Essays

�Full of what you might call conversation starters: tricky propositions about morality... politics, privilege, runaway nationalist fantasies, collective guilt, and art as a force for change (or not)...It�s a treat to hear him speak his curious mind.��O Magazine In these beautiful essays, Wallace Shawn takes us on a revelatory journey in which the personal and political become one. Whether writing about the genesis of his plays, such as Aunt Dan and Lemon; discussing how the privileged world of arts and letters takes for granted the work of the �unobtrusives,� the people who serve our food and deliver our mail; or describing his upbringing in the sheltered world of Manhattan�s cultural elite, Shawn reveals a unique ability to step back from the appearance of things to explore their deeper social meanings. He grasps contradictions, even when unpleasant, and challenges us to look, as he does, at our own behavior in a more honest light. He also finds the pathos in... A collection of “deceptively simple, profoundly thoughtful, fiercely honest” essays on art, life, and politics by the acclaimed actor and playwright (Howard Zinn, author of Political Awakenings and Indispensable Zinn ). Whether writing about the genesis of his plays, such as Aunt Dan and Lemon ; discussing how the privileged world of arts and letters takes for granted the people who serve our food and deliver our mail; describing his upbringing in the sheltered world of Manhattan’s cultural elite; or engaging in a fascinating interview with Noam Chomsky, Wallace Shawn has a unique ability to step back from the appearance of things to explore their deeper social meanings. In these essays, Shawn grasps the unpleasant contradictions of modern life and challenges us to look at our own behavior in a more honest light. He also finds the pathos in the political and personal challenges of everyday life. With the same sharp wit and remarkable attention to detail that he brings to his critically acclaimed plays, Shawn invites us to look at the world with new eyes, the better to understand—and change it. “Full of what you might call conversation starters: tricky propositions about morality . . . politics, privilege, runaway nationalist fantasies, collective guilt, and art as a force for change (or not) . . . It’s a treat to hear him speak his curious mind.” — O Magazine “Lovely, hilarious and seriously thought provoking, I enjoyed it tremendously.” —Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

• Receiving critical praise from sources as varied as The Los Angeles Times, Heeb, GQ, O: The Oprah Magazine, Democracy Now, The New Yorker, and Women's Wear Daily, the cloth edition of Essays sold 8,000 copies upon publication in the Fall of 2009
• Wallace Shawn is a nationally known actor and playwright with a prolific career spanning nearly four decades. His face, style, and inimitable voice are loved by millions.
• Shawn's work is treasured for both his comic acting (The Princess Bride) and his often intensely political playwriting. This book of personal reflections brings together the different strands of Shawn's life's work, on-stage and off.
• Recently, Shawn's most recent visible acting and voice roles have been on the network drama Gossip Girl and the forthcoming Toy Story 3

Probing essays and observations by acclaimed actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, in his first nonfiction collection