REVIEW - from CHOICE, the review arm of the American Library Association

REVIEW - from CHOICE, the review arm of the American Library Association

Humanities \ Performing Arts \ Theater & Dance
Demastes, William W. Spalding Gray's America. Limelight Editions, 2008. 270p bibl index; ISBN 9780879103606 pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2009may CHOICE. This first book-length study of the life and work of celebrated monologist Spalding Gray (1941-2004) is wonderful. Covering Gray's life from his early beginnings to his untimely death, Demastes (Louisiana State Univ.) delves into the major works of this most self-reflexive of performers with a deft hand. Although this is not a biography per se, it offers significant information about Gray's life and its intersection with his art: close readings of Gray's performances allow one to see how in exposing his personal triumphs and tragedies Gray exposed and analyzed America and Americans. In sum, in dissecting Gray as observer of events, as artist, and as performer--a fascinating approach to the performer--Demastes makes sense of how Gray's monologues worked and what made him original. Including a wonderful personal reflection on Gray by Richard Schechner, this volume provides theater scholars and practitioners with an invaluable introduction to Gray and his work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. -- S. W. Cole, Bridgewater College

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