Once again, theater seems of little interest to the book review staff at the New York Times. Their Notable Books of 2025 features no published plays (although books of poetry are included), and few theater books of any kind.
I sorted through the list his year and found five that might reasonably be considered of particular interest to theater lovers, presented below ranked by most relevant, plus a sixth. I hope this encourages the Times to expand its concept of what’s notable.
The titles are linked to the full Times reviews, and the descriptions come directly from the Notable Books article, with, if necessary, a brief explanation of the theatrical connection. I’ve added a link to each book’s Amazon page, where you can read a sample.
DARK RENAISSANCE: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival
by Stephen Greenblatt. “In this thrilling and twisty tale, Greenblatt — the Pulitzer-winning Harvard scholar known for bringing 16th-century England to life — turns his attention to Christopher Marlowe, the shoemaker’s son who secured his fame with notoriously provocative plays like “Tamburlaine the Great” and “Doctor Faustus.” Amazon page.
BALDWIN: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs. “In this tender new biography, Boggs goes far beyond other scholars in tracing how James Baldwin’s relationships affected his work…”
In my review of the biography, I write: “Theater lovers might be surprised at how interested and involved Baldwin was throughout his life in writing and directing plays: In his high school yearbook he listed his desired occupation as “novelist/playwright”; he apprenticed to director Elia Kazan on two productions, Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth,” which he liked, and Archibald MacLeish’s “JB,” which he loathed, before writing his own two plays on Broadway, “Blues for Mister Charlie” and “The Amen Corner”; the final literary work of his life was a play entitled “The Welcome Table”: Amazon page
MARK TWAIN
by Ron Chernow. “Samuel Langhorne Clemens was a lot of things before he became the peerless writer known as Mark Twain: typesetter, riverboat pilot, journalist, Confederate militiaman, miner, businessman and more. Chernow’s voluminous biography presents Twain with all his complications and flaws.”
Chernow is the biographer of Alexander Hamilton who inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical. He now turns his attention to a writer who is not known for his playwriting, but did indeed write plays — all but one of which failed or remained unproduced during his lifetime. (I can’t resist pointing out that the Times review at the link is such a devastating pan that it makes one wonder what criteria the editors use to determine “notable.”) Amazon page
BOOK OF LIVES:A Memoir Of Sorts
by Margaret Atwood. “… The author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin” here turns the lens on herself, in a “memoir of sorts” that tracks both the profound experiences and the lighter moments that have informed her writing.”
Although known for everything except plays — “18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, two graphic novels,” — she began writing plays at age 6, she has adapted her novel “The Penelopiad” for the stage, and adapted Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” into a novel. She has also worked as a theater critic. Amazon page.
PLAYWORLD
by Adam Ross. “Ross’s semi-autobiographical second novel, set in New York City in the early 1980s, follows the travails of a successful child actor caught in the throes of a complicated relationship with a married woman.”
The last lines of the prologue: “Like my father’s fake teeth, which he occasionally left lying around our apartment, I was fascinated by [the woman’s prosthetic pinkie.], though my curiosity wasn’t morbid. I was a child actor, you see, a student of all forms of dissembling, and had long ago found my greatest subject to be adults.
A quote from the first chapter by Ronald Reagan: “Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close.” Amazon page
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The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
by Daniel Swift
(not in the Notable Books list, but reviewed just two days before in the Times): “the visionary entrepreneur James Burbage’s audaciously named “the Theater,” from 1576…. is the subject of Swift’s book, the first comprehensive popular account of the theater that effectively established the idea of commercial drama….”
Amazon page.
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