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Physicists

Friedrich Durrenmatt · back to the book

What’s in it

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24 books with the same feel

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Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. · 229 pages

Cat's Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat's Cr

SatiricalScientist ProtagonistSatireDark Comedy
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What the Butler Saw

Joe Orton · 72 pages

"Dr. Prentice, a psychiatric doctor in an exclusive, private clinic, is attempting to interview (and seduce) an attractive would-be secretary, Geraldine. Unwittingly surprised by his wife, he hides the girl. The affairs multiply as Mrs. Prentice, being seduced and blackmailed by young bellhop Nicholas Beckett, has promised him the secretarial post. When a government inspector arrives, chaos, under

Stage PlayAsylumSatireDark Comedy
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The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov · 412 pages

The battle of competing translations, a new publishing phenomenon which began with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, now offers two rival American editions of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Mirra Ginsburg's (Grove Press) version is pointedly grotesque: she delights in the sharp, spinning, impressionistic phrase. Her Bulgakov reminds one of the virtuoso effects encountered in Za

AsylumSatiricalSatireDark Comedy
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The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Bertolt Brecht · 112 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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The Taming of the Shrew

William Shakespeare · 138 pages

This play within a play is a delightful farce about a fortune hunter who marries and tames" the town shrew. The comedy, often produced today because of its accessibility, is one of the plays Shakespeare intended for the general public rather than for the nobility. CliffsComplete combines the full original text of The Taming of the Shrew with a helpful glossary and CliffsNotes-quality commenta

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireDark Comedy
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The Misanthrope/ Tartuffe

Moliere · 336 pages

In the MISANTHROPE, Alceste begins as a man who loves mankind so much that he cannot brook flattery or hypocrisy and winds up withdrawing from society in disgust. In Tartuffe, unctuous, cunning and evil Tartuffe insinuates himself into the home of substantial citizen Orgon. Tartuffe almost succeeds in driving the son away, marrying the daughter, seducing the wife and depriving Orgon of all his pos

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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The Complete Plays

Aristophanes · 506 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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Machine Man

Max Barry · 277 pages

"Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts. Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a weapon. A

SatiricalScientist ProtagonistSatireDark Comedy
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Kappa

Ryunosuke Akutagawa · 136 pages

AsylumSatiricalSatireClassics
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Lady Windermere's Fan

Oscar Wilde · 108 pages

This Victorian comedy of manners sparkles with Wilde's trademark repartee, epigrams, and witty dialogue. Arch-moralist Lady Windermere, shattered by the suspicion of her husband's infidelity, contemplates running off with a roue until her rival illustrates the difference between morality and its appearance. A comic masterpiece, studded with humorous quips and clever paradoxes.

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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Heartbreak House

George Bernard Shaw · 161 pages

Published in 1919, Heartbreak House is an examination of the failings of the European leisure classes before World War I—failings that author George Bernard Shaw blamed for the war, and that he predicted would quickly lead to another, longer war. The play is set in an English country house, where representatives of every type of English society have gathered at the home of the seemingly-mad Captai

Stage PlaySatireSatiricalClassics
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The Balcony

Jean Genet · 96 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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Faust: First Part

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 327 pages

Stage PlayScientist ProtagonistSatireMad Scientist
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Rhinoceros and Other Plays

Eugene Ionesco · 141 pages

A collection of three modern plays by the master of the absurd and member of the French Academy.

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Dario Fo, Joseph Farrell · 73 pages

Stage PlaySatireDark ComedyClassics
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The Alchemist

Ben Jonson · 208 pages

First performed in 1610, The Alchemist is one of Ben Jonson’s greatest comedies. Written for the King’s Men—the acting company to which Shakespeare belonged—it was first performed in Oxford because the playhouses in London were closed due to the plague. It was an immediate success and has remained a popular staple ever since. The play centers around a con man, his female accomplice, and a roguis

Stage PlaySatireDark ComedyClassics
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The Arsonists

Max Frisch · 80 pages

"Fires are becoming something of a problem, but Biedermann has it all under control. A respected member of the community with a loving wife and a flourishing business, he believes nothing can get to him. Being the great philanthrope, he is happy to fulfil his civic duty and give shelter to two new houseguests, and when they start filling the attic with petrol drums he'll help them wire the fuse."

Stage PlaySatireDark ComedyClassics
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Mandragola

Niccolo Machiavelli · 61 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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The Revenger's Tragedy

Thomas Middleton, Cyril Tourneur · 130 pages

A vivid and often violent portrayal of lust and ambition in an Italian court, the play typifies the satiric tone and cynicism of much Jacobean tragedy. The play fell out of favour at some point before the restoration of the theaters in 1660; however, it experienced a revival in the twentieth century among directors and playgoers who appreciated its affinity with the temper of modern times.

Stage PlaySatiricalDark ComedyClassics
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ken Kesey · 311 pages

An international bestseller and the basis for a hugely successful film, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the defining works of the 1960s. A mordant, wickedly subversive parable set in a mental ward, the novel chronicles the head-on collision between its hell-raising, life-affirming hero Randle Patrick McMurphy and the totalitarian rule of Big Nurse. McMurphy swaggers into

AsylumDark ComedySatireClassics
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The Country Wife

William Wycherley · 160 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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Oryx and Crake

Margaret Atwood · 389 pages

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help

SatiricalSatireDark ComedyScientist Protagonist
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The Bedbug and Selected Poetry

Vladimir Mayakovsky · 317 pages

Stage PlaySatiricalSatireClassics
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The Jew of Malta

Christopher Marlowe, H. Havelock Ellis · 122 pages

This edition is of the best-known play by one of Shakespeare's chief predecessors and early contemporaries, Christopher Marlowe. The Jew of Malta was enormously influential on Shakespeare when he came to write The Merchant of Venice, and for good reason, since the play explores anti-Semitism and revenge. An introduction discusses the significance of this formative and brilliant play, with detailed

Stage PlaySatiricalDark ComedyClassics
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