Full Article Text
Arts Books
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Kim Stanley Robinson , Science Fiction Books , Sci Fi Books , Sci-Fi , Science
Fiction , Books NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Typical Important Outrageous Amazing Innovative BeautifulBooks: Kim Stanley Robinson's
Latest Sci-Fi Gem 2312
2312 BY KIM STANLEY ROBINSON *** 1/2 out of **** $25; Orbit 561 pages
Science fiction at its best can accomplish one of two things. Either an author is adept at extrapolating
current scientific thought and expands our ideas of the possible (like Arthur C. Clarke's popularization ofputting satellites into geosynchronous orbit) or an author uses a futuristic setting to shine a spotlight on
the present.
Kim Stanley Robinson does both. His new book 2312 is bursting with so many ideas and vivid characters
that readers will be almost upset to hear it's a stand-alone. How could anyone create such a vivid,
believable, mind-bursting future and not want to explore it further?
The story takes place 300 years in the future. Humanity has expanded beyond the earth to colonize
various planets and moons and asteroids and any other heavenly object you can name. Tension betweenMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
GOP Approves Abortion Ban
MAP: Hurricane Isaac's Path
Aims For Gulf Coast
Isaac Balloons Into A
Hurricane, New Orleans
Threatened
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in AmericaFOLLOW USBook Club Libraries In Crisis
August 29, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS MEDIA ARTS SCIENCE RELIGION TRAVEL EDUCATION LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 05/24/2012 11:58 am
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyLike 1k
Like 13k
Like 1k
Like 98
Like 4k
Recommend 9k
Recommend 289
Recommend 697
Like 233NYR More Log in Create Account
the over-crowded dysfunctional earth and the people on the outer worlds is always high despite their
mutual dependency. Limited resources, ever-lengthening lifespans (200+ years and counting), and goodold lust for power are bringing the crisis to a head.
Terrorist acts soon sabotage the safety of everyone but who is committing them? Is it the work of
multinational corporations still struggling to hold onto power? Resentful people trapped on a dying
planet? Power brokers desperate to swing popular support to their own particular vision for the future?
Or could it be the work of qubes, those quantum-based computers of a sort that serve as artificial
intelligence and which apparently are starting to act "strangely" and may have achieved some sort ofconsciousness and -- along with it -- a desire to be free?
This grand scale narrative is immediately anchored in the story of Swan Er Hong. She's the
granddaughter of Alex, a very powerful player in interstellar politics who apparently feared some quberevolt and insisted on doing most of her work face to face. When Alex dies at the beginning of the book,
Swan finds herself drawn into multiple conspiracies and a need to revenge the attack on her home city
Terminator, located on Mercury. Complicating matters? The landscape artist Swan may be falling in love;
indeed, her own implanted qube is aware of it before Swan.
Okay, that's the very broad outline of this tale. Robinson's narrative fun reminds me of Melville's Moby
Dick, thanks to playful interruptions of the story with lists and internal monologues and extracts, such as
the intro to a manual on how to terra-form your own asteroid. ("As your assembly hollows the interior,
be aware that ejection of the excavated material (best aimed toward a Lagrange salvage point, to collect
the salvage fee) will represent your best chance to reposition your terrarium, if you want it in a differentorbit.")
I haven't even touched on the polymorphous, polygender world of 2312 , where referring to someone's
gender is akin to using the informal "tu" in Spanish and not something you'd want to even hazard a guess
at in many circumstances. Humans have modified themselves into "talls" and "smalls" for various
reasons. (It turns out smaller body ratios invariably live longer and work better in low gravity
environments.) And sexual organs of all types can be added on to your body as you please.
Even that doesn't capture the humor, such as the way Robinson brilliantly maps out a future history of
economic systems in just a few short pages (all reflecting the various influences of solar colonies and thetype of trading in raw materials and finished products they'd engender) with the kicker being a one-line
reference to the almost complete disappearance of capitalism as one of the main accomplishment of the
colonization of Mars. (Capitalism remains a "sport" for some, a game to be played on the margins of thereal economy. Being good at this rough and tumble endeavor is a hobby or almost an art form. Almost.)
In short, Robinson's story is gripping, funny, and rich with vivid characters -- like the "small" Inspector
Jean Genette and the imperturbable, frog-like Warham. It describes a possible future in such vivid and
exciting ways you can't wait for it to arrive.
But Robinson doesn't just spell out future possibilities; he inhabits them. One section lays out the way to
hollow out an asteroid and create a terrarium to support life -- Swan in fact spent much of her earlyartistic career creating these various worlds and coming up with themes and interesting combinations of
Earth environments to make each one she worked on unique and fascinating. We learn how these
interiors are circular and therefore you can be standing on the "ground" and look up: "above" the clouds
you can see a lake, located in the sky from your perspective but simply the opposite side of the asteroid.
Wonderful, memorable stuff. But it's not until a character is in one such space and remarks that he feelslike he's inside a map that has been rolled up and put into a tube that this idea truly comes to life in asimple but effective image. Robinson offers such insight again and again.
The story ends on a perfect note that's emotionally satisfying and implies a remarkable new development
in what constitutes life in one brief, amusing exchange. Then Robinson indulges in one more extract and
a rose-tinted epilogue that is quite unnecessary. It's a minor complaint about a novel that is so sure-footed throughout.
2312 is clearly one of the best books of the year but I'm not sure I can recommend it to people who aren't
already steeped in sci-fi. I fear they might be lost by the ideas and assumptions that sci-fi fans now take
for granted as future possibilities. Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt is still my favorite book to
introduce people to his talent; it goes far into the future but begins in the past and includes ideas of
reincarnation that make that millennial spanning work easier for newbies to grasp. Then I would sendpeople to his landmark trilogy -- Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars -- a wonderful tale about colonizing
and terraforming Mars that is as good as hard science fiction gets; being set in the near future makes iteasier for readers not accustomed to sci-fi to follow the possibilities as they slowly arise.
In contrast, 2312 throws you into the deep end. For those ready to take the plunge, it's an exhilarating
experience.MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Barack Obama
Natural
Disasters
Elections 2012
Guatemala
Arizona
Politics
Foreclosure
Crisis
Soccer
George
Zimmerman
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Ray Bradbury's FBI File
Unpublished? You Don’t
Actually Suck
Michiko Kakutani's 11
Meanest Book Reviews
How to Talk to Little Girls
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
feliciaday
RetweetThink on it: Cambridge scientistssay all mammals, birds, many
others including octopi, have
human-like consciousness.http://t.co/aF6W2ZQh
FOLLOW BOOKS
Ray Bradbury FBI
File: Sci-Fi Legend
Suspected...
Worst Book
Reviews: Michiko
Kakutani's 11
Meanest...
Publishing's Drug
Problem
Shadow
Conventions 2012:
Books On Poverty
In...BOOKS I'VE READ SO FAR IN 2012
1. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt ***2. Jack Holmes and His Friend by Edmund White ***3. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle **4. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel ***5. Death Walks In Eastrepp by Francis Beeding ***6. Lumious Airplanes by Paul La Farge ***/
7. The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen ** 1/2
8. Unterzakhn by Leela Corman **9. The Child Who by Simon Lelic ***
10. Hinterland by Caroline Brothers ***
11. The Yard by Alex Grecian *** 1/2
12. The Alienist by Caleb Carr ***13. On The Wings Of Heroes by Richard Peck *** 1/2
14. A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs *
15. The Gods Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs **16. The Warlord Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs ** 1/217. Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight For Bataan and Corregidor by Bill Sloan ** 1/218. Stoner by John Williams ****19. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt *** 1/220. The 500 by Matthew Quirk **21. The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton ****
22. The Alienist by Caleb Carr ***\
23. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi **24. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household ***25. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky **26. Traitor's Gate by Avi ** 1/227. Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins ***
28. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson *** 1/2
29. The Twelve Rooms Of The Nile by Enid Shomer ** 1/230. Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel *** 1/231. In One Person by John Irving **32. A Million Heavens by John Brandon ***33. The Case Of The Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall ***34. Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man by Walter Stahr *** 1/2
35. The Kings of Cool by Don Winslow ***
36. The Case of The Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free galleys and/or final copies of books to consider for review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Books...
Like 20k GET ALERTS
Comments 9 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All Favorites
07:37 AM on 05/25/2012
It's always good to see a critic of a SciFi book, they're so rare... like the genre is not even worthy of
criticizing...
I'll certainly have a look to this one.
Note to the author (of the article) : shame on you if you're a SciFi fan and haven't read Edgar Rice
Burroughs' Mars novels before 2012...
09:22 PM on 05/25/2012
Hey, we've all got holes in our reading :) At least I'd read Tarzan of the Apes. You know abig reason I didn't? I wanted to read them in slim, easy to carry mass market paperbackswith lurid cover art. That just felt right for those books. Instead they -- and the Conan books
-- were usually only available in massively heavy, omnibus sets. It was an aesthetic choice
but I finally caved before the movies came out. Thanks for commenting.
02:09 PM on 05/27/2012
You're welcome :-)I was lucky to read the first French translations in their original paperback.
02:06 PM on 05/24/2012
I really liked his Mars books, and really did not like Years of Rice and Salt. Given that, I'm not surewhat to do with your recommendation...
07:50 PM on 05/24/2012
I feel the same way--loved the Mars Trilogy, couldn't get into the Years of Rice and Salt. Istarted 2312 today and am LOVING it. I got chills when the story started on Terminator,Mercury.
I think if you liked the Mars Trilogy, you will like 2312.
09:23 PM on 05/25/2012
Have you read anything else by Robinson? The global warming series? The California
series? if like me you think he's a major talent, one book that didn't do it for you shouldn'tkeep you from reading his latest. It's certainly closer to hard sci-fi than Rice & Salt, which Iam fairly alone in loving. Maybe it's a Buddhist thing.
02:47 PM on 05/29/2012
It could be. I really failed to connect or care about the characters in Rice & Salt. Itwas too slice of life for my tastes, if I recall rightly.Recency | Popularity
Francois G
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
Francois G
Permalink | Share it
JustThisGuy
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Debru
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
JustThisGuy
Permalink | Share it
oldschoollib
Live from the Heartland81 Fans
127 Fans
81 Fans
88 Fans
421 Fans
127 Fans
88 Fans
199 Fans
01:00 PM on 05/24/2012
I love Robinson's Mars trilogy. Can't wait to read this one. Sounds like he got his "inside-out"
asteroid imagery inspiration from Larry Niven's Ringworld, another one of my favorites.
09:24 PM on 05/25/2012
Ringworld is a landmark work and I'm sure Robinson has read it as well. Thanks for
commenting. I think you'll enjoy.
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL LifestylePermalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it127 Fans
New York
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theatre , Horton Foote , Horton Foote One Acts , Nyc Around Town , Nyc Plays , Off-
Broadway , New York NewsReact
Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdTheater: Horton Foote's Quiet
Pleasures in Harrison, TX
HARRISON, TX: THREE PLAYS BY HORTON
FOOTE *** ouf ot ****
59 E 59
Playwright Horton Foote won an Oscar and a Pulitzer,
not to mention sustained acclaim for his work in
television, film and, of course, on stage. Nonetheless, his
stock will continue to rise, if that's possible. The surefootedness of his writing, the durable combination
of vivid characters and subtle but plainspoken dialogue all reward actors who learn to plumb their
depths. It's a terrible pity the marvelous staging of The Orphans' Home Cycle a few years ago at
Signature didn't transfer to Broadway. These three one acts won't make that leap either, but anyone who
seeks them out will enjoy the quiet pleasures Foote was so expert at providing.
I wrote just last week about the unique experience of an evening of one acts and here is a great example.
The second play is not terribly interesting and the third has two weak performances. But the evening as a
whole is greater than the sum of its parts, thanks to Foote.
The first and most entertaining one act is Blind Date . All three are set in the small town of Harrison,
Texas, in this case right on the edge of the Depression in 1928. Dolores and Robert are entertaining her
sister's daughter and Dolores is just determined to help Sarah Nancy get along in society. She keeps
arranging blind dates, but Sarah Nancy (an amusingly grumpy Andrea Lynn Green) won't cooperate.She's a tomboy with no time for nonsense or making small talk whatsoever. Dolores (Hallie Foote)
coaches her in appropriate topics for conversation, Robert (Devon Abner) merely wants to wrangle some
food out of his wife (he was supposed to eat in town but forgot) and then the boy Felix shows up (thegarrulous Evan Jonigkeit who doesn't look remotely like the horrible things Sarah Nancy describes).That's it.
But in that modest little comedy, Foote creates a vivid world. With the right actors, it's a rich play indeed.
A lesser actor would have left no impression as the husband Robert, but Abner mines his lines for humor,
frustration, sympathy and more, proving how rich this secondary character can be. Jonigkeit has fun as
Felix, rattling off the books of the Bible as a stunt, plowing forward to find a topic of conversation even asSarah Nancy blocks his every approach and letting the sparks fly while leaving room for the surprising
finale that hints that these two young people might, in fact, have a future together. Green has a ball as
the recalcitrant gal, galumphing up and down the stairs in patient resignation of her fate. And HallieFoote -- she embodies this world so completely, the second she walks on stage you know this character soMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
PHOTO: Adele Steps Out
With Baby Bump
Yahoo News Bureau Chief
Fired Shocking Romney
Comments
George W. Bush All But
Erased From Republican
Convention
President Obama Holds A
Reddit 'Ask Me Anything'
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the SilentFOLLOW USAround Town Restaurants Real Estate NY Impact Best of New York NYPD Scandals Parties MTA WTC
August 30, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA STYLE FOOD TECH ARTS GAY VOICES LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 08/15/2012 12:16 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyLike 1k
Like 17k
Like 2k
Like 140
Like 375
Like 38
Like 1k
Like 2k
Like 2kCelebrity babies Beauty LDS Church Log in Create Account
vividly and well that you trust completely in where the story is going. She's funny without ever going for
the laughs, astringent without ever being mean, desperate in the face of a young woman who simply will
not make small talk and turns a list of appropriate topics into a very amusing bit of business. You neverwant her to leave the stage.
The second play, The One-Armed Man is the least interesting of the evening. A businessman is
confronted by a bitter former employee who lost his arm in an accident at the mill and now comes by
once a week, demanding his limb back. Usually, he takes some money and goes off to get drunk. But
today, he's brought a gun. The setup is very telling. The businessman, C.W. Rowe (a fine Jeremy Bobb)berates his assistant for being in debt, sort of like an Ebenezer Scrooge who thinks he can impart somewisdom to his employees while nickel and diming them to death. As the harried assistant, Abner (the
father in the first play) does a marvelous job of subtle rebellion, letting us know exactly what he's
thinking without ever dropping the surface appearance of a lackey. Unfortunately, this piece never findsthe right attitude towards the one-armed man McHenry (Alexander Cendese). Is he unhinged? Anavenging angel? The guilty conscience of the owner that simply won't go away? Cendese didn't seem toknow, so we didn't either. I wouldn't be surprised if a different production of this would be thoroughly
gripping. Like Chekhov, Foote is seemingly easy to do but without hitting exactly the right note, the
essence of the work is lost.
The last play also has its faults, but the large cast and the general strength of the story keep it afloat. The
Midnight Caller is about the residents of a boarding house in 1952, all women until a businessman moves
in. That's upsetting to the fussbudget Alma Jean Jordan (a very funny Mary Bacon). But the realproblems begin when Helen Crews is kicked out of her home and moves in as well. Helen is a scandal tosome in town because the handsomest, wealthiest man in Harrison fell for her and she would go off with
him on car rides and other jaunts at any hour of the day or night. They were desperately in love, but their
mothers kept them apart and she finally gave up while he sank into alcoholism. Now wherever she lives,he comes over three sheets to the wind and bellows out her name until he tires of it and stumbles home.
Bobb is quite good as the businessman who takes a shine to Helen (much to the unspoken frustration of
Alma Jean). But it's the women of the boarding house who make this a pleasure. Bacon is marvelous,matched by Green as "Cutie" Spencer, the superior Jayne Houdyshell as a schoolteacher who realizes shehas spent her life on the porch watching other people's lives take shape and, of course, Hallie Foote as
the proprietor, again so good you can't get enough of her. Unfortunately, Helen and the drunken
gentleman caller are played by Jenny Dare Paulin and Cendesne, both of whom are by far the weakest of
the bunch. It may simply be a lack of experience with Foote. His lines are simple to memorize but getting
them right is an entirely different matter.
Nonetheless, taken as a whole this is a solid entertainment showing the durability and strength of Foote's
work. Pam MacKinnon directs with subtlety, the costumes by Kaye Voyce are spot on and the lighting by
Tyler Micoleau sensitive to the moment at hand. The set by Marion Williams is functional, though they
might have found a more elegant solution to where to place Helen's room in the third play. Still, with
limited means and a small stage, it is quickly peopled by the world Foote created. Here's hoping hisworks keep coming back to New York again and again.
THE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Aron Sentenced to 40 Years
Isabella and Jayden Top
NYC Baby Names
Yun Zi's 3rd Birthday Party
Dem Politician Reportedly
Told Female Staffers Not
To Wear Bras
And NYC's Most Popular
Baby Names Are...
WATCH: Alleged Cop
Ignores Brutal Union
Square Fight
WATCH: Man Tricks
Tourists Into Believing
He's Famous
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
jilevin
RetweetUnemployment In Europe ByCountry http://t.co/ckVtqKJX via
@huffingtonpost
FOLLOW NEW YORK
Levi Aron
Sentenced: 40
Years To Life...
New York
Republicans:
Locating The GOP
In...
NYC Baby Names:
Isabella, Jayden
Most Popular...
Marijuana Law In
New York The
'Dumbest...Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
Read more from Huffington Post bloggers:
Michael Giltz: Theater: Bring It On Doesn't; Into The Woods Loses Its Way
The cast includes the great Donna Murphy as the Witch, the talented Denis O'Hare as the Baker and
Hollywood's Amy Adams venturing onto the stage as his wife. What could go wrong? Quite a bitactually.
Around the Web:
Horton Foote's Harrison, TX, With Jayne Houdyshell, Hallie Foote and Evan ...
Horton Foote plays bring 'Harrison, TX' to New York City
Harrison, TX: Three Plays by Horton Foote
More in New York...
Celebrity
babiesShadow
Conventions
2012Inside DC
LDS Church
Political
Hollywood
Elections 2012
Cheese
Republican
Convention
2012
Banksy
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Like 24k GET ALERTS
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of HuffPost LocalRecency | Popularity
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Kim Stanley Robinson , Science Fiction Books , Sci Fi Books , Sci-Fi , Science
Fiction , Books NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Typical Important Outrageous Amazing Innovative BeautifulBooks: Kim Stanley Robinson's
Latest Sci-Fi Gem 2312
2312 BY KIM STANLEY ROBINSON *** 1/2 out of **** $25; Orbit 561 pages
Science fiction at its best can accomplish one of two things. Either an author is adept at extrapolating
current scientific thought and expands our ideas of the possible (like Arthur C. Clarke's popularization ofputting satellites into geosynchronous orbit) or an author uses a futuristic setting to shine a spotlight on
the present.
Kim Stanley Robinson does both. His new book 2312 is bursting with so many ideas and vivid characters
that readers will be almost upset to hear it's a stand-alone. How could anyone create such a vivid,
believable, mind-bursting future and not want to explore it further?
The story takes place 300 years in the future. Humanity has expanded beyond the earth to colonize
various planets and moons and asteroids and any other heavenly object you can name. Tension betweenMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
GOP Approves Abortion Ban
MAP: Hurricane Isaac's Path
Aims For Gulf Coast
Isaac Balloons Into A
Hurricane, New Orleans
Threatened
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in AmericaFOLLOW USBook Club Libraries In Crisis
August 29, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS MEDIA ARTS SCIENCE RELIGION TRAVEL EDUCATION LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 05/24/2012 11:58 am
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyLike 1k
Like 13k
Like 1k
Like 98
Like 4k
Recommend 9k
Recommend 289
Recommend 697
Like 233NYR More Log in Create Account
the over-crowded dysfunctional earth and the people on the outer worlds is always high despite their
mutual dependency. Limited resources, ever-lengthening lifespans (200+ years and counting), and goodold lust for power are bringing the crisis to a head.
Terrorist acts soon sabotage the safety of everyone but who is committing them? Is it the work of
multinational corporations still struggling to hold onto power? Resentful people trapped on a dying
planet? Power brokers desperate to swing popular support to their own particular vision for the future?
Or could it be the work of qubes, those quantum-based computers of a sort that serve as artificial
intelligence and which apparently are starting to act "strangely" and may have achieved some sort ofconsciousness and -- along with it -- a desire to be free?
This grand scale narrative is immediately anchored in the story of Swan Er Hong. She's the
granddaughter of Alex, a very powerful player in interstellar politics who apparently feared some quberevolt and insisted on doing most of her work face to face. When Alex dies at the beginning of the book,
Swan finds herself drawn into multiple conspiracies and a need to revenge the attack on her home city
Terminator, located on Mercury. Complicating matters? The landscape artist Swan may be falling in love;
indeed, her own implanted qube is aware of it before Swan.
Okay, that's the very broad outline of this tale. Robinson's narrative fun reminds me of Melville's Moby
Dick, thanks to playful interruptions of the story with lists and internal monologues and extracts, such as
the intro to a manual on how to terra-form your own asteroid. ("As your assembly hollows the interior,
be aware that ejection of the excavated material (best aimed toward a Lagrange salvage point, to collect
the salvage fee) will represent your best chance to reposition your terrarium, if you want it in a differentorbit.")
I haven't even touched on the polymorphous, polygender world of 2312 , where referring to someone's
gender is akin to using the informal "tu" in Spanish and not something you'd want to even hazard a guess
at in many circumstances. Humans have modified themselves into "talls" and "smalls" for various
reasons. (It turns out smaller body ratios invariably live longer and work better in low gravity
environments.) And sexual organs of all types can be added on to your body as you please.
Even that doesn't capture the humor, such as the way Robinson brilliantly maps out a future history of
economic systems in just a few short pages (all reflecting the various influences of solar colonies and thetype of trading in raw materials and finished products they'd engender) with the kicker being a one-line
reference to the almost complete disappearance of capitalism as one of the main accomplishment of the
colonization of Mars. (Capitalism remains a "sport" for some, a game to be played on the margins of thereal economy. Being good at this rough and tumble endeavor is a hobby or almost an art form. Almost.)
In short, Robinson's story is gripping, funny, and rich with vivid characters -- like the "small" Inspector
Jean Genette and the imperturbable, frog-like Warham. It describes a possible future in such vivid and
exciting ways you can't wait for it to arrive.
But Robinson doesn't just spell out future possibilities; he inhabits them. One section lays out the way to
hollow out an asteroid and create a terrarium to support life -- Swan in fact spent much of her earlyartistic career creating these various worlds and coming up with themes and interesting combinations of
Earth environments to make each one she worked on unique and fascinating. We learn how these
interiors are circular and therefore you can be standing on the "ground" and look up: "above" the clouds
you can see a lake, located in the sky from your perspective but simply the opposite side of the asteroid.
Wonderful, memorable stuff. But it's not until a character is in one such space and remarks that he feelslike he's inside a map that has been rolled up and put into a tube that this idea truly comes to life in asimple but effective image. Robinson offers such insight again and again.
The story ends on a perfect note that's emotionally satisfying and implies a remarkable new development
in what constitutes life in one brief, amusing exchange. Then Robinson indulges in one more extract and
a rose-tinted epilogue that is quite unnecessary. It's a minor complaint about a novel that is so sure-footed throughout.
2312 is clearly one of the best books of the year but I'm not sure I can recommend it to people who aren't
already steeped in sci-fi. I fear they might be lost by the ideas and assumptions that sci-fi fans now take
for granted as future possibilities. Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt is still my favorite book to
introduce people to his talent; it goes far into the future but begins in the past and includes ideas of
reincarnation that make that millennial spanning work easier for newbies to grasp. Then I would sendpeople to his landmark trilogy -- Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars -- a wonderful tale about colonizing
and terraforming Mars that is as good as hard science fiction gets; being set in the near future makes iteasier for readers not accustomed to sci-fi to follow the possibilities as they slowly arise.
In contrast, 2312 throws you into the deep end. For those ready to take the plunge, it's an exhilarating
experience.MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Barack Obama
Natural
Disasters
Elections 2012
Guatemala
Arizona
Politics
Foreclosure
Crisis
Soccer
George
Zimmerman
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Ray Bradbury's FBI File
Unpublished? You Don’t
Actually Suck
Michiko Kakutani's 11
Meanest Book Reviews
How to Talk to Little Girls
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
feliciaday
RetweetThink on it: Cambridge scientistssay all mammals, birds, many
others including octopi, have
human-like consciousness.http://t.co/aF6W2ZQh
FOLLOW BOOKS
Ray Bradbury FBI
File: Sci-Fi Legend
Suspected...
Worst Book
Reviews: Michiko
Kakutani's 11
Meanest...
Publishing's Drug
Problem
Shadow
Conventions 2012:
Books On Poverty
In...BOOKS I'VE READ SO FAR IN 2012
1. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt ***2. Jack Holmes and His Friend by Edmund White ***3. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle **4. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel ***5. Death Walks In Eastrepp by Francis Beeding ***6. Lumious Airplanes by Paul La Farge ***/
7. The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen ** 1/2
8. Unterzakhn by Leela Corman **9. The Child Who by Simon Lelic ***
10. Hinterland by Caroline Brothers ***
11. The Yard by Alex Grecian *** 1/2
12. The Alienist by Caleb Carr ***13. On The Wings Of Heroes by Richard Peck *** 1/2
14. A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs *
15. The Gods Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs **16. The Warlord Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs ** 1/217. Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight For Bataan and Corregidor by Bill Sloan ** 1/218. Stoner by John Williams ****19. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt *** 1/220. The 500 by Matthew Quirk **21. The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton ****
22. The Alienist by Caleb Carr ***\
23. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi **24. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household ***25. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky **26. Traitor's Gate by Avi ** 1/227. Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins ***
28. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson *** 1/2
29. The Twelve Rooms Of The Nile by Enid Shomer ** 1/230. Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel *** 1/231. In One Person by John Irving **32. A Million Heavens by John Brandon ***33. The Case Of The Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall ***34. Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man by Walter Stahr *** 1/2
35. The Kings of Cool by Don Winslow ***
36. The Case of The Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free galleys and/or final copies of books to consider for review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Books...
Like 20k GET ALERTS
Comments 9 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All Favorites
07:37 AM on 05/25/2012
It's always good to see a critic of a SciFi book, they're so rare... like the genre is not even worthy of
criticizing...
I'll certainly have a look to this one.
Note to the author (of the article) : shame on you if you're a SciFi fan and haven't read Edgar Rice
Burroughs' Mars novels before 2012...
09:22 PM on 05/25/2012
Hey, we've all got holes in our reading :) At least I'd read Tarzan of the Apes. You know abig reason I didn't? I wanted to read them in slim, easy to carry mass market paperbackswith lurid cover art. That just felt right for those books. Instead they -- and the Conan books
-- were usually only available in massively heavy, omnibus sets. It was an aesthetic choice
but I finally caved before the movies came out. Thanks for commenting.
02:09 PM on 05/27/2012
You're welcome :-)I was lucky to read the first French translations in their original paperback.
02:06 PM on 05/24/2012
I really liked his Mars books, and really did not like Years of Rice and Salt. Given that, I'm not surewhat to do with your recommendation...
07:50 PM on 05/24/2012
I feel the same way--loved the Mars Trilogy, couldn't get into the Years of Rice and Salt. Istarted 2312 today and am LOVING it. I got chills when the story started on Terminator,Mercury.
I think if you liked the Mars Trilogy, you will like 2312.
09:23 PM on 05/25/2012
Have you read anything else by Robinson? The global warming series? The California
series? if like me you think he's a major talent, one book that didn't do it for you shouldn'tkeep you from reading his latest. It's certainly closer to hard sci-fi than Rice & Salt, which Iam fairly alone in loving. Maybe it's a Buddhist thing.
02:47 PM on 05/29/2012
It could be. I really failed to connect or care about the characters in Rice & Salt. Itwas too slice of life for my tastes, if I recall rightly.Recency | Popularity
Francois G
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
Francois G
Permalink | Share it
JustThisGuy
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Debru
Permalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it
JustThisGuy
Permalink | Share it
oldschoollib
Live from the Heartland81 Fans
127 Fans
81 Fans
88 Fans
421 Fans
127 Fans
88 Fans
199 Fans
01:00 PM on 05/24/2012
I love Robinson's Mars trilogy. Can't wait to read this one. Sounds like he got his "inside-out"
asteroid imagery inspiration from Larry Niven's Ringworld, another one of my favorites.
09:24 PM on 05/25/2012
Ringworld is a landmark work and I'm sure Robinson has read it as well. Thanks for
commenting. I think you'll enjoy.
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL LifestylePermalink | Share it
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Michael Giltz
freelance writer
Permalink | Share it127 Fans
New York
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theatre , Horton Foote , Horton Foote One Acts , Nyc Around Town , Nyc Plays , Off-
Broadway , New York NewsReact
Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdTheater: Horton Foote's Quiet
Pleasures in Harrison, TX
HARRISON, TX: THREE PLAYS BY HORTON
FOOTE *** ouf ot ****
59 E 59
Playwright Horton Foote won an Oscar and a Pulitzer,
not to mention sustained acclaim for his work in
television, film and, of course, on stage. Nonetheless, his
stock will continue to rise, if that's possible. The surefootedness of his writing, the durable combination
of vivid characters and subtle but plainspoken dialogue all reward actors who learn to plumb their
depths. It's a terrible pity the marvelous staging of The Orphans' Home Cycle a few years ago at
Signature didn't transfer to Broadway. These three one acts won't make that leap either, but anyone who
seeks them out will enjoy the quiet pleasures Foote was so expert at providing.
I wrote just last week about the unique experience of an evening of one acts and here is a great example.
The second play is not terribly interesting and the third has two weak performances. But the evening as a
whole is greater than the sum of its parts, thanks to Foote.
The first and most entertaining one act is Blind Date . All three are set in the small town of Harrison,
Texas, in this case right on the edge of the Depression in 1928. Dolores and Robert are entertaining her
sister's daughter and Dolores is just determined to help Sarah Nancy get along in society. She keeps
arranging blind dates, but Sarah Nancy (an amusingly grumpy Andrea Lynn Green) won't cooperate.She's a tomboy with no time for nonsense or making small talk whatsoever. Dolores (Hallie Foote)
coaches her in appropriate topics for conversation, Robert (Devon Abner) merely wants to wrangle some
food out of his wife (he was supposed to eat in town but forgot) and then the boy Felix shows up (thegarrulous Evan Jonigkeit who doesn't look remotely like the horrible things Sarah Nancy describes).That's it.
But in that modest little comedy, Foote creates a vivid world. With the right actors, it's a rich play indeed.
A lesser actor would have left no impression as the husband Robert, but Abner mines his lines for humor,
frustration, sympathy and more, proving how rich this secondary character can be. Jonigkeit has fun as
Felix, rattling off the books of the Bible as a stunt, plowing forward to find a topic of conversation even asSarah Nancy blocks his every approach and letting the sparks fly while leaving room for the surprising
finale that hints that these two young people might, in fact, have a future together. Green has a ball as
the recalcitrant gal, galumphing up and down the stairs in patient resignation of her fate. And HallieFoote -- she embodies this world so completely, the second she walks on stage you know this character soMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
PHOTO: Adele Steps Out
With Baby Bump
Yahoo News Bureau Chief
Fired Shocking Romney
Comments
George W. Bush All But
Erased From Republican
Convention
President Obama Holds A
Reddit 'Ask Me Anything'
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the SilentFOLLOW USAround Town Restaurants Real Estate NY Impact Best of New York NYPD Scandals Parties MTA WTC
August 30, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA STYLE FOOD TECH ARTS GAY VOICES LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 08/15/2012 12:16 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyLike 1k
Like 17k
Like 2k
Like 140
Like 375
Like 38
Like 1k
Like 2k
Like 2kCelebrity babies Beauty LDS Church Log in Create Account
vividly and well that you trust completely in where the story is going. She's funny without ever going for
the laughs, astringent without ever being mean, desperate in the face of a young woman who simply will
not make small talk and turns a list of appropriate topics into a very amusing bit of business. You neverwant her to leave the stage.
The second play, The One-Armed Man is the least interesting of the evening. A businessman is
confronted by a bitter former employee who lost his arm in an accident at the mill and now comes by
once a week, demanding his limb back. Usually, he takes some money and goes off to get drunk. But
today, he's brought a gun. The setup is very telling. The businessman, C.W. Rowe (a fine Jeremy Bobb)berates his assistant for being in debt, sort of like an Ebenezer Scrooge who thinks he can impart somewisdom to his employees while nickel and diming them to death. As the harried assistant, Abner (the
father in the first play) does a marvelous job of subtle rebellion, letting us know exactly what he's
thinking without ever dropping the surface appearance of a lackey. Unfortunately, this piece never findsthe right attitude towards the one-armed man McHenry (Alexander Cendese). Is he unhinged? Anavenging angel? The guilty conscience of the owner that simply won't go away? Cendese didn't seem toknow, so we didn't either. I wouldn't be surprised if a different production of this would be thoroughly
gripping. Like Chekhov, Foote is seemingly easy to do but without hitting exactly the right note, the
essence of the work is lost.
The last play also has its faults, but the large cast and the general strength of the story keep it afloat. The
Midnight Caller is about the residents of a boarding house in 1952, all women until a businessman moves
in. That's upsetting to the fussbudget Alma Jean Jordan (a very funny Mary Bacon). But the realproblems begin when Helen Crews is kicked out of her home and moves in as well. Helen is a scandal tosome in town because the handsomest, wealthiest man in Harrison fell for her and she would go off with
him on car rides and other jaunts at any hour of the day or night. They were desperately in love, but their
mothers kept them apart and she finally gave up while he sank into alcoholism. Now wherever she lives,he comes over three sheets to the wind and bellows out her name until he tires of it and stumbles home.
Bobb is quite good as the businessman who takes a shine to Helen (much to the unspoken frustration of
Alma Jean). But it's the women of the boarding house who make this a pleasure. Bacon is marvelous,matched by Green as "Cutie" Spencer, the superior Jayne Houdyshell as a schoolteacher who realizes shehas spent her life on the porch watching other people's lives take shape and, of course, Hallie Foote as
the proprietor, again so good you can't get enough of her. Unfortunately, Helen and the drunken
gentleman caller are played by Jenny Dare Paulin and Cendesne, both of whom are by far the weakest of
the bunch. It may simply be a lack of experience with Foote. His lines are simple to memorize but getting
them right is an entirely different matter.
Nonetheless, taken as a whole this is a solid entertainment showing the durability and strength of Foote's
work. Pam MacKinnon directs with subtlety, the costumes by Kaye Voyce are spot on and the lighting by
Tyler Micoleau sensitive to the moment at hand. The set by Marion Williams is functional, though they
might have found a more elegant solution to where to place Helen's room in the third play. Still, with
limited means and a small stage, it is quickly peopled by the world Foote created. Here's hoping hisworks keep coming back to New York again and again.
THE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Aron Sentenced to 40 Years
Isabella and Jayden Top
NYC Baby Names
Yun Zi's 3rd Birthday Party
Dem Politician Reportedly
Told Female Staffers Not
To Wear Bras
And NYC's Most Popular
Baby Names Are...
WATCH: Alleged Cop
Ignores Brutal Union
Square Fight
WATCH: Man Tricks
Tourists Into Believing
He's Famous
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
jilevin
RetweetUnemployment In Europe ByCountry http://t.co/ckVtqKJX via
@huffingtonpost
FOLLOW NEW YORK
Levi Aron
Sentenced: 40
Years To Life...
New York
Republicans:
Locating The GOP
In...
NYC Baby Names:
Isabella, Jayden
Most Popular...
Marijuana Law In
New York The
'Dumbest...Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
Read more from Huffington Post bloggers:
Michael Giltz: Theater: Bring It On Doesn't; Into The Woods Loses Its Way
The cast includes the great Donna Murphy as the Witch, the talented Denis O'Hare as the Baker and
Hollywood's Amy Adams venturing onto the stage as his wife. What could go wrong? Quite a bitactually.
Around the Web:
Horton Foote's Harrison, TX, With Jayne Houdyshell, Hallie Foote and Evan ...
Horton Foote plays bring 'Harrison, TX' to New York City
Harrison, TX: Three Plays by Horton Foote
More in New York...
Celebrity
babiesShadow
Conventions
2012Inside DC
LDS Church
Political
Hollywood
Elections 2012
Cheese
Republican
Convention
2012
Banksy
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Like 24k GET ALERTS
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of HuffPost LocalRecency | Popularity