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

Wallace Shawn is an Obie Award–winning playwright and a noted stage and screen actor. His plays The Designated Mourner and The Fever have recently been produced as films, and his translation of Threepenny Opera was recently performed on Broadway. He is co-author of My Dinner with Andre and the author of The Fever, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and Grasses of a Thousand Colors, among other works.

CONTENTS

Introduction 9

PART ONE: REALITY

ONE The Quest for Superiority 19
TWO After the Destruction of the 29
World Trade Center
THREE "Morality" 33
FOUR An "American" Publishes a Magazine 49
FIVE Patriotism 53
SIX Interview with Noam Chomsky 55
SEVEN Bush Proposes Preemptive War 71
EIGHT The Invasion of Iraq Is Moments Away 75
NINE Up to Our Necks in War 85
TEN Israel Attacks Gaza 95

PART TWO: DREAM-WORLD

ELEVEN Myself and How I Got into the Theatre 101
TWELVE Reading Plays 117
THIRTEEN Aesthetic Preferences 121
FOURTEEN Interview with Mark Strand 129
FIFTEEN Writing about Sex 155