PositiveThe Washington PostThe book reads like dinner party tales: conquests, side stories and a few confessions. The tone? Puckish smile behind lifted wine glass ... Such jaunty 'making of' stories are the bulk of the book, and, veiled as it is, you get a sense of his temper under pressure, especially when cost-cutting or ineptitude threatened the quality of his complicated projects ... But the unworried Unmasked proves as readable as his hits are watchable.
Arthur Gelb & Barbara Gelb
PositiveThe Washington Post...admirably captures O’Neill’s tempestuous life ... the Gelbs provide a steady, unflinching examination of the influence the women in his life had on his work ... O’Neill’s unmatched creative career and his dark family backstory make for compelling reading. It is as difficult to put down this exhaustively reported reexamination of America’s first major playwright as it is to ignore fresh productions of his great plays.
Jeremy McCarter and Lin-Manuel Miranda
PositiveThe Washington Post...like the dizzyingly dense show it chronicles, [Hamilton: The Revolution is] unusually inquisitive and smart ... McCarter’s access serves him well as he interviews participants and chronicles rehearsals and opening nights. And the essays of designers, producers and performers at work are perceptive. The book’s chief value, though, lies within the juicy footnotes that Miranda adds to the complete lyrics ... The lyrics and notes to this patriotic celebration-protest piece are worth lingering over — a rarity in Broadway musicals — and they are often printed in white against large color photos from the production. You get a vivid idea of how it all works onstage.
