http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,3 ... 064,1.html

yeah, yeah, i know...he's always been a stalwart pro-israel hawk, and his recent movies have sucked big time, but...i just can't believe this nonsense is coming from the guy who wrote "glengarry glen ross". what a fucking shame.

I guess he irrevocably sucks ass from here on out then. Nothing
he'll ever do will redeem him of this nonsense, and every triumpth he ever had was made moot by this spiel.

interesting use of the First Person As Straw Man...

That's kind of a new twist.


Still, kind of a dull and pointless essay. I think his own self-loathing informs the protagonist of his play, he assigns his own worst traits to her, then in the wake of writing his latest masterpiece, can now focus his full disdain upon her (and by proxy, everyone who she ostensibly represents). What I fail to see in this essay, and perhaps I should read it again when I am sharper, is a SINGLE new idea.

Anyone else have better luck with it?

I mean, as it nears the final paragraph, he lists a bunch of other angry, misanthropic (and possibly self-loathing) conservative writers and says "I agree with these guys!"

Um, you were angry and misanthropic long before your latest play, Mr. Mamet. Of course you agree with them. It's a middle-aged crank sausage party! woo-hoo!

dontfeartheringo wrote:
Still, kind of a dull and pointless essay. I think his own self-loathing informs the protagonist of his play, he assigns his own worst traits to her, then in the wake of writing his latest masterpiece, can now focus his full disdain upon her (and by proxy, everyone who she ostensibly represents). What I fail to see in this essay, and perhaps I should read it again when I am sharper, is a SINGLE new idea.

No, you're right on the mark. There is no coherent point to this rambling and misanthropic bullshit. It's exactly like the Of Montreal essay. Except, even worse somehow.

Mr. Mamet appears to only want to convey that he used to have faith in humanity and anger at the world's problems, and that, now that he's older and smarter, he hates humanity and resignedly accepts the world's problems.

Sounds like a total cockbag.

i knew nothing of his politics or pro-israeli slant before but suffering fuck this essay straddles the line between coma-inducing boredom and rage-inflicting cock-knockery.

cock.

It's a rambling and dunderheaded essay, but if I expected good writers to also have good political views, then I'd have to purge my book collection of nearly every American modernist.

Wood Goblin wrote:It's a rambling and dunderheaded essay, but if I expected good writers to also have good political views, then I'd have to purge my book collection of nearly every American modernist.

I don't have a problem about his political views. I don't even care about them.

What I dislike is the off-hand misanthropy. And the pointlessness of his essay -- he's incapable of following a logical train of thought or conveying a consistent message.

NerblyBear wrote:

Wood Goblin wrote:It's a rambling and dunderheaded essay, but if I expected good writers to also have good political views, then I'd have to purge my book collection of nearly every American modernist.

I don't have a problem about his political views. I don't even care about them.

What I dislike is the off-hand misanthropy. And the pointlessness of his essay -- he's incapable of following a logical train of thought or conveying a consistent message.

I definitely agree with the last part. The essay has an "I'm Mamet; therefore, my whims, digressions, and half-thoughts are interesting and profound" quality to it.

Wood Goblin wrote:

NerblyBear wrote:

Wood Goblin wrote:It's a rambling and dunderheaded essay, but if I expected good writers to also have good political views, then I'd have to purge my book collection of nearly every American modernist.

I don't have a problem about his political views. I don't even care about them.

What I dislike is the off-hand misanthropy. And the pointlessness of his essay -- he's incapable of following a logical train of thought or conveying a consistent message.

I definitely agree with the last part. The essay has an "I'm motherfucking David goddamn Mamet; therefore, my every fucking whim, my fucking digressions, and even my cocksucking half-thoughts are very fucking interesting and profound, you piece of shit" quality to it.

FYP.

There's this weird detached bogus folksiness to it - like the "they're the same people we meet at the water-cooler" ending. How many people does a successful writer bump into at the water cooler? Surely that's just a received marketing man/TV execs' view of how "the rest of us", "the ordinary people" live, but it's as if he's using it to show us that he's in touch.