Glengarry Glen Ross | Essays and Criticism

  • Morality and Characterization in Mamet's Play

    In this essay, the author discusses morality and characterization in Mamet's play.

  • Mamet's Jackals in Jackets

    In the following excerpt, Kroll offers a mixed review of Glengarry Glen Ross, asserting that in "trying to wed the uncompromising vision of moral primitivism in [his earlier play] American Buffalo with a more accessible, even commercial appeal," Mamet introduces "elements of relatively conventional plotting and farce that occasionally wobble; the resolution of the real-estate-office rip-off doesn't quite ring true." Nevertheless, Kroll declares that "in all other respects Mamet is better than ever."

  • Theatre: A Mamet Play, Glengarry Glen Ross

    In the following review, which originally appeared in the New York Times on March 26, 1984, Rich offers praise for Glengarry Glen Ross, applauding Mamet's ability to make "all-American music—hot jazz and wounding blues—out of his salesmen's scatological native lingo," and asserting that Glengarry Glen Ross ''may well be the most accomplished play its author has yet given us."