Product Description

Vivian Bearing, a specialist in the Sonnets of John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Her approach to her illness is not unlike her approach to Donne: probing and rational. During the course of her illness, she reassesses her life and work with profundity and wry humour.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72536 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

Wit is moving & enlightening!
When the play opens, Vivian Bearing, Ph. D., is a woman in control of her life & at the top of her profession, which is 17th century metaphysical poetry - a brilliantly difficult cerebral vocation. She is proud of her razor sharp deductive mind & her single-minded dedication to this arcane subject which has kept her far above the madding crowd & a spinster without family.

Being a woman of words, she muses upon every one that is tossed her way by her oncologist, his avid pupil & attending technicians. While they are telling her what their textbooks infer, she is listening to what their language implies. Therein lies the humor & the pathos!

Even as she endures the impersonal gawking of research doctors & their students she evaluates their teaching methods & their students' efforts, remembering her own method of teaching & her own attitude to students. Yet to this woman of words, whenever she is asked how she feels, she is immoderately polite & reticent only uttering that fatuous monosyllable: "Fine!"

W;t has been made into a film for HBO & will be aired in April 2001. Produced by Mike Nichols & starring one of my favorite actresses, Emma Thompson, W;t has come to a medium where everywoman can see & feel & be empowered by this learned lady's example. Made me think long on how we learn is how we teach; what would I do & be like were I to face this form of exit & keeping my wits about me.

I recommend you experience Wit - it will surely change your life! Do check out my full review & catch it on TV: as with taxes, death does come to us all, it's how we face it that makes Wit brilliant!

A stunning play and a great read
The fact that this play doesn't have an interval adds to an overwhelming sense of pressure running throughout. It's nailbiting, gripping stuff, with an unlikeable heroine and even more unlikeable sub-characters (Dr Bearing's nurse Suzie aside).

Not just an exploration of cancer, but an examination of the soul and the need to let down one's guard and allow human kindness to support you, Margaret Edson fully deserved every accolade she got for this powerful and stunning play.

A must-read that works extremely well on stage - directors should give this one a look and if you enjoyed, say, Flowers for Algernon, or appreciate a well-written, cleverly plotted read, this should be on your wishlist pronto.

Wit is moving & enlightening!
When the play opens, Vivian Bearing, Ph. D., is a woman in control of her life & at the top of her profession, which is 17th century metaphysical poetry - a brilliantly difficult cerebral vocation. She is proud of her razor sharp deductive mind & her single-minded dedication to this arcane subject which has kept her far above the madding crowd & a spinster without family.

Being a woman of words, she muses upon every one that is tossed her way by her oncologist, his avid pupil & attending technicians. While they are telling her what their textbooks infer, she is listening to what their language implies. Therein lies the humor & the pathos!

Even as she endures the impersonal gawking of research doctors & their students she evaluates their teaching methods & their students' efforts, remembering her own method of teaching & her own attitude to students. Yet to this woman of words, whenever she is asked how she feels, she is immoderately polite & reticent only uttering that fatuous monosyllable: "Fine!"

W;t has been made into a film for HBO & will be aired in April 2001. Produced by Mike Nichols & starring one of my favorite actresses, Emma Thompson, W;t has come to a medium where everywoman can see & feel & be empowered by this learned lady's example. Made me think long on how we learn is how we teach; what would I do & be like were I to face this form of exit & keeping my wits about me.

I recommend you experience Wit - it will surely change your life! Do check out my full review & catch it on TV: as with taxes, death does come to us all, it's how we face it that makes Wit brilliant!