Wilson, August

The piano lesson by August Wilson ( Book )
23 editions published between 1988 and 2008 in English and held by 2,452 libraries worldwide
August Wilson has already given the American theater such spell-binding plays about the black experience in 20th-century America as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Fences. In his second Pulitzer Prize-winner, The Piano Lesson, Wilson has fashioned his most haunting and dramatic work yet. At the heart of the play stands the ornately carved upright piano which, as the Charles family's prized, hard-won possession, has been gathering dust in the parlor of Berniece Charles's Pittsburgh home. When Boy Willie, Berniece's exuberant brother, bursts into her life with his dream of buying the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves, he plans to sell their antique piano for the hard cash he needs to stake his future. But Berniece refuses to sell, clinging to the piano as a reminder of the history that is their family legacy. This dilemma is the real "piano lesson," reminding us that blacks are often deprived both of the symbols of their past and of opportunity in the present.

Fences : a play by August Wilson ( Book )
16 editions published between 1986 and 2004 in English and held by 2,334 libraries worldwide
During the 1950's Troy Maxson struggles against racism and tries to preserve his feelings of pride in himself.

Joe Turner's come and gone : a play in two acts by August Wilson ( Book )
9 editions published between 1986 and 1988 in English and held by 1,494 libraries worldwide
After seven years on a chain gang, Herald Loomis returns to Pittsburgh in search of his wife.

Ma Rainey's black bottom : a play in two acts by August Wilson ( Book )
10 editions published between 1981 and 1992 in English and held by 1,492 libraries worldwide
In a 1927 recording session in Chicago, Ma Rainey and her band try to avoid being victimized by the white music industry.

Seven guitars by August Wilson ( Book )
23 editions published between 1994 and 2007 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,419 libraries worldwide
In the spring of 1948, in the still-cool evenings of Pittsburgh's Hill district, familiar sounds fill the air. A rooster crows. Screen doors slam. There's the laughter of friends gathered for a backyard card game rising just above the wail of a mother who has lost her son. And there's the sound of the blues, played and sung by young men and women with little more than a guitar in their hands and a dream in their hearts. August Wilson's Seven Guitars is the sixth chapter in the continuing theatrical saga that explores the hope, heartbreak, and heritage of the African-American experience in the twentieth century. The story follows a small group of friends who gather following the untimely death of Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton, a local blues guitarist on the edge of stardom. Together, they revisit his short life, reminisce about the good times they shared, and discover the unspoken passions and undying spirit that live within each of them.

Two trains running by August Wilson ( Book )
18 editions published between 1990 and 2007 in English and held by 1,323 libraries worldwide
Memphis Lee's diner--and the rest of his block--is scheduled to be torn down, a casualty of the city's renovation project that is sweeping away the buildings of a community, but not its spirit. As they try to fight back, we meet Sterling, the ex-con who embraces the tenets of Malcolm X; Wolf, the bookie who has learned to play by the white man's rules; Risa, a waitress of quiet dignity who has mutilated her legs to distance herself from men; and Holloway, the resident philosopher and fervent believer in the prophecies of a legendary 322-year-old woman down the street, a reminder of their struggle and heritage.

Three plays by August Wilson ( Book )
9 editions published between 1991 and 1994 in English and held by 1,206 libraries worldwide
Contains three plays about twentieth century African-American lives.

Jitney by August Wilson ( Book )
19 editions published between 2000 and 2008 in English and held by 994 libraries worldwide
Presents a play that depicts gypsy cab drivers who serve the African American community in Pittsburgh.

Gem of the ocean by August Wilson ( Book )
9 editions published between 2006 and 2008 in English and held by 851 libraries worldwide
Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, it is chronologically the first work in August Wilson's decade-by-decade cycle dramatizing the African American experience during the 20th century-an unprecedented series that includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays Fences and The Piano Lesson. Aunt Esther, the drama's 287-year-old fiery matriarch, welcomes into her Hill District home Solly Two Kings, who was born into slavery and scouted for the Union Army, and Citizen Barlow, a young man from Alabama searching for a new life.

August Wilson ( Visual )
41 editions published between 1988 and 2009 in English and No Linguistic content and held by 847 libraries worldwide
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson returns home to the Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1990 to review his life and career. Archival footage and interviews with Wilson, former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich, Rob Penny, fellow writers, and others provide insights into the African American experience, from the Great Black Migration to more recent times. Scenes from his plays "Jitney," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "Fences," "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," and "Two Trains Running" reveal the impact of the oral tradition and the blues on Wilson's poetic prose.