Books by August

Set in 1904, August Wilson''s Gem of the Ocean begins on the eve of Aunt Esther''s 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburgh''s Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson''s ten-play cycle that has recorded the American Black experience and helped to define generations. The Broadway run starred Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as Aunt Esthe

Finalist! 2000 Pulitzer Prize in DramaPeddling stolen refrigerators in the feeble hope of making enough money to open a video store, King Hedley, a man whose self worth is built on self delusion, is scraping in the dirt of an urban backyard trying to plant seeds where nothing will grow. Getting, spending, killing and dying in a world where getting is hard and killing is commonplace are threads woven into this 1980''s installment in the author''s renowned cycle of plays about the black ex