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Swimming to Cambodia | 
 enlarge | Author: Spalding Gray
Creators: James Leverett, Roger Rosenblatt
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $3.62
You Save: $9.33 (72%)
New (26) Used (20) from $3.62
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 268654
Media: Paperback
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 1559362545
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
EAN: 9781559362542
ASIN: 1559362545
Publication Date: April 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"It took courage to do what Spalding did-courage to make theatre so naked and unadorned, to expose himself in this way and fight the demons in public. In doing so, he entered our hearts-my heart-because he made his struggle my struggle. His life became my life."-Eric Bogosian "Virtuosic. A master writer, reporter, comic and playwright. Spalding Gray is a sit-down monologist with the soul of a stand-up comedian. A contemporary Gulliver, he travels the globe in search of experience and finds the ridiculous."-The New York Times In 2004, we mourned the loss of one of America's true theatrical innovators. Spalding Gray took his own life by jumping from the Staten Island ferry into the waters of New York Harbor, finally succumbing to the impossible notion that he could in fact swim to Cambodia. At a memorial gathering for family, friends and fans at Lincoln Center in New York, his widow expressed the need to honor Gray's legacy as an artist and writer for his children, as well as for future generations of fans and readers. Originally published in 1985, Swimming to Cambodia is reissued here 20 years later in a new edition as a tribute to Gray's singular artistry. Writer, actor and performer, Spalding Gray is the author of Sex and Death to the Age 14; Monster in a Box; It's a Slippery Slope; Gray's Anatomy and Morning, Noon and Night, among other works. His appearance in The Killing Fields was the inspiration for his Swimming to Cambodia, which was also filmed by Jonathan Demme.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Gripping and Intensive January 15, 2000
J. B. Barton (Saint Petersburg, FL)
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
Yes, it is a documentary and, yes, it is a monologue. Yes, he discusses the sex trade in Cambodia which is extemely explicit. But this is about Cambodia. This is about the Killing Fields. This is about our involvement in that history. There is nothing gratuitous. Gray is captivating as he sits on a darkened stage with his words and topics accented with strategic lighting, maps, sounds and video clips. You will leave this film with a new understanding of what happened from Cambodia to Kent State. He also has a unique insight into mankind. In this, his "Talking Cure", you will be compelled to try to answer the question that he wrestles with - 'Is morality a moving feast?'. This is an important film.
Fascinating story as told by a madman. January 27, 1999
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
This movie is simply amazing. Spalding Gray sits behind a small wooden desk with a glass of water and talks. Sounds simple right? Well you just have to experience his twisted perception of reality to understand. After this, you'll want to seek out every monologue he's done, as I have.
UNFORGETTABLE!!! November 23, 1998
D. Benz (Columbia, MO USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This film blew me away. This guy sits behind a small desk on-stage in a small auditorium with a couple of maps of Southeast Asia behind him and talks for two hours. Spalding Gray's descriptions of Phuket, Thailand beat any travelogue hands-down. His oral history of Cambodia is as fascinating as it is succinct. His word-pictures and imagery of his experiences in Southeast Asia, on the train from Philadelphia to Chicago, and in his girlfriend's downtown New York neighborhood display his mastery of the art of storytelling. You don't just hear it, you experience it! This film is worth playing again and again and again.
 Watch out for explicit content June 14, 1999
7 out of 34 found this review helpful
There's no denying Gray's story-telling abilities. However, this film should carry a rating (preferably "Rated R"). While I enjoyed many parts of this film, I do not much care for profanity. I care even less for graphic descriptions of sexual encounters. There was no warning that this material was in this film. Had I known that these elements were included in this video, I never would have purchased it.
 Another masterpice decimated by 'full screen'. April 25, 2003
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
One of the most innovative, exciting movies of a generation, and NOT AVAILABLE in widescreen.Demi is a cinamatograhic master and his work has been butchered by VHS full screen format. ('Full' of what, one wonders.) Watch this tape and see half the movie as created. DEMAND your DVD release now.
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