Playing Underground

出版者:Univ of Michigan Pr

作者:Bottoms, Stephen J.

页数:448

出版时间:2006-11

价格:$ 27.06

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9780472031948

具体描述

"Scrupulously researched, critically acute, and written with care, "Playing Underground" will become a classic account of an era of hard-won free expression."-William Coco "At last---a book documenting the beginnings of Off-Off Broadway theater. "Playing Underground" is an insightful, illuminating, and honest appraisal of this important period in American theater."-Rosalyn Drexler, author of "Art Does (Not ) Exist" and "Occupational Hazard" "An epic movie of an epic movement, "Playing Underground" is a book the world has waited for without knowing it. How precisely it captures the evolution of our revolution I am amazed by the book's scope and scale, and I bless its author especially for giving two greats, Paul Foster and H. M. Koutoukas, their proper, polar places, and for memorializing such unjustly forgotten masterpieces as Irene Fornes's "Molly's Dream" and Jeff Weiss's "A Funny Walk Home." Stephen Bottoms's vivid evocation of the grand adventure of Off-Off Broadway has woken and broken my heart. It is difficult to believe that he was not there alongside me to breathe the caffeine-nicotine-alkaloid-steeped air."-Robert Patrick, author of "Kennedy's Children" and "Temple Slave" Few books address the legendary age of 1960s off-off Broadway theater. Fortunately, Stephen Bottoms fills that gap with "Playing Underground"---the first comprehensive history of the roots of off-off Broadway. This is a theater whose legacy is still felt today: it was the launching pad for many leading contemporary theater artists, including Sam Shepard, Maria Irene Fornes, and others, and it was a pivotal influence on improv comedy and shows like "Saturday Night Live." Off-off Broadway groups such as the Living Theatre, La Mama, and Caffe Cino captured the spirit of nontraditional theater with their edgy, unscripted, boundary-crossing subjects. Yet, as Bottoms discovers, there is no one set of truths about off-off Broadway to uncover; the entire scene was always more a matter of competing perceptions than a singular, concrete reality. No other author has managed to illuminate this shifting tableau as Bottoms does. Through interviews with dozens of the era's leading playwrights, performers, directors, and critics, he unearths a countercultural theater movement that was both influential and transforming-yet ephemeral and quintessentially of its moment. "Playing Underground" will be a definitive work on the subject, offering a complete picture of an important but little-studied period in American theater.

用户评价

老实说，起初我有些担心主题的晦涩会影响阅读体验，但事实证明，我的忧虑完全是多余的。作者的叙事策略非常巧妙，他将深奥的社会学理论和心理学观察，巧妙地融入到扣人心弦的故事情节之中，使之变得既引人入胜又富有思想深度。这本书的魅力在于它的层次感——表面上是一个关于生存斗争的故事，但当你深入挖掘时，会发现其中蕴含着对现代社会异化现象的深刻批判。我特别欣赏作者对于“规则制定者”和“局外人”之间权力动态的细致剖析，那种疏离感和不公感，让人感同身受。读完后，我花了很长时间才从那种被抽离出来的状态中恢复过来，感觉自己仿佛刚刚完成了一次漫长而艰苦的隧道穿越，虽然疲惫，但目光却比以往任何时候都更加锐利。

这本新近读到的作品，让我对作者构建的世界观有了全新的认识。它描绘了一个隐藏在现代社会表象之下的复杂生态系统，那些不为人知的故事和人物，在幽深的角落里默默地进行着他们的博弈。叙事节奏把握得极好，时而急促如骤雨，将我完全拽入紧张的冲突之中；时而又放缓，让那些细微的情感波动和环境细节得以充分展现。尤其欣赏的是作者对人物内心世界的刻画，那种微妙的挣扎、难以言喻的渴望与恐惧，都通过精准的措辞和巧妙的场景设置，清晰地呈现在读者眼前。我仿佛能闻到空气中弥漫的湿冷气息，感受到角色们每一步选择背后的沉重代价。书中对权力结构和边缘群体生态的观察入木三分，展现了一种深刻的社会洞察力，远非一般通俗小说所能企及。它挑战了许多既有的认知，迫使我重新审视那些我们习以为常的日常。

这本书简直是一场感官的盛宴，尤其是在氛围营造方面，达到了令人惊叹的高度。作者似乎拥有点石成金的魔力，寥寥数语就能勾勒出令人过目不忘的场景。无论是深夜中霓虹灯投下的斑驳光影，还是那些被遗忘的地下空间中特有的回声与气味，都被描绘得栩栩如生。我必须承认，阅读过程中，我的心跳频率明显加快了不少。情节的推动力强大到让人无法放下手中的书卷，每一次翻页都伴随着对“接下来会发生什么”的强烈好奇。更难得的是，在如此紧张的节奏下，作者依然保持了语言的优美和韵律感，使得暴力和残酷不至于显得廉价或煽情，反而增添了一种宿命般的悲剧美学。这是一部需要在一个安静的、不受打扰的时段里细细品味的佳作，否则任何一个被打断的时刻都会成为一种损失。

这部作品最让我震撼的，是它对人性脆弱面毫不留情的直视。它没有试图去美化任何角色，也没有提供廉价的救赎。相反，它展示了在极端压力和道德灰色地带下，人们是如何为了生存而扭曲、妥协乃至彻底沉沦。这种真实感是如此强烈，以至于阅读过程中，我经常需要停下来，做几次深呼吸。作者的叙事视角转换得非常流畅，从宏观的俯瞰到最微观的内心独白，切换自如，极大地丰富了故事的维度。那些人物的对话，简短却充满张力，每一句台词都像是一把精心打磨过的匕首，直指要害。这不仅仅是一部小说，更像是一份对现代人心灵深处的隐秘地理勘探报告，令人既敬畏又深思。绝对是近年来读到的最令人难忘的作品之一。

读完这本书，我被一种强烈的、近乎原始的震撼感所笼罩。作者的笔触如同锋利的冰锥，直刺人性的核心。我从未想过一个故事可以如此大胆地解构“秩序”与“混乱”之间的模糊边界。那些交织在一起的阴谋、背叛和短暂的忠诚，构建了一张错综复杂的情感之网，让人在阅读时必须全神贯注，生怕错过任何一个关键的伏笔或转折。结构上，它采用了多线叙事，但高明之处在于，这些看似分散的线索最终汇集成一股不可阻挡的洪流，其力量足以冲垮读者的所有预期。这种叙事的高超技巧，使得阅读过程本身也成为一种智力上的探险。我特别喜欢其中关于“选择的必然性”这一哲学命题的探讨，它并不提供简单的答案，而是将沉甸甸的思考权交还给了读者，令人回味无穷。