Product Description

THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139155 in Books
• Published on: 1995-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780452275287
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
This is a wonderful play, as can be expected from Neil Simon. It is thought-provoking, evocative, emotional and, of course, funny. --simplyaudiobooks.com

About the Author
Neil Simon (born 1927) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He began his career as a TV comedy writer, most notably for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. He is the author of over forty Broadway plays since 1961, ranging from humorous, lighthearted plays of the 1960s (Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple) to darker, more autobiographical works in 1970s and 1980s (Chapter Two, the Eugene trilogy featuring Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound). Simon also contributed librettos to such hit musical comedies as Sweet Charity, Promises, Promises, and They're Playing Our Song. His plays are known for their family-based New York settings, where world-weary characters use one-liners to hide often-fractured psyches.

Customer Reviews

A play that has actual substance
I am a lazy high school kid who reads as little as possible, and I read this play three times- taking away something new everytime. I must admit that I first saw it as the movie with Jonathon Silverman, but I had to read the script to get the full effect. I try to watch it with my friends, but none of them seem to have the attention span to watch something that didn't cost billions of dollars for a sinking ship (not to belittle "Titanic's" success, but it appeals to the people who are seeking easy entertainment that jumps up and bites you in the a$$). The way I started researching Neil Simon was through a school assignment- I won't lie. My research paper had to be on an American author that no one else was doing. I couldn't think of anyone to do after all my first choices were taken, so I started asking my teacher if I could do a songwriter. That would be too easy. I was planning on listening to John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen, who wrote my favorite song, "Blinded By the Light". Needless to say, my teacher vetoed these requests, so I asked her for some suggestions. She rattled off about a million names that I had never heard of. Then she said "Neil Simon" and it sounded familiar. I inquired more about him and she told me he was a playwrite. Later that night, I asked my dad if he had heard of this guy. He told me that he had, and that I had, too. He reminded me that we had "Brighton Beach Memoirs" on tape, and I immediately decided that I would do my paper on him. Many peoplewonder why a "gentile, athletic, boy from the midwest" would want to research him. Some of these same people dismiss the scene in which Eugene and Stanley discuss masturbation as a cheap laugh gauranteed by uncomfortability. Like the average kid I reply with a shrug of my shoulders, but it's obvious to me that Simon appeals to everyone who appreciates real life and the humor in it. As a teenage boy, I can identify with Eugene Morris Jerome who if he "were given the choice between a tryout with the New York Yankees, and actually seeing Nora's bare breasts for two and a half seconds would have some serious thinking to do." The play is a sharp realization by Eugene that the world doesn't rotate around puberty as he records how his family deals with not only "Stanley's principles, Nora's career, the loss of . . . (a) business, how to get Aunt Blanche married off and Laurie's fluttering heart, but at any minute there could be a knock on the door with thirty-seven relatives from Poland showing up looking for a place to live."

one of the best plays i've ever read
"Brighton Beach Memoirs" was recommended to me by a teacher who was well aware of my reputation as a theater geek. I wasn't familiar with the work of Neil Simon, but after reading this play I am anxious to get my hands on more of his stuff. This play is simply brilliant - I often found myself lost in 1930's Brooklyn. Simon has created easily relatable characters, and his greatest triumph in character development is with that of Eugene Jerome, the protagonist on the brink of manhood. The play does it all - make you laugh, cry, think. It's one that is not to be missed.

Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a play about a fourteen-year-old boy growing up in 1937. The boy's name is Eugene Jerome. The play is divided into two acts. The first act is one night in Eugene's house. The second act is a week later in his house. Eugene is growing up in a hectic and eventful household of seven family members. He writes memoirs in his journal about his family and different events occurring in his life. During the play, Eugene share's his own personal thoughts with the audience. This really gives the audience an inside look on Eugene's life. I reall liked having this inside view. It really kept me into the book. Brighton Beach Memoirs was a real page turner. I highly recommend it!