About this title: Set in 1936, The Piano Lesson is a powerful new play from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fences and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. A sister and brother fight over a piano that has been in the family for three generations, creating a remarkable drama that embodies the painful past and expectant future of black Americans.
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Description: Very Good. 0452265347 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Plume
Date Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN-13:9780452265349ISBN:0452265347
Description: Good. Name inside cover. Cover shows some wear or creases. Pages yellowed/tanned. No highlighting or underlining. You're gonna love this book! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Plume
Date Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN-13:9780452265349ISBN:0452265347
Description: Good. Tight, bright, uncreased spine, pages clear and bright, shelf and edge wear, corners bumped and creased, the yellow and purple cover, an ex-library copy with usual library markings, ships in a box, delivery confirmation on all U.S. orders. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780525249269ISBN:0525249265
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"This is one of those family dramas that engaged my mind and my spirit from word one. I can't even imagine the bliss I would experience if I actually saw this play staged.
Reading The Piano Lesson was a joyful experience for me because the characters were so immediately engaging. Wilson has a way of introducing his characters that feels (to me) quick and familiar BUT also compelling and mysterious. I found myself leaning into the book to learn more about the characters as the drama unfurled.
I never feel technical when I read from August Wilson's body of work. I feel alive and lucky. What a genius he must have been. While I truly do enjoy most authors, Wilson is the only one I can think of right now who makes me feel lucky and alive when I am reading. It is one of those "feelings" I have come to associate with what I consider really good theatre.
August Wilson pens his characters in The Piano Lesson to be completely honest, flawed and human with themselves and each other. The dialogue between them and inside them is always so real and so frank. The Piano Lesson is refreshingly honest, instead shockingly truthful. His characters always seem to be sizing the other character up. I love it.
There is so much to ponder with his work. The characters speak line after line after line with wisdom and experience. They sing with fervor and commitment. They argue and sell and love and judge with conviction and acceptance. It's remarkably entertaining!
The Piano Lesson incorporates music, relgion, spirituality, family drama, blame, watermelons, "country", dating, temptation, generation summation and redemption into one extremely satisfying ghost story.
Somebody please stage this in or near Rockford soon!
The following is slightly unrelated, but this pertains to what I learned from this book, which is difficult for me to articulate because what I learned is purely emotional: Several years ago, I told a certain artistic director of a certain theatre in St. Paul that I liked August Wilson a great deal and that I had never experienced an author who spoke to the black experience the way August Wilson did. The artistic director argued with me that August Wilson did not speak to the black experience but instead August Wilson spoke to the rural experience. It was such a strange conversation. I tried to understand what he was saying, but he kept cutting me off when I asked him questions or tried to explain what I meant. At the time, I felt like he was judging me for insinuating that August Wilson's work was inherently black. I don't know. To this day, I wonder why the artistic director felt compelled to say that. Wilson speaks to both experiences as well as about a dozen other experiences, but unless I am completely crazy, I truly believe his work first and foremost speaks to the black, that is to say, African-American experience in the United States in the 20th century. I enjoy his insights, plots and characters a great deal. I am sad that he is dead."
"As usual, Wilson manages a heady and deep exploration of issues facing African Americans through the context of highly believable characters confronted with the everyday challenges of life. The main issue here is how to balance the need to hang on to and perhaps celebrate a family history deeply intertwined with slavery, while at the same time moving on and making a new life. One thing I especially love about most Wilson plays--and it's true here--after a few pages, you don't need the character tags to know who's speaking (their voices are so uniquely theirs)."
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