John Simon on Theater: Criticism 1974-2003

Theater buffs curious about what one of the country's most esteemed critics thinks of their favorite plays may want to pick up this collection of reviews and criticism, but they might be disappointed when he doesn't agree with them. In this volume, released simultaneously with John Simon on Film and John Simon on Music, Simon takes turns skewering and lauding almost anything that opened on Broadway or Off in the past 30 years. Known for his acid wit (in his introduction, O'Brien refers to him as ""cranky, but never a snob""), some of Simon's turns of phrase can certainly seem harsh (he refers to Billy Joel's music for Movin' Out as ""street noise"" and says that the show is appropriate only for ""foreign visitors who speak no English"") but he never apologizes for his opinions. Simon's writing is accessible, and it's often surprising to see which productions he likes and which he detests. And while certain shows beloved by other critics and the theater-going public are slashed to bits, the book is a necessary compilation of an important cultural critic's work that certainly deserves to be on the shelves of theater scholars and historians, as well as those wishing to study a master of arts criticism.