Margulies' Collected Stories (1996) was a 1997 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama. The play concerns the developing relationship between a young writer and her mentor. The plot turns when the mentor feels betrayed because the young writer publishes a book that closely resembles details in the mentor's life.

Sight Unseen (1991), by Margulies, was an Obie award winner and tells the story, in numerous flashback scenes, of a young artist and his struggle to let go of his past, specifically his relationship with a former lover and one-time muse.

Plays from South Coast Repertory (1993) is a collection of plays that have been performed at one of Donald Margulies' favorite theaters. This collection includes six plays, which include Prelude to a Kiss, by Craig Lucas, as well as Sight Unseen, by Margulies.

The Real Thing (1982) is a play by Tom Stoppard, and it deals with themes similar to those in Margulies' Dinner with Friends.

Jhumpa Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Her collection of stones Interpreter of Maladies (1999) includes "A Temporary Matter," which tells the story of a marriage m trouble after the stillborn birth of a child.

Three Days of Rain (1999), by Richard Greenberg, the recipient of the Oppenheimer Award for the best new American playwright, was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His plays concern the same kind of basic human longings that Margulies has captured in his work.