We needed a good book on Wallace Shawn -- in fact, we still do. But this is something. The summary of early plays is quite helpful, considering how hard it is to find these and actually read them (besides, on the basis of the summaries of some of these -- particularly 'The Hospital Play' -- I'm not sure I'd want to read them.) And some of the points are interesting, but they seem isolated -- there is no large thesis or vision uniting the book. Still, when Shawn takes hold of you, you want to read everyting you can find on him. The best part is the interview between WS and Mark Strand, which is simply fascinating.

"Writing Wrongs" is a fine, very helpful book. King does a nice job of laying out the broad strokes of Shawn's dramatic philosophy, while simultaneously providing enough detail about the individuals works themselves. The greatest benefit of King's summaries is their thoroughness. These summaries are not the pat, shallow kinds of things that are far too common in treatments like these. In particular, King's handling of "Our Late Night," a shockingly-hard-to-find play from the early 1970s is to be commended. King's ability to bring forth the biting sarcasm and sagacity of "Our Late Night" is one of the highest points of his book. More generally, I cannot imagine that the broadly outlined, yet detailed approach was an easy balance to strike, and King should be applauded for his facility. I must, however, agree with the previous reviewer that the definitive work on Shawn is still to be written.