Plays in Henley's Volume I are presented in the order in which they were first produced in New York. She includes with her introductions to each play a selection of her friends' memories. Established fans and the uninitiated alike will welcome this compact packaging of Henley!s collected plays. This two-volume compilation reveals a consistently excellent body of work from a distinctive voice of the American theater, one that could be described as modern Southern Gothic with a bit of wild comedy, some theatrical poetry, a pinch of pessimism, and lots of warm geniality thrown in. Part of the charm of these volumes is the prefaces in which theatrical collaborators reminisce about the plays. Though Henley!s most famous work is still her first play, Crimes of the Heart, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979, several other works are also of high quality. Lesser-known plays from Volume 2, such as Abundance, Control Freaks, and Impossible Marriage, are of special interest. As this set reveals, Henley!s most important contribution to the theater is her memorable gallery of women characters, which has kept her plays alive on stages across the country for two decades. Recommended for public and academic libraries."Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., MA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Beth Henley was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play for her first full-length play, Crimes of the Heart, which was the co-winner in 1979 of the Great American Play Contest sponsored by the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Ms. Henley's screenplay for the film version of Crimes of the Heart won her an Academy Award Nomination. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard. She wrote the screenplay for Miss Firecracker starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen and Tim Robbins, the screenplay for Nobody's Fool starring Rosanna Arquette and Eric Roberts, a teleplay for the PBS series, Trying Times, and co-wrote David Byrne's True Stories. Beth Henley was born and raised in Mississippi, is a graduate from Southern Methodist University and lives in Los Angeles with her son Patrick.