ISBN Mamet Plays: 1 (Duck Variations; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; Squirrels; American Buffalo; The Water Engine; Mr Happiness)

Duck Variations: 'A brilliant little play...about two old men sitting on a park bench discussing ducks' (Guardian); Sexual Perversity in Chicago, bar-room banter and sexual exploits in Mamet's home town 'sweet sad understanding and utterly believable' (Chicago Daily News); Squirrels is a sequence of philosophising between a younger writer, an older writer and a cleaning lady which 'memorably captures the agony of the creative process' (Daily Telegraph); American Buffalo, one of Mamet's most famous plays, is set in a junk shop where Three small-time crooks plot to carry out the midnight robbery of a coin collection - in the hours leading up to the heist, friendship becomes the victim in a conflict between loyalty and business. The Water Engine is 'a propulsive, kaleidoscopic nightmare' and Mr Happiness is a short ironic monologue by a Radio DJ commenting on the letters from his listeners.