{"product_id":"understanding-tony-kushner-james-fisher-9781570037498","title":"Understanding Tony Kushner","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA comprehensive guide to the writing career of the author of Angels in America\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnderstanding Tony Kushner\u003c\/i\u003e surveys the acclaimed writings of the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Angels in America and coauthor of the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the film \u003ci\u003eMunich.\u003c\/i\u003e Viewing Tony Kushner as a sociopolitical dramatist in the tradition of Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, and Bertolt Brecht, James Fisher guides readers through Kushner's influences and creations to map the importance of the writer's body of work in expanding postmodern literary and cultural landscapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter grounding his discussions in Kushner's early plays, \u003ci\u003eA Bright Room Called Day\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHydriotaphia, or The Death of Dr. Browne, \u003c\/i\u003e Fisher engages with the two plays of Angels in America to identify the major themes to be revisited in subsequent works. Fisher reads the depiction of the clash of values in the mid-1980s in \u003ci\u003eAngels in America\u003c\/i\u003e as Kushner's placement of humanity's fate at the nexus of complex and divergent views on morality, politics, religion, history, gender, and sexuality, views that complicate individual and national identity and beg the overarching question, is change to be embraced or challenged? Fisher views later works such as \u003ci\u003eHomebody\/Kabul and Caroline, or Change\u003c\/i\u003e as continuations of this line of inquiry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a chapter on Kushner's adaptations, Fisher explores the playwright's vision of dramas and writings by others, including Pierre Corneille's \u003ci\u003eThe Illusion, \u003c\/i\u003e Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's \u003ci\u003eStella: A Play for Lovers, \u003c\/i\u003e Heinrich von Kleist's \u003ci\u003eSt. Cecilia\u003c\/i\u003e, or The Power of Music, S. Ansky's \u003ci\u003eA Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds, \u003c\/i\u003e and Brecht's \u003ci\u003eThe Good Person of Setzuan\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMother Courage and Her Two Children.\u003c\/i\u003e He concludes with a reading of the teleplay of \u003ci\u003eAngels in America\u003c\/i\u003e and the screenplays for \u003ci\u003eMunich\u003c\/i\u003e and the forthcoming film \u003ci\u003eLincoln, \u003c\/i\u003e both directed by Steven Spielberg, exploring how Kushner moves his themes from stage to screen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Fisher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1570037493\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781570037498\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of South Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/04\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 197\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.66lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.04h x 5.36w x 0.89d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2008 pg. 320\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"James Fisher","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44058935099647,"sku":"9781570037498","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_5d68d959-f2da-4be2-98e8-25a29f044481.jpg?v=1685055309","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/understanding-tony-kushner-james-fisher-9781570037498","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}