Terrence McNally

#2

World-renowned historian Howard Zinn has turned to drama to explore the legacy of Karl Marx and Emma Goldman and to delve into the intricacies of political and social conscience perhaps more deeply than traditional history permits. Three Plays brings together all this work, including the previously unpublished Daughter of Venus, along with a new introductory essay on political theater, and prefaces to each of the plays.“The first act of ‘Emma,’ Howard Zinn’s play about Emma Goldman, is a small miracle. Here is a drama that holds down the heroics, polemics and didacticism to which works about heroes and heroines are prone. True, Emma is idealized; she is loving, honest, selfless, daring, but she is also human and believable.”—Walter Goodman, New York Times“[Marx in Soho is] an imaginative critique of our society’s hypocrisies and injustices, and an entertaining, vivid portrait of Karl Marx as a voice of humanitarian justice — which is perhaps the best way to remember him.” —Kirkus Reviews“[Daughter of Venus’s] central concerns — personal and social ethics; the balance of obligations to ourselves, our families, and our fellow citizens; the uses and abuses of political and scientific power — remain as timely as ever. . . . Zinn not only displays a fluid and passionately committed style but also is attempting to do something interesting with it: to interweave a story of familial tensions and national politics, and in doing so to remind us that the way we live our lives on the small, local, day-to-day scale of family life can have repercussions and implications for the life of the nation at large.”—Louise Kennedy, Boston Globe

#3

Is it necessary for the Christian to know the true meaning of faith, hope and charity? Who are the true owners of these virtues and how are they attained? The author has undertaken to make the meaning of these virtues clear and to offer guidance as to how we may best prepare ourselves to receive these virtues. These are the key virtues, for their purpose is to introduce us to eternal life. They cannot, however, be acquired through effort but are given to us as a gift from God. The author cautions that we must not wait for these virtues to be given but must strive toward putting ourselves in the proper state to receive them. To achieve this state it is essential that we understand the nature and significance of these virtues thoroughly. Moreover, we must understand the interrelation of the three, for there can be no living faith and hope without charity; no divine charity without hope and faith.