to enjoy the process rather than simply the result, and to seek approval rather than assume success. In her entertaining, informative, and practical book, Evans sets out to level the playing field by providing instructions on how men play and by teaching women to play smarter and win on their own terms. In one section, where she offers such advice as "Toot Your Own Horn," "Accept Uncertainty," and "Be an Imposter," Evans presents a common business scenario. She shows the typical male and female responses to it, analyzes the problem with the woman's reaction, and offers advice on what to do differently. Writing in light, accessible prose, Evans supports her observations with both personal and professional anecdotes and covers the gamut of women's experiences on the corporate path. Evans's message is inspiring: women can learn to play the game as well as any man and bring with them a unique set of skills and experiences.

It's impossible to ignore a woman who has reached the top of her profession in a tough business and is still prepared to claim that "everything I ever needed to know about business I learned driving the car pool." --S. Ketchum

Book Description

Women make up almost half of today's labor force, but in corporate America they don't share half of the power. Only four of the Fortune 500 company CEOs are women, and it's only been in the last few years that even half of the Fortune 500 companies have more than one female officer.

A major reason for this? Most women were never taught how to play the game of business.

Throughout her career in the supercompetitive, male-dominated media industry, Gail Evans, one of the country's most powerful executives, has met innumerable women who tell her that they feel lost in the workplace, almost as if they were playing a game without knowing the directions.

She tells them that's exactly the case: Business is indeed a game, and like any game, there are rules to playing well. For the most part, Gail has discovered, women don't know them.

Men know these rules because they wrote them, but women often feel shut out of the process because they don't know when to speak up, when to ask for responsibility, what to say at an interview, and a lot of other key moves that can make or break a career.

Now, in her book Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, Gail Evans reveals the secrets to the playbook of success and teaches women at all levels of the organization--from assistant to vice president--how to play the game of business to their advantage.

Sharing with humor and candor her years of lessons from corporate life, Gail Evans gives readers practical tools for making the right decisions at work. Among the rules you will learn are:

• How to Keep Score at Work
• When to Take a Risk
• How to Deal with the Imposter Syndrome
• Ten Vocabulary Words That Mean Different Things to Men and Women
• Why Men Can be Ugly, and You Can't
• When to Quit Your Job

Evans is not saying that every woman has to play exactly by men's rules--not at all. Women bring many inherent traits to the workplace that can provide them with a potential advantage over men, such as a woman's ability to form relationships, or her intuition. But women do need to know the basic rules so that they can understand the full consequences of their every action and how it makes an impact on their career.

An honest and practical handbook that reveals important insights into relationships between men and women and work, Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman, is a must-read for every woman who wants to leverage her power in the workplace.

Customer Reviews:

THE BEST book on Success in the business arena for Women!.......2007-04-21

I love this book! Easy to read. Easy to understand. Uses real examples of situations and shows you your choice for action. Basic Premise is *Here is the situation* & here are your choices as to how to handle it* ~Make your own decision as to how you want to do it, just be aware of your choices and their implications. I will read this one again!!

Gail Evans is my new hero!.......2007-03-19

The knowledge that men and women function differently isn't new and there are plenty of books on the topic already. Most of the books I've read on the subject do a great job of identifying our differences and how men and women communicate or socialise but aren't so good at discussing anything real about how we behave in the workplace. Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman is all about how we work, how we are perceived and motivating factors for success.

Gail Evans is my new hero on the topic of career success for women. She writes from her own experience with real life anecdotes from other men and women in management roles. Her style is very easy to read, pleasantly candid, and often humourous which really is refreshing for this type of book. I find a lot of books on gender relations to be overly serious and a bit too textbook for my taste. Evans also counsels women to be themselves and not try to be men but to retain uniquely female qualities such as intuition and emotional intelligence, something that can be lacking from women working at executive level these days.

This book is an excellent resource for women in business at any level but particularly useful for new grads or women working in entry level roles who don't have a great deal of experience with the politics and strategy of dealing with men in management roles. This would also be an extremely valuable read for any men working in a classic male dominated heirarchic management structure with a predominantly female workforce (i.e. health, education).

My wife loved it........2007-02-15

I bought this for my wife who works in a male dominated field. She loved this book and she talks about it all the time. I'm shocked she read it! Now I'm looking for my chance to sneak a read of it when she wont notice it missing from her book shelf. Trust me, if MY wife read it and liked it, it must be one damn good book. Maybe I'll buy my own copy and read it - I think I will. Second review to follow...

Also applies to women who own a business or are self-employed.......2006-12-31

Gail Evans provides very practical advice in a very matter of fact way. As a consultant and trainer for Woman Owned Businesses I always look at women's business books from the woman-owned angle. Although the book is written primarily for women that are employees, almost everything in it is applicable to women who own businesses or are self-employed. One of the best parts of the book is the guidance on "getting picked for the Team." The "rules" in this section definantly apply to women business owners in negotiation and especially in marketing their products and services. There are several places in the book where Ms Evans points out that women don't ask, often waiting to be asked. This approach will not work if a woman business owner is seeking financing or selling her products/services. The advice in this section could help make a huge difference for women business owners. The very best advice in the book is about how women can use their relationship orientation and skills wisely and to advantage; women business owners can apply this to running and marketing their business. One other very good section is the explanation about "Yes is Yes." Unfortunately, we women don't always accept a Yes immediately, but continue explaining, seeking reassurance or justifying. I would recommend this book to any of my Woman Owned Business clients and workshop attendees.

Common Sense Reminders.......2006-10-23

Frankly, reading the comments here was almost as much fun as reading the book. A couple of really negative reviews from guys who sound terribly bitter, one bad review from someone who thought she didn't know what she was talking about because he/she disagreed with a particular television report that she had a hand in producting, one negative comment because ... she had gotten too many positive comments before and just needed to be knocked down a notch? Not entirely sure if I got the gist of that one. A couple of middling to negative reviews from people who thought she was dead wrong. And then the majority of positive reviews who seem to think she brought some of these rules down after a chat with a burning bush.

Here's the thing - there are some tidbits of insight in here, but most of it is just common sense. Unfortunately, it's common sense that is easy to forget when you're caught up in the politics of an office. Sometimes the best lessons are the short reminders to get back to basics, and this book certainly does that.

There's nothing BAD in this book - all she says is that if you want to get ahead in a man's world, you at least have to know the rules. You aren't obligated to play by them, but don't get all testy when you don't get what you want. In fact, you don't even have to play at all. But why not use your knowledge of the game to get ahead? Why not take the path of least resistance?

Average customer rating:

Had to read it for class but still....
Brilliant, and yet...
Proof is in the pudding
There Is No Place In Life For Prime Numbers
Two beautiful minds

Proof: A Play
David Auburn
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0571199976

Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

One of the most acclaimed plays of the 1999-2000 season, Proof is a work that explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of science.

It focuses on Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her father, Robert, a brilliant mathematician in his youth who was later unable to function without her help. His death has brought into her midst both her sister, Claire, who wants to take Catherine back to New York with her, and Hal, a former student of Catherine's father who hopes to find some hint of Robert's genius among his incoherent scribblings. The passion that Hal feels for math both moves and angers Catherine, who, in her exhaustion, is torn between missing her father and resenting the great sacrifices she made for him. For Catherine has inherited at least a part of her father's brilliance -- and perhaps some of his instability as well. As she and Hal become attracted to each other, they push at the edges of each other's knowledge, considering not only the unpredictability of genius but also the human instinct toward love and trust.

Customer Reviews:

Had to read it for class but still...........2007-09-28

I'm a journalism major and was required to take some form of art class, so I chose Theater 101. This isn't a bad play, in fact when I first heard the synopsis, I thought my God what a terribly boring concept for a play. The dialog and character development is what changed my attitude. I know among college students this is a requirement (pending on your professor) but for all you future playwrights out there, give it a try.

Brilliant, and yet..........2007-08-27

Proof, by David Auburn, is a compelling and tautly beautiful play, ringing with a quiet elegance. Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, I was introduced to it through the 2005 movie, which now having read the play I realize was an extremely good adaptation, as well as a very good film in its own right. It's the story of Catherine, a brilliant but somewhat neurotic mathematics student who has lived all her life in the shadow of her famous father, a groundbreaking mathematician revered the world over. The play begins with a dialogue between Catherine and her father, in which he berates her for wasting her potential, while gradually, during the course of it, we discover that her father is insane, and has been for quite some time. He is living in semi-seclusion while Catherine looks after him. Then, as the conversation goes on, we - and Catherine - realize that her father is dead; as he calmly informs her "Heart failure. Quick. The funeral's tomorrow." From there, we are slowly sucked into a drama of at once deep intensity and lyrical lightness. Abruptly deprived of the man who, for better or worse, was the center of her existence for all her life, Catherine finds herself having to cope with life and relationships beyond her father, as Harold, a graduate student of her father's, begins going through all her father's journals to see if by some chance he wrote anything significant during his recent years of insanity. Catherine, immediately defensive and certain that her father wrote nothing but graphomaniac scribbles during the last few years, throws him out of the house. Claire is the fourth person in this coterie, Catherine's domineering, overly-careful sister, who ran out on both her father and Catherine years ago(although supporting them financially) and is now determined to drag her "troubled" little sister back with her to New York and fix her up. As half the story is told in flashbacks to scenes betweens Catherine and her father when he was still alive, these make up the four main characters.

Three of the four main characters are mathematicians, and while there is little or no actual math in the play it is still a mathematicians dream(in much the same way Possession is a poet's/writer's dream). One of the many funny moments of the play consists of Hal's band playing a song composed entirely of silence, based on the imaginary number "I", a mathematician's joke.

Proof is a tale of many things; isolation, loneliness, love, hate, the clashing of wildly different characters from different worlds(Harold, more often called Hal, belongs to a band, and Catherin's sister doesn't understand math), and the love-hate relationships engendered within families. But mostly, it is about the quest for genius to find security and definition in a world untailored for fragile people, and to set free the impulse that drives that genius. Proof has an oddly breathless feel at times; as if both Catherine and her burgeoning talent hang in the balance between existence and destruction. In an blending of poetry, prose, and math, we discover her fate, of which the following passage(one of several turning points in the play) is a perfect example -
"Let X equal the cold. It is cold in December. The months of cold equal November through February. There are four months of cold and four of heat, leaving four months of indeterminate temperature. ...Let X equal the month of full bookstores. The number of books approaches infinity as the number of months of cold approaches four. I will be as cold now as I will in the future. The future of cold is infinite. The future of cold is the future of heat..."

Still, while Proof is a remarkable and luminous work, somehow it lacks something - the immensity of vision that I would expect from a Pulitzer-Prize-winning play. It is essentially about individuals, not ideas, and while to some extent this is true of all great literature, still Proof feels small, constrained within its own eclectic world. And there is no great tragedy, love story, or revelation about human nature to make up for this, to dominate it and lift it into a book that says something, a book that will join the pantheon of great literature. It has depth but not width. It's graceful and beautiful, clever and often funny - certainly memorable - but it is not an important work.

Proof is in the pudding.......2007-01-11

A very well wriiten play. You will read it in one sitting, very hard to put down. For those actresses out there , this play contains two amazing female characters.

There Is No Place In Life For Prime Numbers.......2006-08-29

It's a genuine pleasure to come across writing that sees clean sentences, never verbose, which aren't denotatively didactic but speak for themselves, even as they seem deceptively straightforward. Woody Allen's `Match Point' and Julian Fellowes's `Gosford Park' come to mind; and David Auburn's `Proof' finds itself in the same league.

Auburn's spare and humorous dialogue, along with his discreetly significant directions for staging, provides a number of starting points for consideration. Three, in particular, by which to anchor thought are Robert and Catherine's seeming obsession with prime numbers; how Robert, in spite of his infirmity, never fails to date his notebook entries correctly; and the nature of said expert's madness. This is a play where mathematics is the ink to the script of being.

Prime numbers are the central figurative device here. Indivisible save by one and by themselves, they are characterised by an absolute duality. Such definity in their mathematical nature mirrors the distinct black-and-white discreteness of an indubitable `yes' and `no', what's true and what's not. Everyone in this play is straining towards some manner of certainty, and the consistent preoccupation with prime numbers is emblematic of this. That there are 103 notebooks of Robert's writings to peruse is an inherent paradox in seeking some evidence of his talent with numbers enduring in the years that he's unwell, and of Catherine's aptitude, as she so claims to possess. The lives of Robert and Catherine are, quite literally, heavily informed numerically - as Robert tells his daughter, `even your depression is mathematical' - but if their lives were to be written with mathematics, there would be no place for prime numbers in the murky midst of workings in life that demand that people take risks.

Risks, however, are what Catherine is pessimistic of venturing. Her relationship with her father - strengthened and tested by living with him for twenty-five years - along with an understanding of his genius is a source of stability for her, something she can be sure of, something she can trust. With the mental decline of her father, that sense of security is shaken, and she begins second-guessing herself, afraid that she may be prone to the same psychological capriciousness she's observed in her father. She takes a gamble with classes at Northwestern, investing hope in, needing to trust to, the possibility of her father being `consistently well'. The risk she takes here doesn't pay off - Robert's condition deteriorates, she leaves having attended only a few lessons. The uncertainty over whether she can catch up is then compounded by depression following the death of her father. She then takes a risk with Hal, taking for granted that he would believe her claim to the authorship of a piece of groundbreaking mathematical proof and support her, which ends up backfiring. Without her father, Catherine finds herself isolated. Yet, what does she, importantly, do to keep herself centred, all those years she looks after her father in his senility? Mathematics, as we come to find out. After putting Robert to bed, after leaving that part of her life, riddled with doubt, behind, she slogs away at proving a theorem. Math reassures her that she is still sane, or at least reasonably lucid and logical, if not completely sensible, in addition to bolstering her dwindling confidence in herself as a mathematician, and as her father's daughter.

Math alone, however, is inadequate. As we see with Catherine, it helps the individual, but in corresponding and trying to connect with people, it becomes relatively impotent. In fact, it can even be misleading. Math convinces Hal of Robert's brilliance; it also acts as a blinker, till the end of the play, to the fact that Robert was in his last years incapacitated from accomplishing anything substantial, even in that fateful year when he seemed at his most clear-headed. A lack of knowledge about numbers and techniques similarly holds Claire back from grasping the possibility that Catherine was capable of such work. In the three-way argument between Hal, Claire and Catherine that seeks irrefutable, hard evidence, physical proof in numbers and writing, ironically, is dismissed, precisely because it's not enough.

The root of all concern, perpetuated quite presumptuously by Claire, though exacerbated by Catherine as well, lies with Robert's worsening mental health when he is alive. Even ability and, by extension, insanity turn out to be matters of numbers - Robert's state is the result of age; and he even reaffirms, by ironically pre-empting, what Hal tells Catherine about `your creativity (peaking) around twenty-three and it's all downhill from there' when he acknowledges the rusting of a `pretty good memory for numbers' as a `stereotype that unfortunately turns out to be true'. They actively identify different points in their lives by age, by numbers. Robert's condition seems to see his mind, of his own volition or otherwise, almost compulsively seeking painstakingly the satisfaction of feeling sure about something. That he mentions to Catherine in a scene of the second act his being `terrified' of not being able to work again tells us, despondently and, again, with grim irony, considering how that scene plays out, of a concern easily empathisable: The need to be able to keep trusting to our faculties, the `font' of our `inspiration', our clarity. For the greater part of this particular scene, Robert's mind appears to convince him that `the machinery' is indeed working meaningfully again, so much so that he gets worked up to a passion when Catherine initially refuses to discuss his supposed outline for a proof with him out in the cold. Without being conscious of it, it seems, he needs something absolute to get by. But after Catherine condescends to read through a few pages aloud, we see Robert, at first robust-looking, almost immune to the cold, gradually being crippled by it apparently as he begins to shiver, with the scene ending with him being less talkative than before, physically and mentally diminished within a matter of moments. The anaesthetic, as it were, of the rush of certainty is removed, and a sense of the cold sets in, paralleling the emergence of an awareness, on Catherine's part, if not Robert's, of the improbability of the latter being able to produce any real work, as well as a realisation on the part of the audience of the unlikelihood of Robert coming up with the mathematical proof at the centre of speculation. The accurate and consistent dating of his notebook entries, otherwise filled with figments of `landscapes' and models for work, empty shells strewn in the wake of his tragically fruitless attempts at solid results, seems sadly the one thing that stays fixed, stable, all that his mind can muster for the comforting impression of some form of immutability and certitude.

The last time we see Robert is when the illusion of certainty ends for him. The first time he appears is as an illusion, a spectre of Catherine's memory (or perhaps her own instability manifest), which is also how the play begins. The play ends, however, with a reasonable confirmation of Cathy being the writer of a proof about prime numbers. Prime numbers triumph at the play's conclusion: It seems something certain has finally been arrived at. Even then, Auburn manages something of a postscript, a comment on life, with Cathy's mathematical work, compared to her father's, as an oblique metaphor: This is a story, in part, about growing up, where age as suggested by numbers means nothing compared to an education derived from Catherine `living in (her) house for twenty-five years' with her father. Robert's `stuff was way more elegant. When he was young', yet, at the same age as her father when he was doing mathematics `like music', Catherine's work already comes off `lumpy', precisely because she's seen the `compromises' that have to be made with herself and that people have to make with each other, as well as the `approximations', hypotheses, hazarding chances and guesses, things taken solely on faith, such as `trust', in life through this entire episode. In the same way she sees only the `places where (the proof is) stitched together', she's seen the unevenness of life, of having to make the effort to `(connect) the dots' and finding out `how to get to the next one' without really ever knowing `if there (is) a next one'. Even within the bounds of truth on paper, we might need to grope in the dark to get to the things that are certain. It's here that mathematics and life find a consolatory confluence: The incontrovertible there certainly are - love; trust; meaning in the efforts we invest; ourselves - and, just like working to figure out the proof to a result you simply know to be undeniable, it's only a matter of getting there, even if the `lumpy' way turns out less than `elegant'.

Two beautiful minds.......2006-08-02

"Proof" is one of the best plays produced by an American play writer in past few years. Not only does the work has an interesting plot, but it also features a very interesting cast of characters. Among other question the text rises is to point out if insanity may run in the family.

To deal with the thin line between sanity and insanity, David Auburn creates a father and a daughter both mathematicians and both dealing with mental ghosts. The father is already dead, and struggle for many years to keep his mind sane. He was looked after by the girl, who now is facing her own battle. At the same time, her insanity may be sings of brilliancy and she may created something very complicated that may revolutionize the whole world.

As Auburn keeps the plot very tight, it becomes very engaging. There are no spare scenes in the play. Everything works to keep the story forward - even the flashbacks. The characters and their dilemmas make readers/audience wonder about important issues such as what is sane/insane, and how the characters deal with them. From "Proof", one may wonder that brilliancy and insanity are very close - sometimes maybe the same thing. What places one in each category is the time in which the person is living.

Traction Man Is Here! (Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (Awards))

Average customer rating:

Worth it for the wardrobe alone!
Super Fun read
A Winner!
Square-jawed satire
Best Ever!

Traction Man Is Here! (Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (Awards))
Mini Grey
Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375831916
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Book Description

Traction Man—wearing combat boots, battle pants, and his warfare shirt—comes in a box, but very quickly finds the way into the imagination of his lucky boy owner. This superhero searches for the Lost Wreck of the Sieve as the boy makes a game of doing the dishes, and later in the bathtub, he conquers the Mysterious Toes that are stealing his pet, the brave little Scrubbing Brush. These are just a few of the action-packed adventures played out by the boy and his new toy that may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but can vanquish all manner of villains lurking around the house. Mini Grey’s story in words and pictures is an irresistible invitation to the private world of a child’s play.

Praise for The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be:

“A rib-tickling U.S. debut for Grey, with plenty of sight gags to complement the chatty narrative.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be delivers an entertaining spin and a great deal of visual wit.”—The Horn Book

Customer Reviews:

Worth it for the wardrobe alone!.......2007-05-22

This book was recommended to me by a fellow mom of boys. My son (age 4) enjoys this book, and we parents get a kick out of the more subtle humor that goes over the heads of preschoolers.

Super Fun read.......2007-01-19

Traction Man is Here is so fun I had to read it to my grandson 5 times one day! The illustrations are clever, colorful and so interesting you notice something different every time you read it.

A Winner!.......2006-08-23

My boys (ages 5 & 2.5) have enjoyed this book so much that we quicky hurried back to the bookstore hoping that Mini Grey had written a sequel! A definite winner!

Square-jawed satire.......2006-06-08

This spoof of superhero comics and their ubiquitous action figures is so darn funny it's impossible to get through a first reading without pausing to hold your ribs. But it has a Shrek problem: its best lines zoom straight over kids' heads and target Mom and Dad.

This is welcome news if you're weary of countless nights re-reading Pooh or Seuss ad nauseum. But it's tough to explain to a toddler why the sight of a foot-tall plastic toy diving in a sink for the Lost Wreck of the Sieve provokes such snorts and guffaws.

Traction Man's a Christmas gift to an unnamed boy, whose imagination turns him loose on unsuspecting household objects. But both meet their match with Granny, who knits the doll a puke-green coverall that fairly screams "dork." Picture the matching bonnet and it's easy to summon similar mortifying moments from your own childhood.

Best Ever!.......2006-04-05

This is a fantastic, fun, imaginative children's book that me and my husband love to read to our child. Mini Grey captures a child's imagination with such precision that it brings back hilarious memories of our own fantastic pretend worlds. Great work Mini!

The Taming of the Shrew (New Folger Library Shakespeare)

Average customer rating:

A hilarious play of the battle between the sexes.
A Depature From Anything Previously Read
A comedy of wit, But not Shakespeare's Best

The Taming of the Shrew (New Folger Library Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 074347757X

Book Description

Folger Shakespeare Library

The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies

Each edition includes:

• Freshly edited text based on the best early

printed version of the play

• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

• Scene-by-scene plot summaries

• A key to famous lines and phrases

• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

Essay by Karen Newman

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.

Customer Reviews:

A hilarious play of the battle between the sexes........2007-05-25

This play is one of Shakespeare's most ribald, but I enjoyed it just the same. It's lusty, earthy and somewhat farcical. It's a very popular play because it is funny and fast-moving. And Shakespeare's wordplay is at its best here. I defy anyone not to laugh out loud numerously as they read this play. It is wonderful!

A Depature From Anything Previously Read.......2006-06-11

First off let me say that this is my first and only Shakespeare play that I have read so I have nothing to compare it too, author wise. I had to read this for my 9th grade english class, and my first thoughts on the text were that it was hard to understand, it was boring and I hated it. Looking back, I was wrong. The plot is a little lacking (I won't bore you with the details, you have read them elsewere), but the dialouge is very clever if you can understand it. Also, this edition has scene summaries and word definitions to help you understand it. Once I let it sink in after I completed it, I relized the underlying messages, the quick witted dialouge and the absurd (although a little weak, as mentioned before) plot make this a pretty good read. If you are up for a challenge I would recommend The Taming Of The Shrew. If you are new to Shakespeare, this seems as good of a place as any to start with his works.

A comedy of wit, But not Shakespeare's Best.......2004-10-31

Maybe it's because i read this through a class that it is not so good, but for some reason i didn't connect with this book. IT just didn't capture me like other Shakespeare books. King Lear was fantastic, Romeo and Juliet superb, Othello was fantastic, but the Shrew just didn't cut it for me. I think it's because it is a comedy. I enjoy the sirious Shakespeare better. OF course, besides all that the universal themes that shakespeare can recognize is amazing, so it still makes THe Shrew great. There are fantastic scenes of comedic wit, in which arguing scenes are taken to a whole new level of jabs and stabs with words. Overall, the story is weak, but does contain great writing.

The Taming of a Shrew: The 1594 Quarto (The New Cambridge Shakespeare: The Early Quartos)

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Confused

The Taming of a Shrew: The 1594 Quarto (The New Cambridge Shakespeare: The Early Quartos)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521563232

Book Description

This is a new edition of an anonymous play that appears to be an alternative version of Shakespeare's popular comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Stephen Miller suggests that someone rewrote Shakespeare's more complicated version, making it shorter, simpler and different in some ways. The main difference between the two plays concerns the framing story of Christopher Sly, the drunk, who disappears early on in Shakespeare's version, but who has a much larger role in A Shrew. This edition provides a modernized text and extensive commentary.

Download Description

Sparklesoup brings you Shakespeare's classics. This version is printable so you can mark up your script and easy-to-download with links to interesting facts and sites.

Customer Reviews:

Confused.......2002-10-18

I thought the general consensus of opinion was that Shakespeare didn't write "..a Shrew" since it is so different & inferior to "..the Shrew".
Perhaps I should actually buy this book and see huh?

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This little piggy went to market.
"A Boy-Man For All Seasons"
Too True!
Just saw the production in NYC a few months back
A bit sentimental for LaBute...until the nihilistic close...

Fat Pig
Neil LaBute
ProductGroup: Book

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ASIN: 057121150X
Release Date: 2004-11-17

Book Description

Cow. Slob. Pig. How many insults can you hear before you have to stand up and defend the woman you love? Tom faces just that question when he falls for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus sized-and then some. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow (although shockingly funny) friends, finally he comes to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks. Neil LaBute's sharply drawn play not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty but boldy questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves.

Customer Reviews:

This little piggy went to market........2007-04-06

Some may dissagree, but I found this play very brave. It talks about the stuff that people think but don't discuss openly. I really fell in love with the lead female character and the neurotic x-girlfriend. I laughed outloud. I especially love the line. " Well, if I'm crazy you made me that way!"

It's funny and yet heartbreaking. I found the male characters really screwed up. But then, perhaps that's because I'm a female. After reading this play I went and saw it performed and loved it. This is a great play to perform, I'd imagine as LaBute provides you with so much.

"A Boy-Man For All Seasons".......2006-11-05

Evelyn Waugh said years ago he revered the Church because its high standards "kept him human." Neil LaBute shows us a world several rungs below Waugh's. His characters lack not just a Church, but even a secular Code of Manners. Therefore, they lack awareness of any obligatory rules of mutual respect which might be capable of teaching them, the males in particular, possible ways to a fully human adulthood. LaBute's subject, once again, is the American boy-man, a benighted, largely unformed character, of whom in this play he gives us two examples. The first, Carter, thinks he's being witty when in fact he's merely buffoonish and impertinent. The second, Tom, openly admits to an easy complicity with injustice owing to a personal lack of fortitude and general weakness of character. The Knights of the Round Table or St.Thomas More, both alluded to in the play, of course have long lost any appeal to such guys as models. Carter and Tom are pretty much on their own; without profound guidelines their presumed freedom has them bowing to the whims of the moment or to pressure from the current in-crowd. Unfit for loyalty, much less marriage, they are, in following uncritically their untutored impulses, by and large just another species of serial fornicator skilled at playing and then betrayal in what they term, in contemporary parlance, "relationships." They are each, in other words, our generation's average sensual man. Tom, in his ignorance and weakness, is the far less satanic of the two. In fact, he is not so much a grand theatrical sinner in the mode of Iago or Tartuffe, as he is, embarrassingly, just a mediocrity. LaBute, nevertheless, has a bit of a soft spot in his heart for this character, recognizing in him, when he weeps, perhaps a flash of that triple betrayer Simon Peter at his lowest point.

The principal woman of the play, the clever, obese heroine Helen is clearly living in the wrong century. She'd have been much happier in the time of the fat woman as ideal, the time of Rubens or Rembrandt, where, far from being ridiculed, she might have posed as a model. Though the most insightful character in the play, she asks repeatedly for honesty from her suitor, the good-looking, non-heroic Tom, and she finally gets it - unfortunately. While he cares for her as much as he might for anyone besides himself, in his own words he is at best "a weak and fearful person," so despite his tears, he tells her what she least hopes to hear. Surely Jane Austen must have had some early 19th century boy-man in mind when she quipped that in social life "honesty can be an easily overrated virtue."

Too True!.......2005-10-18

This play can really hit home if you have ever dated outside of your league. The pressure to date some one your friends approve of weighs heavy on the character Tom. Societal pressure to be perfect and be with the perfect person is explored and so worth your time and money to go on the journey. I completely recommend this play!

Just saw the production in NYC a few months back.......2005-05-01

FAT PIG was astounding to watch. It was like standing on the side of a freeway watching an accident happen and being powerless to stop it. Ashley Atkinson is one of the bravest actresses in NYC for tackling the extremely difficult role of Helen. I didn't get to see Jeremy Piven, but Steven Pasqual was amazing. Kudos to Andrew McCarthy and Jessica Capshaw in very difficult roles. Keep in mind, this version of the play is NOT the final version. The script has been changed and, in many ways, for the better. Still -- this version is a great read and well worth the purchase for actors needing tricky scene work. Neil LaBute is always worth a read or a watch. I only wish he would turn this into a film like he has a few others.

A bit sentimental for LaBute...until the nihilistic close..........2004-12-04

Is our black-hearted boy growing maudlin in his old age?
Of course, there has always been the pretense of the moralist in LaBute, but with the slightly "I'm OKAY, You're OKAY" intro. here followed by this exercise in topicality - it seems as if the American Pinter has hit a rut. The only redeeming value is FAT PIG's truly "no hope" (and also accurate) denouement, which has to be read to be believed. One can't even imagine it being staged as effectively as the reader's cold-blooded turn of the final page into...nothing. Wow. If only the rest of the text were this bloodlessly dark. Likeable for these reasons, but minor.

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The human heart: a fist wrapped in blood
The play v. film version
more analytical approach..
Question...
exciting book

Closer
Patrick Marber
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802136451
Release Date: 1999-11-19

Book Description

In Closer, Patrick Marber has created a brilliant exploration into the brutal anatomy of modern romance, where a quartet of strangers meet, fall in love, and become caught up in a web of sexual desire and betrayal. Closer is being hailed as one of the best new plays of the nineties, and as the London Observer noted, it "has wired itself into the cultural vocabulary in a way that few plays have ever done."

Customer Reviews:

The human heart: a fist wrapped in blood.......2007-06-17

There is a wonderful line in Patrick Marber's "Closer," one of a great many, in which one character asks, "Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist wrapped in blood!" That line perfectly sums up Marber's play, which has become something of a contemporary classic since it hit stages in 1997. "Closer" is a cynic's love story, the tale of four strangers whose lives interweave as they fall in and out of love with each other over the course of years. There's Dan, the obituarist who dreams of becoming a writer; Anna, the photographer who tries not to dream; Alice, the stripper who just wants to be loved; and Larry, the dermatologist who watches it all with a devious eye.

"Closer" was made into a woefully misunderstood and truthfully stellar film by director Mike Nichols, with perfect casting (Jude Law as Dan, Julia Roberts as Anna, Natalie Portman as Alice, Clive Owen as Larry), but Marber's play is still better. It's everything a play should be: observant, amusing, realistic, and above all else, thoughtful. Most animals don't stay with one partner through their entire life, and what are humans but animals? Can we ever truly find our "soulmates," or are we meant to just drift in and out of love throughout our lives? If Marber knows, he doesn't show it. "Closer" is one great, big, hard-hitting question, spoken by Alice: "Why isn't love enough?"

I must admit, I'm not much of a fan of the stage. Previously, only the work of Tennessee Williams had really impressed me. But Patrick Marber's "Closer" is playwriting perfection. It's impeccably structured and loaded with no-holds-barred, simply brilliant dialogue. Regardless of your opinions of theatre, or even if you've never read a play before, I would highly recommend "Closer."

The play v. film version.......2007-03-14

Contains spoilers: I was blown away by the film, and couldn't wait to read the play, assuming that it would be even better. Overall I liked the film better. I've read that Clive Owen is one to pare his lines, and doing this in the film improved Larry, making him more sympathetic. The script does, however, have details that I wish had been included in the film. I thought Julia Roberts was outstanding as Anna, but Anna's character in the play seems more fleshed out, and I loved it that she and Larry divorced and she got a dog to love! Alice/Jane's film character, as played by Natalie Portman, was riveting, but I wish they'd included the stuff about her scar in the film. I just didn't like Dan's character in either version, but I have to say that I thought Jude Law was brilliant in the part of Dan, and a perfect antagonist to Clive Owen's Larry.

more analytical approach.........2006-11-22

This has to be one of the most thought-provoking play and movie I have seen in a while. I love that it is completely honest, and exaggerates our own human desires. It shows us what we are capable of. I think Alice is a representative of every young impressionable girl, wanting to be someone, anyone. She expresses young inner desire. Anna is a representative of an older woman, but she still shows how no matter how much you have been through, desire and lust still happen, and maybe we don't really learn from all of our mistakes. I think there is a piece of everyone in each character, and they just represent who we really are when we take our barriers away. This play continues to amaze me.

DAN. What do you want ?
ALICE. To be loved.
DAN. That simple ?
ALICE. It's a big want.

Question..........2006-10-01

Hey. Not really a review, but I want to get the royalties for this show. Who holds this? I can't find it anywhere. Samuel French and Bakers don't hold the rights. Who does?

exciting book.......2006-03-13

very good work. makes you feel the turns life can take with the choices you make.

Play or Be Played: What Every Female Should Know About Men, Dating, and Relationships

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Required Reading for Aspiring Macks
So-So
Refreshing look at men and women
IF YOU WANT TO BE UP ON GAME READ THIS
He might be an "ex-pimp" but he's still a misogynist and sexist

Play or Be Played: What Every Female Should Know About Men, Dating, and Relationships
Tariq "K-Flex" Nasheed
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743244923

Book Description

Got Game?

It's a fact. Every woman needs game. Take Oprah, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Beyoncé Knowles. All three of these women have the one intangible quality that every mack, male or female, must possess: they all have game. In other words, they have intelligence, hustle, and common sense that they apply to every aspect of their lives -- especially in their relationships.

Play or Be Played is an instruction manual for women who are tired of being played by men and who want to be players themselves. Though women may not want to play games, the truth is men often do. So women who hope to win in the game of love must first learn the rules. Bestselling author and true mack, Tariq "K-Flex" Nasheed shares:

ways to spot a scrub
what it takes to get with a baller
why men cheat
how men really judge women
the top three mistakes women make in relationships

Street-smart and straightforward, Play or Be Played will help you get with a king without being a hoochie, groupie, or a chickenhead.

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading for Aspiring Macks.......2007-08-06

What Is It About?

This is Tariq's version of the Art of Mackin for Women. It promises to give women advice about men, dating, and relationships.

What Did I Get Out Of It?

I learned what king flex has to say about dating and seduction and got to hear what he advises women to do.

The Good News

The book is excellent and does deliver. It spells out the problems with men, the problems with women, what women really want, and why they think they want what they say they want. It also details the different type of males / females that exist in the dating world. The book is basically a hand book on dating and relationships and should be required reading for all women and most men.

The Bad News

There is relatively little bad news concerning this book. It is a bit short and I leisurely read it over the course of a weekend but, I consider that a good thing. Tariq is short and to the point and doesn't attempt to sugar coat things or pander to women with this book.

The Bottom Line

Any aspiring Mack man or women should have this book. It breaks down women and men and will help both parties do better with the opposite sex.

So-So.......2007-07-30

While I understand the basis to his philosophy, I feel that in repeating the stereotypes he perpetuates negativity sub-consciously. The laws of yesterday are not the same today. While he gives an overall view there is little uplifting and solution based strategy offered in this book. Does every group have it's faults? Yes, but if you have so much knowledge why not churn out something of higher value. Overall- smart brother, but I think he (and we) can do better.

Refreshing look at men and women.......2007-07-27

This book is a straight-forward and honest approach to man-woman relationships. The author writes in a friendly and frank manner. These words of wisdom are offered in a clear, thoughtful, and real form.

"The word game in strict terms simply means intelligence, hustle, and common sense. And having game means being knowledgable in every endeavor you choose to engage in." This book helps a female who makes bad choices in men, become a sophisticated, interesting, and confident woman who is comfortable with herself.

The reader is offered ten "Play or Be Played" tips, and also is given ten ways a woman can improve herself-in the form of game tips.

My favorite chapter dealt with the types of men:
-player
-professional
-pushover
-parolee
-the urban renaissance man
It was so interesting to find out about the different types of men, and to be made aware of their qualities.

The types of women are also displayed. Tips are also offered for a woman to improve her personality.

This book/guide applies to all aspects of life. It was entertaining and educational.

Here is a link to my book-Dreams in August: Life, Love, and Cerebellar Ataxia

IF YOU WANT TO BE UP ON GAME READ THIS.......2007-06-01

This book broke the laws of physics down. K-Flex begins by letting you know that anything y0u do in life will fail or succeed depending on your game. He is not telling us ladies to play on guys, but just letting us know how guys think and how to overide their plan to get in our panties.

K-Flex goes on to let the ladies know how to up your game so you can be that girl that every every guy wants.

On top of all that he asks that you be real with yourself and tell YOURSELF (not others) what your true agenda is with your relationship. Basically he's saying that if your a gold digger then admit it to yourself, if your a ho admit it to yourself... & so on.

He might be an "ex-pimp" but he's still a misogynist and sexist.......2007-04-06

Do not buy this book unless you want to be insulted. This book is based on the baseless opinions, ridiculous generalities and the WORST of gender stereotypes. He argues that "women are not born to be leaders" and "women are emotional thinkers." This book is inane, illogical and downright offensive to any women or girls who respect themselves. Quite frankly, I am angered that anyone even published this book.

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A play for all souls...
Magnificent
Thomas More - A Man for Our Season
Good, quick read
Deafening Silence

A Man for All Seasons
Robert Bolt
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679728228
Release Date: 1990-04-14

Book Description

The classic play about Sir Thomas More, the Lord chancellor who refused to compromise and was executed by Henry VIII.

Customer Reviews:

A play for all souls..........2007-08-20

i am not a big fan of reading plays (they are meant to be performed after all), but this one is an exception. i found myself relishing line after line, enjoying the fact that i could pause and reflect on all of the tightly packed poignancy scattered throughout this work. sir thomas more is the hero's hero...of the messiah or socratic martyr sort (though he himself says he is not the "stuff" martyrs are made of), the man of true principle. he is one of the characters our generation unfortunately will only ever know through works of fiction. a person who does not (and cannot) separate their actions from their moral convictions, as the two are inextricably bound together, as are oxygen and lifeblood.

i am reminded of a quote by confucius: "at 70 i could follow my hearts desires without transgressing moral principles"...thomas more is THIS brand of sage. and we all have a lot to learn from him, even long after you discard the religious drivel.

it also doesnt hurt that he punks every single member of H the VIII's royal court (hehe).

Magnificent.......2007-06-11

I first saw the movie, and was riveted by the dialogue. The clarity of thought, the elevation of principals above self is awe-inspiring. I rushed out to buy the book (the script of the play), and read the wonderful dialogue over and over. Many of the lines simply cry out with logic and integrity, and some have found a place on the wall of my office.

Whether one characterizes Thomas Moore as a saint, a statesman of unbending principals, or both, his strength of character, intellect, humanity and general goodness shine through with brilliant clarity.

Thomas More - A Man for Our Season.......2007-01-15

This is an amazing play about an incredibly holy man, which employs its words in a profound manner. Thomas More, the beheaded lord chancellor of England under Henry VIII is the patron saint of attorneys, civil servants, politicians, and statesmen:
* "When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties...they lead their country by a short route to chaos."
* (In response to objection over his use of the word, "heretic":) "It's not a likeable word. It's not a likeable thing!"
* (Pointing to himself:) "this is not the stuff of which martyrs are made." WRONG!
* "The nobility of England, my lord, would have snored through the Sermon on the Mount."
* (To his betrayer, Richard Rich, attorney general of Wales:) "Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world...But for Wales!"
* "I Die His Majesty's Good Servant, but God's First"

Good, quick read.......2006-12-06

I had a few hours in between flights this Thanksgiving and brought this along. It's considerably deeper than your typical airport reads, though since it's a play you can finish it quickly.

Bolt does an outstanding job in the Preface talking about his motivation, his direction for the character and persona of Sir Thomas More. What's most interesting I think is how he handles the character development. I won't ruin it for you, but I think it needs to be said that this is not the story of a man changing because of events but almost the inverse.

Language is very easy to read and understand, though some passages will certainly benefit from rereading just to consider what the message is, what Bolt is trying to get across. I loved the book and would love to see an adaptation of it.

Deafening Silence.......2006-09-20

From biblical times to the present, it is evident that power corrupts those in charge. One of the landmark examples of this in history is Henry VIII's murder of Sir Thomas More. Truly if you are not with the powers that be, you are against them.

Henry VIII's attempts to dissolve his marriage on account of his wife's inability to bear him a son, falls on deaf eyes in Rome. Even while the pope will not allow divorce, Henry hopes his loyal subject Thomas More will condone it. Sir Thomas More's silence is deafening to the king. Unable to stand the silence of this influential, the king's servants drum up charges to treason to rid the king of his problem. During this process, we see a man growing from a lawyer to a saint. He will not place the sovereignty of God behind the king.

I would give this story 4 1/2 stars because it sacrifices too much of Thomas More for literary purposes. This is bothersome because of the initial slow pace of the story. Still Robert Bolt does a commendable job telling this story of integrity and allegiance to God.

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Imagination and Accuracy
Not the Jesus of history
This book changed my life

The Man Born to Be King
Dorothy L. Sayers
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0898703077

Customer Reviews:

Imagination and Accuracy.......2001-12-14

I came to this play-cycle not knowing what to expect, as did almost all of Sayers' contemporaries. There was a political firestorm when the project was proposed. Clergymen of every stripe rose up to denounce it as un-Christian, distorted, dishonorable. Needless to say, they had not read the script or heard the audio plays, which aired on the BBC during World War Two.

These plays inspired ordinary dock-workers and High Church bishops alike to examine the Christian faith. People who never gave a second thought to some guy named Jesus were confronted with a living, throbbing reality in these plays.

Sayers did her work conscientiously, as in her translation of Dante, by not making any use of any terms which were theologically inaccurate but dramatically potent. That is, she was faithful to the letter and spirit of her original- the Gospel story of Jesus. These plays contained, at times, shocking insight- and at times, human warmth.

Just as Jesus is supposed to be the meeting of Godhood and manhood, these plays are where entertainment and theology, the natural and the supernatural meet. Miss that, and you'll miss the same thing which soon caused thousands of English to arrive late for church service because they were waiting to catch the last moments of these plays on the wireless.

I found that the dramas forced me to imagine the movements of characters and plot as on a stage, something more difficult to do with the Biblical text itself. That made these stories come alive for me, and refreshed and enriched my grasp of these stories, "old bones in new flesh".

Not the Jesus of history.......2001-07-26

In writing this book, I believe Sayers intended to make the Gospel stories of Jesus more accessible. She says she wanted to "tell that story to the best of my ability, within the medium at my disposal - in short to make as good of work of art as I could. "Although she sought to maintain a "determined historical realism", I was disappointed with the historical inaccuracies.

She sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of art and the ease of story telling. For example, at one point her character says - "he was allowed to cry, 'My stirrup, Elazar" regardless of the much later date which stirrups were introduced into Palestine(p.19). Another example is found on page 90, where there is a conversation among supposedly Jewish people at the Wedding at Cana. One member says "But my mule cast a shoe, so I had to get a lift from Ezras". Only a very wealthy Jews could afford a mule, and they probably wouldn't own one because where not allowed to breed them, due to the mule's mixed parentage (Lev. 19:19). The first century Roman army was only just beginning to experiment with shoes their horses, and a mule would not have had shoes. It is a small point, but what artistic significance was contributed by this historical inaccuracy?

I was also bothered by her Anglo-centric idioms and assignment of various English accents to certain characters. I find her description of the Jewish Matthew, with stereotyping, offensive; "He is a vulgar little commercial ... as ever walked Whitechapel, and I should play him with a frank Cockney accent." She goes on to describe his "oily black hair and rapacious little hands . . . " What is the artistic contribution here?

Reality is better than artistic fluff, and much more inspiring, I find little in this book to interest me.

This book changed my life.......2000-06-18

After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again. Sayers writes in her introduction that she believed the story "should be handled, not liturgically or symbolically, but realistically and historically: 'this is a thing that actually happened.'" It is this matter-of-fact treatment of the story that makes her plays different from almost all the "Jesus movies" that we know today. We're confronted with the shattering truth that God actually came to earth, in a time very much like ours in many ways, and lived among us. We also have to face the fact that humanity -- for reasons of politics and personal pride -- rejected and killed God. So much for the theory that man is basically good! Yet as Sayers writes, "Short of damnation ... there can be no Christian tragedy," and she clearly shows how the love and hope offered by the risen Christ can save us from ourselves. I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say that this book changed my life. If you have questions or doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, please give it a try.

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