"Now, for the first time ever, Simon's complete life story is collected in one volume with a new introduction and afterword"--Jacket.

"David Sedaris meets Garrison Keillor in this hysterically funny and thoughtful collection of original essays by Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg, who shares anecdotes and observations gathered from a lifetime of perfecting Rules for Others to Live By. Between worrying about his artist friends and reconciling his complicated feelings about New York City, Pulitzer finalist Richard Greenberg still finds time to be something of a hermit--and...

"A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic, yet least understood, Black artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century" -

"Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and director David Mamet shares scandalous and laugh-out-loud tales from his four decades in Hollywood where he worked with some of the biggest names in movies. David Mamet went to Hollywood on top-a super successful playwright summoned west in 1980 to write a vehicle for Jack Nicholson. He arrived just in time to meet the luminaries of old Hollywood and revel in the friendship of giants like Paul Newman, Mike...

David Mamet went to Hollywood on top, a super successful playwright summoned west in 1980 to write a vehicle for Jack Nicholson. He arrived just in time to meet the luminaries of old Hollywood and revel in the friendship of giants like Paul Newman, Mike Nichols, Bob Evans, and Sue Mengers. Over the next forty years, Mamet wrote dozens of scripts, was fired off dozens of movies, and directed eleven himself. He revels of the taut and gag-filled professionalism...