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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 812.6
EAN num: 9780810123472
ISBN number: 0810123479
Label: Northwestern University Press
Manufacturer: Northwestern University Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 112
Printing Date: January 23, 2007
Publishing house: Northwestern University Press
Sale Popularity Level: 154788
Studio: Northwestern University Press
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A luxury sedan, a church pew, a cafeteria table, a favorite TV show, and visits to a nursing home form the comfortable cycles of the dull daily life of middle-aged insurance salesman Ken Carpenter. Then one night, he awakens to find that he no longer believes in God. To the surprise of his very understanding (to a point) wife and his two grown daughters who think he has lost his mind, Ken decides to find himself and his faith by flying to London, where he was stationed while in the Air Force. He navigates through the new and somewhat dangerous realm of British counter-culture and ultimately finds his way back home. Tracy Letts's moving, funny, and spiritually complex play dares to ask the big questions, and by doing so, reveals the hidden yearning and emotion that spur the eccentric behavior of seemingly ordinary people.
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Rated by buyers 
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Whether from crisis-of-faith or mid-life crisis, fifty-seven-year old Ken Carpenter has reached a point in his life where he questions everything, even his fundamental belief in God. Raised as a Baptist, Ken has spent the years of marriage and family doing the expected, an insurance salesman in Lincoln, Nebraska, living in bland, middle-aged boredom. His marriage to Nancy has fallen into predictable routine, their communication predictable and ordinary. When Ken sobs his confusion one night, questioning the existence of God, Nancy stands by, confused and unable to relate to her husband's emotional torment.
Unsurprisingly, the pastor is called and it is on his advice that Ken travels to London, where he had spent his time in the service. On the flight to London, Ken is propositioned by a divorced woman, a hint of the new experiences ahead. Nevertheless, Ken is a creature of his environment, lacking spontaneity or curiosity about the world-at-large. Although he is befriended by a young bartender and her sculptor flat mate, contributing financially to this odd threesome, Ken has yet to truly explore the questions that bedevil him. He does, however, derive some comfort in clumsy fledgling efforts at sculpture, suspending for a time the angst that has lately permeated his every waking hour.
At home, wife Nancy and eldest daughter, Ashley, wait, Nancy increasingly pained by Ken's emotional desertion, Ashley more direct in her anger. Although he harbors no immediate plans to do so, Ken returns home on the occasion of his mother's funeral, confronted by the family he left behind. Face to face with Nancy, Ken attempts to explain his recent actions, to navigate the difficult terrain back to his wife.
Letts fails to address Ken's burning issue of faith once he arrives in London, instead allowing his protagonist to slide into a more comfortable resolution, suspending thought while immersed in the relationship with his British acquaintances, dabbling in sculpture. If nothing else the scorn heaped on Ken's American naiveté and self-absorption allows him to adjust his rigid perception of himself and the world, an inkling perhaps that his problem is not nearly as serious as those faced by others: "All Americans are defensive. They can't help it."
Thanks to her husband's unexpected actions, Nancy Carpenter undergoes her own transition. A traditional wife and mother, Nancy chafes at being so easily cast aside, a slow rage gradually building. Letts displays a deft touch for the minute details of family life, the small betrayals and disappointments that result in upheaval and forced change, the unhappiness surfacing after years of tranquility. Luan Gaines/ 2007.
Rated by buyers 
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You have to be REALLY creative set-wise to put up this production. It takes place in a ton of different locals. It seems much more like a short story with visuals than an actual play. Was an enjoyable read, though. Not quite as good as Bug.
Rated by buyers -
Tracy writes with a realistic flavor and urgency.
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