The Piano Lesson
Product ID: 3400696
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NOW A NETFLIX FILM STARRING SAMUEL L. JACKSON! Winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, this modern American classic is about family, and the legacy of slavery in America. August Wilson has already given the American theater such spell-binding plays about the black experience in 20th-century America as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences . In his second Pulitzer Prize-winner, The Piano Lesson, Wilson has fashioned perhaps his most haunting and dramatic work. At the heart of the play stands the ornately carved upright piano which, as the Charles family's prized, hard-won possession, has been gathering dust in the parlor of Berniece Charles's Pittsburgh home. When Boy Willie, Berniece's exuberant brother, bursts into her life with his dream of buying the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves, he plans to sell their antique piano for the hard cash he needs to stake his future. But Berniece refuses to sell, clinging to the piano as a reminder of the history that is their family legacy. This dilemma is the real "piano lesson," reminding us that blacks are often deprived both of the symbols of their past and of opportunity in the present.
| Book 3 Of 7 | The Century Cycle |
| Dimensions | 5.29 x 0.4 x 7.97 inches |
| Edition | Reprint |
| Isbn 10 | 0452265347 |
| Isbn 13 | 978-0452265349 |
| Item Weight | 4.8 ounces |
| Language | English |
| Print Length | 144 pages |
| Publication Date | December 1, 1990 |
| Publisher | Plume |
User
Enjoyable Play
I love this play! The book is great quality! The story is great and I really enjoyed reading it for class.
User
What a great book only 100 pages
Foreword said its a play designed to be red aloudI amAnd it brings a bygone era to lifeAuthor of fences
User
Loved it!
Love it, made me watch both movie plays
User
Allegorical Play about the Past vs the Present
August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Piano Lesson is set in the post-depression era in 1936 Pittsburgh and digs into familial strife over the biggest symbol on the play, a family piano. It's a case where not only did the two siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie, clash over ideals, but at the forefront the play concerns the theme of the past versus the present.One of the impressive features that makes Wilson's play tick and particularly effective and powerful is how he structures the play with the opening conflict, and then digs into the dynamics and history of what the piano symbolizes and represents to the two siblings. The two have two different schools of thought about what it means and represents.For Boy Willie, who is eager to sell the piano, the piano represents freedom, independence, and a chance at a business venture and financial prosperity. This is because he is given an opportunity to buy Sutter’s land (Sutter was a slave owner) from Sutter’s brother and he needs the money from the piano to invest in this. For Boy Willie, this is the chance at a piece of the American Dream.On the other hand, Berniece believes the piano is representative of a piece of difficult history, a piece of family history that symbolizes the toil and struggle and the cost of freedom. She puts how deeply steeped in history the piano is when she retorts to Boy Willie in a key moment in the play: “money can’t buy what that piano cost.” She holds to the thought that the piano should not be sold at any cost.As you can imagine, there is quite a feud between the two and clashing over ideas about the piano that becomes more pronounced as we move further along into the play.While the play is rather short, it really packs a punch, and I really liked the allegorical nature and the metaphorical aspects that Wilson examines. These elements become crucial and prominent as the play unfolds.A very powerful play this is, and I'm definitely interested in checking out more of August Wilson's works in the future.
User
Excellent book and was in excellent condition!
Thanks!
User
Southern Lit in Pittsburgh
August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle of dramas makes perfect complement to, and perhaps a counterweight to, Faulkner's novels and stories about Mississippi. It's as though some of Faulkner's characters escaped and settled in Pittsburgh but brought with them the conflicts and emotions of their Southern roots. Often plays do not make good reading since they are meant to be seen, but Wilson's dialogues are so strong, realistic, and poetic at times that the play comes alive in the imagination, even without a physical stage. Moreover, The Piano Lesson is one of the best plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle. I like it even more than Fences.
User
Ingrosing
This was a book club choice. I thoroughly enjoyed this play and was pleasantly surprised for the play from. All in my book club enjoyed the read so discriptive.
User
Good Book, Bad Ending
This was a good read. A bit different from my usual but it was entertaining. A lot of books stack scenes to tell stories, but this one was intricately weaved. If you're into plays, enjoy the read but prepare yourself for a disappointing conclusion.
User
Great book and service
Great book, great delivery!
User
Sublime!!!
J'ai adoré ce livre, je le conseille à tous!Il se lit très vite car on ne peut s’empêcher de le lire.Il s'agit de l'histoire d'une famille noire américaine à l'époque de l'esclavage.Mais aussi et l'histoire d'un piano pas comme les autres.
User
beste ausgabe
die beste ausgabe des modernen klassikers, gutes papier und der text ist teilweise kommentiertüber die qualität des stückes gibt es nichts zu meckern, sollte man kennen als theaterfreund
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