TOPDOG UNDERDOG Paperback – 1 February 2002

Doing anything for survival.

Topdog/Underdog is an accomplished work, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Parks offers a story of two brothers to explore the racial and racializing logics of modern America, thinking smartly about the relation between the past and the present, and delivering a thoughtful, poignant, and suspenseful drama in punchy language. A must.

Topdog

When I heard that Suzan-Lori Parks had earned the Pulitzer Prize I was quite shocked because that meant that I would have to read another play by her which I had not intended to after reading _In the Blood_ and finding it utterly bad.This new play - _Topdog/Underdog_ - however, is a very good read. It focuses on two brothers and the problems they have with themselves, each other and the world. Interestingly, they are called Lincoln and Booth, which is reflected in the play in a lot of ways, none of which I am willing to give away here as this play is too good not to be read.I have not read the other plays that were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize this year yet, so I cannot judge whether _Topdog/Underdog_ was the one that should have got it in my opinion, but at least I don't find myself screaming at the jury's decision.

This was an excellent book with a great story line and an ending that you didn't see coming.

Ich musste das Buch für die Uni lesen, was wir unter dem Gesichtspunkt Identität (speziell afroamerikanische) behandelten. Verschiedene Aspekte dieses Themas werden auf unterschiedliche Weise angeschnitten, allerdings war ich eher enttäuscht von der Handlung. Abruptes und vorhersehbares Ende und eher langweilige Hinführung zu diesem.