Review The humor, the insight, and all the magic and madness of life in New York reading Rules for Others to Live By is the next best thing to being Richard Greenberg s friend. Patricia Clarkson, Oscar-, Tony-, and Golden Globe nominated actress and Emmy Award winner for Six Feet Under From its cheeky title to the arresting bons mots sprinkled throughout, Rules for Others to Live By is a breezy read that cloaks some penetrating truths. . . . [Greenberg] addresses many of the more vexing questions of modern life with tongue planted firmly in cheek. . . .Readers will be disappointed to reach the final page. Kirkus Reviews"When Greenberg hits, he hits high, and seeing the world through his characters eye is most often an unparalleled pleasure Greenberg misses nothing from his perch. Alex Witchel, The New York Times Book Review The humor, the insight, and all the magic and madness of life in New York reading Rules for Others to Live By is the next best thing to being Richard Greenberg s friend. Patricia Clarkson, Oscar-, Tony-, and Golden Globe nominated actress and Emmy Award winner for Six Feet Under From its cheeky title to the arresting bons mots sprinkled throughout, Rules for Others to Live By is a breezy read that cloaks some penetrating truths. . . . [Greenberg] addresses many of the more vexing questions of modern life with tongue planted firmly in cheek. . . .Readers will be disappointed to reach the final page. Kirkus Reviews""When Greenberg hits, he hits high, and seeing the world through his characters' eye is most often an unparalleled pleasure...Greenberg misses nothing from his perch." --Alex Witchel, The New York Times Book Review "The humor, the insight, and all the magic and madness of life in New York--reading Rules for Others to Live By is the next best thing to being Richard Greenberg's friend." --Patricia Clarkson, Oscar-, Tony-, and Golden Globe-nominated actress and Emmy Award winner for Six Feet Under "From its cheeky title to the arresting bons mots sprinkled throughout, Rules for Others to Live By is a breezy read that cloaks some penetrating truths. . . . [Greenberg] addresses many of the more vexing questions of modern life with tongue planted firmly in cheek. . . .Readers will be disappointed to reach the final page." --Kirkus Reviews About the Author Richard Greenberg has written two dozen plays, including the Tony Award-winning Take Me Out, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as was his play Three Days of Rain. He is the winner of Newsday's George Oppenheimer Award and the PEN/ Laura Pels Award for a playwright in mid-career. He lives in New York City.
D**G
Catharsis, anyone?
Rules For Others To Live By is collection of biographical and autobiographical stories from playwright Richard Greenberg’s circle. Since he lives in Chelsea and works on Broadway, that’s what most of it is about. The stories are short (sometimes a single paragraph), but they cover a lot of territory, because they are deeply personal. They are not so much the presentation of a scene or of a person, but Greenberg’s perception of that scene or person, which is a very different narrative. What he notices, and how he values it, is a unique angle for the story and the book. How he navigates it all is revealing in another dimension. Sometimes the stories connect, sometimes the same friends show up in later stories, and at the end, two of his best friends meet for an evening at his place. It’s all very tight in Greenberg’s New York.My favorite is a two page piece called Opinions. It is pure, vintage Robert Benchley, striking the perfect note of Man thinking outside his little box, trying to master his own world, and second-guessing himself to a standstill. It is a small gem, highly polished.Another very fine story is Greenberg’s appreciation of his friend Jill Clayburgh. It’s a side of her we never saw, and it’s worth knowing.There are honest human insights too. After all, Greenberg is first and foremost a playwright. I particularly liked this one of a friend who died young: “On a single afternoon, she made me feel that life in the city could be off the cuff, and abundant. It hasn’t turned out like that. It never does.”Going forward, I will look at Richard Greenberg plays very differently.David Wineberg
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