Understanding Suzan-Lori Parks is a critical study of a playwright and screenwriter who was the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Suzan-Lori Parks is also the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Award; a Whiting Writers Award; a CalArts/Alpert Award in the Arts; two Obie Awards; and a Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts. In this book Jennifer Larson examines how Parks; through the innovative language and narratives of her extensive body of work; investigates and invigorates literary and cultural history. Larson discusses all of Parksrsquo;s genresmdash;play; screenplay; essay; and novelmdash;closely reading key texts from Parksrsquo;s more experimental earlier pieces as well as her more linear later narratives. Larsonrsquo;s study begins with a survey of Parksrsquo;s earliest and most difficult texts including Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. Larson then analyzes Venus; In the Blood; and the Lincoln Plays: The America Play and the Pulitzer Prizendash;winning TopDog/Underdog. Larson also discusses two of Parksrsquo;s most important screenplays; Girl 6 and Their Eyes Were Watching God. In interpreting these screenplays; Larson examines filmrsquo;s role in the popularization and representation of African American culture and history. These essays suggest an approach to all genres of literature and blend creativity; form; culture; and history into a revisionary aesthetic that allows for no identity or history to remain fixed; with Parks arguing that in order to be relevant they must all be dynamic and democratic.
#1212320 in eBooks 2009-07-21 2009-07-21File Name: B009SC1X4S
Review
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A Real GemBy R. J. MarsellaThis collection of portraits of jazz artists both famous and obscure as well as some commentary regarding music. movies and even Seinfeld is a treasure chest of wonderful insights and anecdotal material. I found myself paging through and reading selections at random and thoroughly enjoying every minute spent with this book. Francis Davis really appreciates jazz and his writing is reflective of his love of the music and his respect for the men and women who create it.6 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A recommended addition to personal reading listsBy Midwest Book ReviewJazz And Its Discontents: A Francis Davis Reader is a collection of columnist and jazz expert Francis Davis best writing on diverse musicians who have made American jazz a universal artform. From Wynton Marsalis and Duke Ellington. to Jack Kerouac to Sun Ra. Jazz And Its Discontents provides an insightful analysis of the alienation of musicians and their contributions in the form of profiles and commentaries that are as brilliantly written and presented as they are informed and informative. Jazz And Its Discontents is a welcome and recommended addition to personal reading lists. as well as academic. and community library Music History reference collections.
