Act One

A few years ago, on vacation, I picked up an old copy of Act One, knowing only vaguely that it was a famous theater memoir. Some number of breathless, elated hours later, I picked my head up again. Wow. Every bit of the skill and charm that made Hart a hit playwright is on display: wonderful character sketches, especially of his idiosyncratic collaborator George S. Kaufman; brilliantly constructed set pieces; and the joyfully dramatic story of his sudden--but hard-earned--rise from stage-struck poverty to Broadway stardom. Frank Rich was right when he recently called it "the greatest showbiz book ever written." I'm not sure I've ever been more entertained.