- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (Jan 26 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 067978179X
- ISBN-13: 978-0679781790
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.4 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#62,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > British & Irish > Modern
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Three Brilliants By The Great English Wit,
By
This review is from: Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, Private Lives: Three Plays (Paperback)
Noel Coward's talent for spinning gossamer plots into rapier-sharp comedy assures his reputation in theatre, and his comedies have such timeless appeal that they remain staples of both English and American theatre. This volume collects three of his most memorable scripts: the fantasy BLITHE SPIRIT, the farce HAY FEVER, and the razor-wicked PRIVATE LIVES.Of the three, BLITHE SPIRIT and PRIVATE LIVES are best known to the general public through various film versions and frequent revivals. BLITHE SPIRIT concerns a novelist who invites a medium to give a seance that he might learn tricks of the trade for the book he is writing--but the medium is no fake, and she unintentionally summons up the ghost of his first wife, who promptly moves in and makes his second wife's life a living hell. PRIVATE LIVES offers the story of a divorced couple who unexpectedly meet while honeymooning with their new spouses--whom they quickly abandon in order to resume their torrid passion for each other. Trouble is, although they love each other desperately, their personalities are about as compatible as two scorpions in a bottle. HAY FEVER, one of Coward's earliest successes, presents the story of visitors to an eccentric family who are very nearly driven mad before they are able to escape. Coward was reknowned for his sophistocated and often acid turn of phrase, and all three of these plays contain enough outrageous situations and sharp-tongued lines to make even the worst sourpuss laugh loud enough to annoy the neighbors. Although those unused to reading playscripts may find HAY FEVER a bit hard to grasp, both BLITHE SPIRIT and PRIVATE LIVES read extremely, extremely well--so much so that you're likely to find yourself acting them out as you read! Wonderful fun, and strongly, strongly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive,
By
This review is from: Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, Private Lives: Three Plays (Paperback)
I recieved my summer reading list for Honors English a few weeks ago, and under the section that held a list of three play titles to choose from, I came across Blithe Spirit. Having never heard of Noel Coward, or anything of the other two plays in this book (Hay Fever, and Private Lives) I decided to give the book a chance and I am pleased that I did. I am not a huge fan of reading plays, but after I read Blithe Spirit, I felt that I just had to keep going and read the other two. After reading this book, it is now very obvious to me that Noel Coward was a man with extreme talent, and an awful witty sense of humor. While reading these plays you come across some really interesting situations, and characters, and I guarentee that you will be smiling throughout the whole thing.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The only serious challenge to Feydeau in English,
By A Customer
This review is from: Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, Private Lives: Three Plays (Paperback)
Noel Coward's _Hay Fever_, Evelyn Waugh's _Handful of Dust_, and Kingsley Amis's _Lucky Jim_ are, for my money, the three funniest things written in English in the 20th century. I was a drama critic for nearly 12 years, saw hundreds of productions of all kinds from coast to coast in the US and a few in London, and never laughed harder or enjoyed myself more than at a regional US production of "Hay Fever" in the late 1970's. Do it again! Do it again!
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