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A Practical Handbook for the Actor cover art

A Practical Handbook for the Actor

Written by: Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previto
Narrated by: Max Meyers, Scott Zigler, David Mamet, Rose Byrne, Chris Bauer, Alison Wright
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Publisher's Summary

For anyone who has ever wanted to take an acting class, "this is the best book on acting written in the last twenty years" (David Mamet, from the Introduction).

This book describes a technique developed and refined by the authors, all of them young actors, in their work with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, actor W. H. Macy, and director Gregory Mosher. A Practical Handbook for the Actor is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play." The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book.
©2012 Melissa Bruder (P)2021 Random House Audio
Entertainment & Performing Arts
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What the critics say

"Simple, clear and consise—just what was needed. A deeply interesting and valuable piece of work." —Sidney Lumet

"This terse and lucid handbook might well be for the actor what Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is for the writer." —John Guare

"This book is wonderful. It is clear, direct, and to the point, with none of the hokum that accompanies most books on the theatre, especially about acting. I learned an enormous amount." —Robert Benton

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Profile Image for Hiroshi

Extremely Distracted by Reader’s Ever-changing Accent

I think the content was helpful. Unfortunately I was too distracted by the Australian accent with unnatural rhotic pronunciations.
I wish the reader would stick to one or the other accent.
The actual book is quite thin so if you are thinking of getting this or if it was assigned for class, just go with the book.

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Profile Image for Adam

Don't waste a credit

Only two hours long, without a ton of information. waste of an audible credit. The scenes they perform are laughable... I literally laughed while the guy screamed "Stella" during the "Streetcar Named Desire" scene. Waste of time and money. On a positive note, the narrator is very good.

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