Lahr's Book of Profiles, Honky-Tonk Parade, Released Nov. 1
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 09, 2005
John Lahr, the distinguished theatre critic at The New Yorker, who penned the best-selling Show & Tell, has compiled a second collection of essays about some of the most provocative cultural icons of our time in his latest book entitled Honky-Tonk Parade: New Yorker Profiles of Show People. The book will be released on November 1st by Overlook Press."When
he was a young man, his father, comedian Bert Lahr, used to let him and
his sister watch from the wings. Over the years, wedged between the
stage manager and the curtain, with a good view of the Broadway
customers, his privileged access to the threshold between worlds gave
him a unique insight of the stage and its effect on both the audience
and its actors," according to press notes.
"In Honky-Tonk Parade, Lahr is at his trenchant best, giving the reader 14 hand picked selections in which he brilliantly reinvents the celebrity profile. His gift is his ability to get inside the art and the artist, to show how the work and the life intersect, and to do so without pretension or subterfuge. Honky-Tonk Parade illuminates some of the most compelling, elusive, and important artists of our time—writers, actors, directors and filmmakers. Each individual opens up to Lahr with rare candor, which allows him to weave biographical and anecdotal portraits with shrewd interpretation. Among the chosen individuals are Cole Porter, Laurence Fishburne, Richard Rodgers, Billy Connolly, Dame Edna and Dame Judith Dench. As he interviews some of the entertainment industry's most gifted and sought-after names, he reveals previously undisclosed aspects of their lives and professional routines while maintaining the integrity of the art and, above all, the public's appreciation for it."
Lahr is the senior drama critic of The New Yorker, where he has critiqued theater and pop culture since 1992 and is the only two time winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. He is the author of eighteen books including Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr and Prick Up Your Ears, which was later made into a film. His book Dame Edna and the Decline of Western Civilization, won the 1992 Roger Machell Prize for best book on the performing arts. Lahr's stage adaptations have been performed around the world, received a Tony Award for co-writing Elaine Stritch at the Liberty, making him the first critic to be recognized in their fifty-eight-year history. He divides his time between London and New York.
Honky-Tonk Parade's list price is $27.95. The hardback is available for pre-order for $18.45, however, at www.amazon.com.
"In Honky-Tonk Parade, Lahr is at his trenchant best, giving the reader 14 hand picked selections in which he brilliantly reinvents the celebrity profile. His gift is his ability to get inside the art and the artist, to show how the work and the life intersect, and to do so without pretension or subterfuge. Honky-Tonk Parade illuminates some of the most compelling, elusive, and important artists of our time—writers, actors, directors and filmmakers. Each individual opens up to Lahr with rare candor, which allows him to weave biographical and anecdotal portraits with shrewd interpretation. Among the chosen individuals are Cole Porter, Laurence Fishburne, Richard Rodgers, Billy Connolly, Dame Edna and Dame Judith Dench. As he interviews some of the entertainment industry's most gifted and sought-after names, he reveals previously undisclosed aspects of their lives and professional routines while maintaining the integrity of the art and, above all, the public's appreciation for it."
Lahr is the senior drama critic of The New Yorker, where he has critiqued theater and pop culture since 1992 and is the only two time winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. He is the author of eighteen books including Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr and Prick Up Your Ears, which was later made into a film. His book Dame Edna and the Decline of Western Civilization, won the 1992 Roger Machell Prize for best book on the performing arts. Lahr's stage adaptations have been performed around the world, received a Tony Award for co-writing Elaine Stritch at the Liberty, making him the first critic to be recognized in their fifty-eight-year history. He divides his time between London and New York.
Honky-Tonk Parade's list price is $27.95. The hardback is available for pre-order for $18.45, however, at www.amazon.com.
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