Wrestling with himself: Wallace Shawn’s ‘Essays’

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As an actor and playwright, Wallace Shawn’s eccentric style is like no one else’s. And in his collection of ‘Essays,’ which I review in Tuesday’s Calendar, that inimitable inquiring voice, which takes absolutely nothing for granted, can be heard loud and clear.

For theater people, the book will be of special interest, elucidating the often elusive train of Shawn’s political thinking. For such a redoubtable New York liberal, there’s something fascinatingly cagey about his approach to ideologies, particularly dangerous ones.

But for anyone within an interest in listening to a unique writer respond to the crises and culture of his age, this gathering of short pieces and interviews will invite both argument and agreement.

--Charles McNulty