Synopsis "Explaining It to Someone: Learning From the Arts"
This is a companion work to "Waiting for Someone to Explain It; The Rise of Contempt and the Decline of Sense" (Lacunae Musing, 2019) which focused on the political and economic landscape at the beginning of the 21st century. While writing about those issues, Robert Hagelstein was also writing about what he was personally experiencing in his cultural life, particularly the literature, music, and theatre of the same period. If he was seeking "answers" in his previous work from politicians or economists, perhaps better clues can be found in the works of some of our most creative people. One may think of them as our greatest philosophers.Unlike most other works of literary or theatrical examination, this one is clearly idiosyncratic. The works covered are tied together by the unique thread of his own life and times. Did he chose these works, or did they chose him? Hundreds of dramatic and literary works are reviewed, along with impressions of musical performances and composers, mostly focused on the genres of The Great American Songbook and Jazz. Yet, the work is as much a memoir as it is critique, as he tethers them into his own life experiences.Together, these works give a unique view of our times, human nature, as well as a much needed respite from the dystopian world in which we find ourselves today. Here is just a partial list of the artists reviewed here: Dramatists: David Mamet, Edward Albee, Martin McDonagh, Arthur Miller, Athol Fugard, Lorraine Hansberry, Eugene Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Horton Foot, Thornton Wilder, Sam Shepard, William Inge, Alan Bennett, Eugene O'Neill, John Patrick Shanley, Tennessee Williams, Donald Margulies, Tom Stoppard, Lillian Hellman, David Hare and August Wilson.Writers: Richard Russo, John Updike, Richard Yates, John Irving, Anne Tyler, Jonathan Franzen, Anita Shreve, Pat Conroy, Jonathan Tropper, Philip Roth, Richard Ford, Louis Begley, James Salter, John Cheever, Wallace Stegner, Tom Wolfe, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, Raymond Carver, and William TrevorComposers and Musicians: Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rodgers & Hart, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Johnny Mandel, Frank Loesser, and Irving Berlin
