By Wallace Shawn
186 pages; Haymarket

Playwright and actor Wallace Shawn's Essays is full of what you might call conversation starters: tricky propositions about morality (the world is full of "cheerful, self-confident people who've put morality aside for now, and they're feeling great, and it's fun to be with them"), politics, privilege, runaway nationalist fantasies, collective guilt, and art as a force for change (or not). Shawn is nothing if not wry, testy, and argumentative; it's a treat to hear him speak his curious mind.

— Cathleen Medwick