Through the Rock
by John Jiler
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"Through the Rock" is the tale of a heavyweight high school wrestler from Iowa who comes to New York to become an actor. As he navigates the treacheries, magic, barbarism, heroism, dark love affairs, and occasional beauty of the New York theatre, it changes him — and he forever changes it.
"John Jiler is a complicated guy who can tell a simple story well. And once his simple story gets hold of you, YOU get complicated! I would gladly stop and listen to whatever this artist wants to share. He’s an original."
- John Patrick Shanley, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.
"A smart and engaging novel about the pleasures and the pitfalls awaiting a high school athlete who decides the mystery and the magic of being an actor is the world he will enter. A captivating and surprising book."
- Jeffrey Richards, Tony Award-winning producer
‘John Jiler is my inspiration to work in the theatre.’
- Sam Rockwell, Oscar-winning actor
‘A wry, tender, wickedly funny and sometimes heartbreaking love song to New York and the dreamers, strivers and misfits who are forever washing up on its shores.’
- Andrea Truppin, former Editor-in-chief, Modernism Magazine
"Jiler….bursts with the talent, wit and energy that separate living theatre from all entertainment that comes in a can."
- The New York Times
John Jiler is a writer of both drama and prose. His musical Avenue X, for which he won the Richard Rodgers and Edward Kleban Awards, began at Playwrights Horizons and has played in some fifty cities around the world. His work has been seen coast to coast, from the Labyrinth Theatre to the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference to the Kennedy Center and many places in between. His first non-fiction book, Dark Wind, was published by St. Martin’s Press. His most recent, Sleeping with the Mayor, was named a New York Times ‘Notable Book Of The Year.’ As a journalist, he has written for such publications as the New York Times, The Nation, and the Village Voice. Most recently, his solo show The Rosenberg/Strange Fruit Project ran at 59E59 after playing the Edinburgh Festival, where it was nominated for a British Offie Award.
