TY - BOOK AU - Michael Taav PY - 2021 CY - New York, United States of America PB - Peter Lang Verlag TI - A Body Across the Map T2 - The Father-Son Plays of Sam Shepard UR - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1090885 N2 - As an actor, screenwriter, director, short story writer, and, most significantly, a playwright, Sam Shepard has long been an important figure on the American cultural landscape. A Body Across the Map focuses on the character conflict central to Shepard’s most significant plays; that between fathers and sons. Beginning with The Rock Garden and concluding with A Lie of the Mind, this analysis shows how Shepard’s worldview has evolved over a 20-year span. A long-standing pessimist who saw Oedipal revenge as a necessity, and genetic determination as inescapable, Shepard ultimately disavows these dark worldviews in favor of one where gentleness, spiritual generosity, cooperation, and the acceptance of long-denied truths prevail over rage, self-interest, and biological predestination. KW - cooperation, character conflict, genetic determination, spiritual generosity, rage LA - English ER -