Average customer rating:
- A beautiful swan song for a loving man, husband, father & human.
- If you liked his other works, you'll love this fast read.
- Spalding gives us something to think about, and departs.
- A Bittersweet Homage to Spalding Gray
- It's really only 56 pages.
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Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue
Spalding Gray
Manufacturer: Crown
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1400048613
Release Date: 2005-10-04 |
Book Description
As the first decade of the new century was getting underway, Spalding Gray worried that the joy he’d finally found with his wife, stepdaughter, and two sons would fail to fuel his work as a theatrical monologist the way anxiety, conflict, doubt, and various crises once had. Before he got the chance to find out, however, an automobile accident in Ireland left him with the lasting wounds of body and spirit that ultimately led him to take his own life. But as his dear friend novelist Francine Prose notes in this volume’s foreword, “Even when his depression became so severe that he was barely able to hold a simple conversation, he was, miraculously, able to perform.”
As was always his method, Gray began to fashion a new monologue in various workshop settings that would tell the story of the accident and its aftermath. Originally titled Black Spot—for what the locals called the section of highway where Gray’s accident occurred—it began as a series of workshops at P.S. 122 in New York City and eventually became Life Interrupted.Gray died in early 2004, and though never completed, Life Interrupted is rich with brave self-revelation, masterfully acute observations of wonderfully peculiar people, penetrating wit and genuine humor, an irresolvable fascination with life and death, and all the other attributes of Gray’s singular and unmistakable voice.
In the final performance of Life Interrupted, Gray read two additional pieces: a short story about a day he spent with his son Theo at the carousel in Central Park and a brief, poignant love letter to New York City that he wrote after the terrorist attacks in 2001. This volume includes these pieces as well as many of the eulogies that were delivered by his friends and family at memorial services held at Lincoln Center and in Sag Harbor.
[If you had to reduce all of Spalding’s work to its essence, its core, if you wanted to locate the subject to which, no matter what else he talked about, he kept returning, I suppose you could say that his work was a profoundly metaphysical inquiry into how we manage to live despite the knowledge that we are someday going to die. . . .
If there is a consolation, it’s what he left behind: the children whom he so loved and, of course, his work. Reading the unfinished pieces in this volume . . . we hear his voice again and feel the happiness we felt when he sat on stage behind his wooden desk, took a sip from his water glass, transformed the raw material of his life into art, and the crowd applauded each brilliant, beautiful sentence.] —
Francine Prose, from the Foreword
Also available as an eBook
Customer Reviews:
A beautiful swan song for a loving man, husband, father & human........2007-07-30
The amount of compassion in this book is simply amazing. Spalding was a normal individual living through extraordinary events that he wove into some of the best monologues & humor to ever grace our eyes & ears. The finality of his decision can never be compromised by our tremendous feeling of loss. He was entitled to save himself from his pain in any manner he sought & I respect him for that. While the hole in our hearts will never be filled, I would only encourage his friends & loved ones to look back on the best of times. I have a feeling He would have wanted it that way too...
If you liked his other works, you'll love this fast read........2007-01-04
I've been a great Gray fan for years. Reading this monologe brings you back into the theater with him again. Read on a quick flight to Boston, I could see hear his monotone stories gain, telling me of his life, and taking me to that wonderful place that only he and old radio dramas could.
Spalding gives us something to think about, and departs........2006-08-18
A celebrity is someone whom you've never actually met, but think you know; not just know about, but know. The celebrity press offers us little bits of enticing, patently untrue information about these imaginary friends every day. Part of our agreement with the idea of celebrity is that we believe these things while knowing (after all, we're not crazy) that they aren't true.
It was easy to slip into thinking of Spalding Gray, who after all never pretended to be anything but an actor and a sort of amateur writer, as a celebrity. Since his confessional monologues included much that was embarrassing and painful, it was easier that way. Apparently, though, every word of it was true. His sadness, his eerily prophetic but still crippling fears, his inability, like so many children of suicides, to get on with his life -- it was all there. It was all, or at least mostly true, and we really knew him after all, and the guilt at not having been able to save him, at having been not an imaginary friend but a real one, and not a very good one, is real as well.
His monologues were surprisingly layered, nuanced and durable works of art, considering he never claimed much for himself as a writer. They are like Chekhov plays without villains -- not so dark, or so funny, and a bit sweeter than you'd like, maybe, but still great, and this is the last of them.
A Bittersweet Homage to Spalding Gray.......2006-05-31
Nearing his 60th birthday in 2001, Spalding Gray was enjoying family life with his wife and two kids, and pondering the next step in his career as a popular monologue performer and writer.
Then a horrific car accident in Ireland changed everything for Gray. Severe injuries left him debilitated for months, with chronic severe pain afterwards, and plunged him into deep depression.
Yet he still tried to transform his painful, frightening and darkly humorous experiences into art, as he has done so many other times. Performing early drafts of his solo memoir of the crash (under the working title "Black Spot", which refers to the patch of road in Ireland where his accident occurred) at Seattle's 2001 Bumbershoot Festival, and later in New York, it looked like he was going to triumph again. But sadly it was not to be (Spalding Grey committed suicide in 2004 at the age of 62, leaving a note stating that he could no longer live with his debilitating pain and depression).
This short book combines that last unfinished script with various short tributes to Gray by actor Eric Bogosian (another favorite performer/monologist/writer of mine) and others.
For 20 years now, I have admired Gray. He was someone who made yakking about his life and himself so engaging and endearing, that I always left his solo monologues wanting to hear more. His books were also equally entertaining.
For any Gray fan, this small book is homage to his unique gifts, and a reminder of the fragility and preciousness of life itself.
Final Grade: A
It's really only 56 pages........2005-11-08
When I saw that it was 256 pages I thought it was all going to be stuff that Spalding Gray had written. I was really excited to get this book, thinking that I'd have at least a few days worth of reading to do. Unfortunately only 56 of those 256 pages are actually his work. The forward by Francine Prose goes from pg 17-49. "Life Interrupted" goes from pgs 53-92 (40 pages). "The Anniversary" goes from pgs 95-109 (15 pages). "Dear New York City" is pg 113. The rest of the book, pgs 121-255, are eulogies. I would have preferred to just get a skinny little 56 page book of only his work. I realize that this book in essence was to be a dedication to Spalding Gray's life and last days. A way for his friends and family to celebrate his existance in their lives and say goodbye to him. It is a good book and well worth the money, but I would have preferred to just get his writings sans wordy forward and eulogies.
Customer Reviews:
The War of American Independence.......2000-04-26
Don Higginbotham provides an excellent service to anyone interested in the revolutionary war. His book provides a behind-the-scenes look at the causes and effects of the war. It is not a gunpowder and battle history, but rather a study of the people, events, and issues that predicated the American Revolution. It is comprehensive and well written. The bibliography is comprehensive, and the subject matter is well presented for either the scholar or the casual reader.
Book Description
The definitive work on how congressional rules, procedures, and traditions affect the course and content of legislation, this seventh edition reflects both thorough updating and further refinement. In the House and the Senate, and from committee room to the floor, the fundamentals of lawmaking are made clear in Walter Oleszek's straight talking, informative book on Congress. With dozens of lively illustrations, charts, and extracts from real documents, Oleszek spotlights both "regular order" and unconventional procedures while explaining the role of congressional leadership, the use of strategic tactics, and complicated parliamentary processes. Readers will appreciate Oleszek's insight on the ever-sophisticated use of procedures--such as "filling the tree"--to achieve party and policy objectives in a time of sharper partisanship.
Updates include:
- changes in congressional budgeting, such as the return of fiscal deficits, the clash between discretionary spending and entitlements, and the drive to curb the explosion in earmarks
- the "nuclear option" controversy over filibusters
- the wider use of technology in the lawmaking process
Customer Reviews:
Book is great.......2007-01-05
A great resource for everyone from new lobbyists to people interested in knowing more about how their government works.
An excellent insider's guide to understanding Congress.......2002-06-13
I'm a chief of staff to a Member of the House of Representatives. I give a copy of this book to every new staffer who comes to work in our office, and tell them it's mandatory reading. Simply put: Mr. Oleszek's book is the single best reference out there for students and citizens wanting to learn about the ins and outs of how a bill becomes a law. What makes the book a must-read is not just the author's experise in understanding how Congress works, but also his ability to write extremely readable prose.
Average customer rating:
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The Power of the Purse Strings: Do Congressional Budget Procedures Restrain?
Richard Forgette
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0275947386 |
Book Description
In an era of unprecedented budget problems, can Congress establish legislative procedures to facilitate making politically difficult budget decisions? If we keep fixing the process, why are the policies and politics so fouled up? This book provides an extensive answer to these questions. Focusing exclusively on the House of Representatives, the author assesses whether current congressional budget procedures, namely the 302 process and reconciliation, have been created, designed, and maintained to achieve greater budget restraint. He defines the critical concept of procedural budget restraint as a procedural outcome in which spending decisions are less than what would have occurred in the absence of the procedure.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 9657 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Appendices.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 571 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The budget reconciliation process: House and Senate procedures.
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 5094 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Initial consideration in the House.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 7973 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Initial consideration in the Senate.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 2209 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Introduction.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 3578 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Reconciliation directives in budget resolutions.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 3264 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Resolving House-Senate differences on reconciliation measures.(The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures)
Author: Robert Keith
Publication:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
As logging continues to rule the rural Northwest, Wintergreen's message is more important than ever. Set in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, both people and forest are threatened with extinction. Timeless among the literature of the land, Wintergreen is now back in print with a new afterword by the author. This is the first book in Sasquatch's Library of the West series
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