Shaffer, Peter

Average customer rating:

v thought-provoking
Wonderfully Imaginitive
An interesting read
Extra-Ordinary
Excellent, not surprisingly.

Equus (Penguin Plays)
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Equus
Amadeus: A Play by Peter Shaffer
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Wit : A Play
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

ASIN: 0140260706

Customer Reviews:

v thought-provoking.......2007-06-15

truth be told i only read this because i heard the harry potter kid is/was doing the play in london.

wish i couldve read it as part of a book club or class..

Wonderfully Imaginitive.......2007-03-08

This amazing play weaves an incredibly in-depth psyhchological mystery from a very minimalist set. The characters seem to jump from the book directly to your imagination. It's a great story that's hard to put down.

An interesting read.......2007-01-04

This play first came to my attention when I received information about Daniel Radcliffe starring in it this spring in London. I decided to read the play when I found that the summary appealed to me. I was not disappointed with my choice- it is really quite intriguing trying to understand Alan's crime, and then later to find it is really about the psychiatrist's internal conflict between right and wrong.

Extra-Ordinary.......2006-08-17

Peter Shaffers' Equus is an amazing tale of 17 year old boy who is torn between two total extremes, his father who is an Atheist and his mother who beleives in Christianity 100%. I can't begin to explain how absolutly disturbing this play.
If you liked "The Pillowman" you'll love Peter Shaffers' Equus.

Excellent, not surprisingly........2005-12-17

Peter Shaffer, Equus (Penguin Drama, 1973)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Equus was contrasting the play itself to the blurb on the back, which talked about the play's theme being how convenience and falling away from religion led to the decline of modern civilization. Interesting because, read a different way, Equus has as one of its subtexts a rather blistering attack on religion. Something to mull over.

But the important bit is, how's the work itself? The simple answer: it's Peter Shaffer. That should be all you need to know. (For those unaware, Shaffer was also responsible for Amadeus, the play turned into the equally wonderful 1984 Best Picture Oscar winner, and the equally wonderful Five-Finger Discount, the film version of which is unfortunately impossible to find in America.) When you read Shaffer, you are going to find unforgettable characters in intriguing situations, and that's exactly what you get here. The protagonist, Dysart, is a therapist at a mental hospital. His newest charge, sixteen-year-old Alan Strang, has been sent to the institution after blinding six horses at the stable where he'd worked. Dysart's job is, of course, to find out what was going through Strang's mind as he did it. Getting to the answer requires talking to most of those surrounding the boy's life, piecing together what caused Strang's mind to snap (and how long he's been insane), and finally, figuring out the boy's worldview.

It's gripping stuff. About the only thing that can be said against the play (and this is really a niggle, at best) is that some of the minor characters, who by rights should have been major characters, are two-dimensional and could have used a bit of fleshing out. That said, however, Equus is a fantastic piece of work, and well deserves its lofty reputation. ****

Average customer rating:

Well, then, there it is...
Brilliant
Excellent!
Great play, entertaining reading.
The Cancerous Power of Jealousy

Amadeus: A Play by Peter Shaffer
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060935499
Release Date: 2001-08-07

Book Description

0riginating at the National Theatre of Great Britain, Amadeus was the recipient of both the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award. In the United States, the play won the coveted Tony Award and went on to become a critically acclaimed major motion picture winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture.</p>

Now, this extraordinary work about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is available with a new preface by Peter Shaffer and a new introduction by the director of the 1998 Broadway revival, Sir Peter Hall. Amadeus is a must-have for classical music buffs, theatre lovers, and aficionados of historical fiction.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Well, then, there it is..........2006-11-22

Like a newspaper article, theatre has to convey its story with an economy of words.

In this way, great playwriting is a rare skill much like land the penny toss at the carnival and Shaffer is that rare playwriter who accomplishes his task so seemingly effortlessly.

Deftly, Shaffer tosses his Amadeus and Saliere together and in so doing plays each against their type rendering his Amadeus into the simple squeezebox which provides the background for the languid single note of Saliere's mournful jealousy.

What's so amazing is that in telling us the story of Amadeus' art, Shaffer shares important insights about his own. Don't have too many or too few notes but just the right number. Don't be so flashy in being good that people concentrate on the flashiness instead of the point.

And don't become so engrossed in your art that you lose sight of the ultimate ends it was meant to service in the first place.

Whether we are each more Amadeus or more Saliere we can connect with this play.

Brilliant.......2006-10-15

The film version of "Amadeus" is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. So I was a little nervous when, after picking up the play, I read that it would be very different from the movie. But I needn't have feared because, while there are several key differences, the heart of the story and the genius of its telling are equally prevalent. There is an intriguing alteration to the character of Salieri here in that he feels remorse for what he does to Mozart when confronted with the results of his machinations -- making him much more human and layered than his celluloid counterpart. The truly wonderful thing is that both forms are spectacular -- F. Murray Abraham's Salieri a brazen and histrionic devil to the printed Salieri who becomes horrified by what he has been reduced to in his quest for glory. As drama goes, you can't do much better than the exquisite "Amadeus". Shaffer's labor and its myriad incarnations have only served to deepen the play's message and painstakingly evolved it into the brilliant work presented here. It is undoubtedly one of the great masterpieces of theater, and will surely stand the test of time in future generations.

Excellent!.......2006-03-21

Whether one reads the play or watches the movie, Amadeus is quite a fun, intriguing, and thought provoking look into the music genius, and also that of the man who thought that he killed him. From watching the movie so many times to reading the play (finally!), I don't think there's any reason to really compare the two. They are both, on their own, excellent pieces of work. Both exemplify the spirit, wit, and grotesque passions and lives of all the characters in the play and the movie. They both bring justice, and yes, it's entertaining! Enjoy!

Great play, entertaining reading........2005-12-25

I am a big fan of the movie, so I decided to sit down and read the play. The play is a lot different then the 1984 motion picture, but just as good. It especially gives us another look at Salieri's character, where Saleri in the movie is very stiff and serious, Salieri in Amadeus in full of personality, and even a bit lewd and humorous, a side of him in the movie you can only see in the director's cut. I would deffinatly recommend this play to any fan of the movie, or just a fan of plays in general.

The Cancerous Power of Jealousy.......2005-09-09

Reading a play is obviously a different experience than either reading a novel with its descriptions of events and backgrounds, or that of actually seeing the play presented on stage. To read a play is to be faced with the power of dialogue to make or break a story. In Amadeus, author Peter Shaffer uses the spoken word to full effect. He takes a sand-grain of historical truth and lets it build in layers to the pearl it becomes in fiction. In this story, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, future legend and his own lifetime the most celebrated composer in late-18th century Vienna, turns out compositions of sheer genius, almost, it seems to his rival, the mediocre Antonio Salieri, without effort. Salieri is a man who has risen from modest beginning to reach his post of court composer to the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, and he recognizes in the earthy, profane Mozart, a superior, though in his regard undeserving talent. Where Saleri is devout, Mozart is licentious. Where Saleri must strain for hours to compose a small lackluster tune, Mozart extemporaneously flings celebrated music at the world. What begins as intoxicated admiration of Salieri toward the younger newcomer ripens to darkest envy and eventually to hatred. Salieri vows to destroy Mozart and punish God for making a creature of hedonistic depravity the instrument of Heavenly music. Salieri, once God's most obedient, modest servant turns into a conniving, plotting caricature of his former self. He stalks Mozart and awaits his chance to strike his revenge. In this way, by being universally known as Mozart's murderer, Salieri has confidence that in the end he will defeat God by forever linking his name to Mozart's--a victim and his destroyer. In this way he will share in the fame God in His gift gave Mozart. And yet, there is one last twist to Shaffer's story, for it is after all God Salieri is challenging here, not merely the flesh and blood Mozart, and in the closing seconds of the final act, it is God who plays the final hand to very crafty effect.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Play

Equus
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amadeus: A Play by Peter Shaffer

ASIN: 0743287304

Book Description

An explosive play that took critics and audiences by storm, Equus is Peter Shaffer's exploration of the way modern society has destroyed our ability to feel passion. Alan Strang is a disturbed youth whose dangerous obsession with horses leads him to commit an unspeakable act of violence. As psychiatrist Martin Dysart struggles to understand the motivation for Alan's brutality, he is increasingly drawn into Alan's web and eventually forced to question his own sanity. Equus is a timeless classic and a cornerstone of contemporary drama that delves into the darkest recesses of human existence.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Play.......2007-02-12

I really enjoyed reading this play. It was unusual compared to most plays and stories that I have read. Peter Shaffer has some wonderful plays and I will enjoy reading more of them.

Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package

Average customer rating:

extremely helpful learning tool
Excellent, even for review
A Wonderful Learning Tool
VERY challenging...

Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package
Lillian C. McDermott , and Peter S. Shaffer
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0130970697

Customer Reviews:

extremely helpful learning tool.......2006-07-16

I am a student at the University of Washington, where the tutorial books were developed. Most students naturally have common-sense misconceptions or difficulties in certain areas of introductory physics and the tutorial exercises are specifically designed to focus on these problem areas. They often guide the student by starting out with a simple physical situation and asking the student to predict what will happen, which exposes what biases/beliefs the student already holds. Then, the rest of the tutorial reveals whether these beliefs are mistaken or accurate and why. The tutorial homework provides an opportunity to practice what was learned in the tutorial class-work and solidifies the student's understanding of the material.

The questions are extremely clear, well-written, and unambiguous, in large part because the Physics Education Group constantly revises the tutorials based on how the students respond. They are usually simple and relatively easy if you know what you are doing; the goal of the tutorials is not to be "busy work" but to make sure students truly understand the topic. They are mostly conceptual and qualitative rather than calculation-driven.

Another reviewer said that the tutorials were extremely challenging because there was no textbook to refer to. The thing is, the tutorials aren't meant to stand alone. At the UW, there are three components to the introductory physics courses: lecture, lab, and tutorial. Lecture involves a heavy, "official" physics textbook. Students are supposed to learn the basic material from the textbook, and use the tutorials as a supplementary way to explore the topics and to make sure they really understand the "dry" reading in the textbook. The tutorial books are also definitely not supposed to guide labs, so I'm not surprised the reviewer found them hard to use.

Another important component of tutorials is that the class has about 24 students working in groups of 4. Then there are 2 tutorial instructors per class specifically trained in guiding the students through the work. They are an integral part of the tutorial system, because they are really familiar with the tutorial and are able to talk you through any issue you don't understand. They also help you see the significance of the tutorial. Tutorial class-work isn't meant to be solitary, with one student just trying to flounder their way through the stuff.

In all, the tutorial books are excellent, but they have to be used in the right context. They are really meant to be a supplementary part of the educational process, not a substitute for the textbook. Also, I doubt the books would be as effective without the class structure/tutorial instructors they are used with; they have to be fully integrated into the curriculum for their potential to be realized.

Excellent, even for review.......2003-10-21

I used this book as a junior-year physics major, while I coached (kinda like TA'd) for the introductory calculus-based mechanics course. Although I'd taken this course myself two years before, I found this book enormously helpful for review, and the students also seemed to learn very well from it, too. It doesn't give you or ask for the answers right away, but leads you through your own intuition to find the correct answer as well as the correct ways of thinking. I wish they had similar books for more advanced courses like quantum mechanics!

A Wonderful Learning Tool.......2002-12-07

These books are a GREAT tool for any physics teacher! It is true that they are very challenging, and sometimes not very pleasurable for the students as they are working through the tutorials, but the reward in the end IS worth it! It is very apparent that the physics education research team at UW spent many semesters putting together these sets of tutorials. I have seen my students retain earlier concepts much better after using the tutorials. This is a must have in any college physics class.
Just a warning... these tutorials are ment to be performed in small groups, and typically need a lot of guidence from an instructor or a lab aid. In a class of 24 studnets, there should be at least 2 "instructors" or an instructor or and a helper that can guide groups through the process.

VERY challenging..........2002-04-10

These are the books I use for my physics lab - I find them very hard/challenging to use. I think the fact that there is no set textbook to refer to makes it difficult. Some of the tutorials & homework are relatively easy and quick, while others are hard and take a long time to complete.

Companion to the British and Irish Novel 1945-2000 (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture)

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Companion to the British and Irish Novel 1945-2000 (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture)

Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Literature | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1405167459

Book Description

A Companion to the British and Irish Novel 1945-2000 serves as an extended introduction and reference guide to the British and Irish novel between the close of World War II and the turn of the millennium.

The Companion embraces the full range of this rich and heterogeneous subject, covering: specific British and Irish novels and novelists ranging from Samuel Beckett to Salman Rushdie; particular subgenres such as the feminist novel and the postcolonial novel; overarching cultural, political, and literary trends such as screen adaptations and the literary prize phenomenon. All the essays are informed by current critical and theoretical debates, but are designed to be accessible to non-specialists.

The volume as a whole gives readers a sense of the vitality with which the contemporary novel continues to be discussed.

Lettice and Lovage: A Comedy
Average customer rating:

A Modern Comedic Classic

Lettice and Lovage: A Comedy
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

A Modern Comedic Classic.......2000-04-05

Peter Shaffer hit a home run with this marvelously witty play. I saw it on Broadway before reading it and thought it was truly worthy of Maggie Smith's talent. In reading the play I have found a greater apprecition for the piece. I great tribute to comedic leading ladies!

Black Comedy: A Comedy (French's Theatre Scripts)

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Black Comedy: A Comedy (French's Theatre Scripts)
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays

ASIN: 0573023034

Black Comedy, Including White Lies: Two Plays

Average customer rating:

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant.
An absolutely hilarious play

Black Comedy, Including White Lies: Two Plays
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Stein & Day Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0812810279

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant........2004-08-13

As part of in independent study in college, I chose to research twentieth century farce. Feydeau to Fryn. Here's the thing. I LOVE farce. I think it's one of the most underappreciated dramtic genres, despite it's consistent ability to 1) Critique modern ideas of controll and rationality and 2) Make everyone laugh their butts off. So anyways, I had to read a lot of farces, most of them were pretty great.

But Peter Schaffer's Black Comedy really takes the cake. Not only does it utilize one of the most clever dramatic conventions I've seen incorporated into a play (the inverse lighting), but it's a structural masterpiece. The way the entire evening snowballs into a bigger and bigger nightmare is unparalleled in the genre (to my mind). Shaffer counterpoints his multiple plotlines (which all stem from just one poor poor protagonist) into such a delightful thread of chaos and disaster that words fail me. This play is simply amazing. I have never had the good fortune to see it performed, but I have read and re-read it, and it get's me every time.

Please, if you like to laugh or have the sadistic urge to watch Murphey's Law go to lunch on an unsuspecting artist read this play! Please!

Also, White Lies isn't bad either.

An absolutely hilarious play.......1998-06-15

I recently performed Black Comedy as part of a small, independant production group and believe me, it is FANTASTIC! The play is so funny, and it is chock full of little witty remarks. It has an amazingly clever premise, and is so much fun to do, we wanted to keep performing it! Shaffer is definately a master of Comedy.

Average customer rating:

Equus: A Play
Peter Shaffer
Manufacturer: Avon Books (Mm)
ProductGroup: Book
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Physics by Inquiry: An Introduction to Physics and the Physical Sciences (Physics by Inquiry)

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Science Education as it Should Be

Physics by Inquiry: An Introduction to Physics and the Physical Sciences (Physics by Inquiry)
Lillian C. McDermott , Peter S. Shaffer , and Mark L. Rosenquist
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Customer Reviews:

Science Education as it Should Be.......2002-01-18

I love this set of books. These books require students to learn not by lecture, but by doing labs and explaining their results.

These books certainly are not appropriate for high school students (the age level I teach), but they are the perfect resource for their teacher. A high school student needs very clear instructions and needs reassurance that he is on the right track. These books are not clear enough for these students.

However, as a teacher, I can adapt the material, write my own labs, and give the students something that is on their level.

I've done the electricity unit, as a student, and realized that there was quite a lot about circuitry that I don't know. I was a Physics major, but I never truly understood the material, I only thought I did. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other units and finding out what else I don't understand!

The other useful feature of these books is the cost. The labs use only very inexpensive equipment. For someone like me in a small, rural school, this is a godsend! In a few years, I hope to develop my program to the point that my students will get a good, high-level education, and low cost labs help make this possible sooner.

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