Simon Gray Dies at 71

Sad news out of Britain today: playwright and essayist Simon Gray is dead at the age of 71.

I was introduced to Gray's work in graduate school via Jim Nicholson's playwriting class at Washington University. For me, he's a vastly underrated playwright who was often dismissed as slightly on the verge of middle-brow. The work is a lot deeper than that, however. (Harold Pinter's close working relationship with Gray, I think, is a true sign of that depth. Pinter directed many of Gray's plays.)

The obituaries have fastened on Butley, Otherwise Engaged (one of the most nihilistic plays I've ever read), The Common Pursuit and Quartermaine's Terms -- and, of course, his tartly hilarious diaries. But for my money, The Rear Column is my favorite Gray play. It's been a really big influence on what I write -- which often touches on history. And I did manage to see Hidden Laughter near the end of its run in 1990.

Here's a great profile from The Observer in 2004 that gives you a sense of the man. He'll be missed.

All the President's Mad Men

I have a new article up on The American Prospect's website on the continuing relevance of Joe McGinniss' classic, The Selling of the President 1968. There's a nod to the book's influence on Mad Men and lots of classic Nixon video.

As I mention in the article, McGinniss' book was the first political book that I ever read. I think it ended up in my parents' house as a Book of the Month club selection. I was intrigued by the cover during the long summer leading up to Nixon's resignation -- and dug as deep into it as a precocious 8-year old could dig. I do remember being mesmerized by the language spoken by the campaign operatives -- salty and jazzy -- and also by those scripts! It taught me that politics was a pageant of sorts. Nothing was an accident. There was drama and planning involved in it.

Forty years on, it's still a brilliant book with a lot to teach us all.