本书所选的都是与戏曲有关的文章，是汪曾祺在做北京市京剧团编剧时，二十多年来与戏曲打交道的见闻与思考，每一篇的篇幅虽然短小，但是每一篇都透着理性、睿智和从容。 内容涵盖“样板戏”的谈往、名人轶事、戏曲与文学的关系、习剧札记等等，这些谈戏文章同他的游记、民俗类散文一样，无不潇洒有致，颇有看头。

本书选收莎翁最脍炙人口的五部喜剧：《仲夏夜之梦》，《威尼斯商人》，《捕风捉影》，《温莎的风流娘儿们》，《暴风雨》。莎翁的喜剧成就与其悲剧一样斐然。他以文艺复兴是时期人文主义者的乐观主义精神作为喜剧创作的基调，在作品中清晰地表达出要求个性解放、热爱现实生活、歌颂真挚爱情等人文主义思想，同时以笑声为武器，对各种各样阻挠社会发展的封建保守势力，给以无情的讽刺。作者以其深厚的功力，在一系列喜剧作品中刻画了众多令人过目难忘的人物形象，尤其是夏洛克和福斯泰夫，早已成为典型中的典型，喜剧人物刻画的典范。

Chekov's great tragicomic eulogy for a passing way of life is superbly adapted to make a powerful and beautifully playable drama. Plays for Performance Series.

Nora Helmer, wife to Torvald and mother of three children, appears to enjoy living the life of a pampered, indulged child. But as her economic dependence becomes brutally clear, Nora's acceptance of the status quo undergoes a profound change. To the horror of the bewildered Torvald, himself caught in the tight web of a conservative society which demands that he exert strict control, Nora comes to see that the only possible true course of action is to leave the family home.

Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play Long Day's Journey into Night is regarded as his finest work. First published by Yale University Press in 1956, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and has since sold more than one million copies. This edition, which includes a new foreword by Harold Bloom, coincides with a new production of the play starring Brian Dennehy, which opens in Chicago in January 2002 and in New York in April.

特纳在本书所写的各篇文章不仅能人类学家感兴趣，而且包括精神病学家、政治学家、历史学家、神学家、宗教社会学家以及文学和戏剧表演专业的学生在内的从事各领域研究的学者也会对本书感兴趣。 作为这一领域最富想象力的评论家之一，特纳又以其浓重绚丽的笔墨在象征人类学界书写下了崭新的一页。特纳在本书中旁征博引，其中包括理查兹和列维－斯特劳斯等人的观点，但是他的视角却是独一无二的，他甚至创造了一些独特的术语用来表达一些关键性的概念并展开极具说服力的分析和论证……本书收绿的7篇文间不但涵括了特纳目前在墨西哥和欧洲从事研究所收集到的资料，而且还包括心理学、诗歌、宗教文学，历史学等领域大量的材料，因此是一部内容丰富，思维缜密、极富理论性并且给人以重大启发的著作。