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Playwright David Mamet on the Rhythm of Language

Mamet's plays include "American Buffalo," "Speed-the-Plow," "Glengarry Glen Ross (for which he won a Pulitzer), and "Oleanna." His movies include, "Homicide," "House of Games," and "Things Change." Mamet is best known for his style of writing, which New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich described as "burying layers of meaning into simple precisely distilled idiomatic language." Mamet has written several books of essays; he's just published his first novel, "The Village."

15:36
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Other segments from the episode on October 17, 1994

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, October 17, 1994: Interview with David Mamet; Commentary on Louis Jordan; Interview with Daniel Schorr; Review of the anthology album "Duende."
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06:34

A Forgotten Pioneer of Rhythm and Blues

Rock historian Ed Ward takes a look at the influence of saxophonist Louis Jordan, who laid the groundwork for rocking Black artists of the 1950s like Chuck Berry.

Commentary
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14:49

NPR Journalist Daniel Schorr on Making Nixon's Enemies List

Schorr is the Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio. Previously, he was the CBS Chief Watergate Correspondent. After ending up on Nixon’s "enemy list," he resigned from CBS in 1976, and wrote a book about the Watergate scandal called "Clearing the Air." Before joining CBS, Schorr was a foreign correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. Recently he narrated a five-part BBC documentary on the Discovery channel, "Watergate." (Rebroadcast)

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

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23:17

Actor Joe Mantegna.

Actor Joe Mantegna. Mantegna plays a tough cop investigating a murder in the new David Mamet film, "Homicide." Mantegna's worked with Mamet several times before, starring in his movie, "House of Games," and in the Mamet play, "Glengarry, Glen Ross."

Interview
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21:19

David Mamet's Advice for Actors.

Playwright and Screenwriter David Mamet. His latest film is "The Edge," and he's recently published two books: "The Old Religion," (Simon & Schuster) is a novel about a southern Jewish man falsely accused of murder. "True and False: Heresy and Common sense for the Actor" (Pantheon) is a guide to acting that negates the common and popular dramatic techniques. Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for "Glengarry Glen Ross."

Interview
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21:30

David Mamet's "Remembrances" of Being a Young Writer

The essayist, poet and playwright's new book, "Make-Believe Town," is a selection of essays about everything from theater to politics to Judaism. His work has been called opinionated, forceful, original and always surprising. Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross" and has written and directed several motion pictures.

Interview

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