The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe

by Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner

Book Overview

The past twenty years of American culture are captured with humor and wit in this book adaptation of Jane Wagner's broadway smash hit starring Lily Tomlin. 40 black-and-white illustrations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060156732
• ISBN13: 9780060156732
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Tomlin's Tour de Force

The word "Tour de Force" may not have been invented with Lily Tomlin specifically in mind, but she is one of the best people for whom this epithet should be used. I've seen her do this show live, twice, when it first came to Philadelphia, and enjoy repeating the experience via the video, and the book. She's an amazing performer, and this is an amazing piece of theater.

A play full of human insight, wit and wisdom

Trudy the Bag Lady has made a life for herself on the streets, offering her own bits of wit and wisdom to the passers-by. Before she wound up on the streets, she was in and out of hospitals, receiving so much electro-shock therapy that she believes her nervous system has been re-wired and now tunes into the bio-rhythms of people around her.Trudy takes us, along with her two alien companions, on a discovery trip to find out what it means to be human and imparting her own impressions on life. She tunes in a wide array of people, ranging from Agnus Angst, a 15-year-old punk performance artist; Agnus' grandparents Lud and Marie; Chrissy, a recently unemployed workout enthusiast; Lily, an actress currently performing a one-woman show; and many others, both men and women, gay and straight.This play is full of marvelous insight into the human condition and life in the 1980's. This is very apparent in the incredible second act, in which we follow Lyn from the consciousness-raising times of the 1970's through her rise and fall in the business ranks of the 1980's and her turbulent family life. Also, all the characters, in one form or another, have some influence on the life of the other characters in the play, whether or not they actually meet: Lyn has an affair with Agnus's mother; Kate, a rich trendsetter, finds a suicide note left by Chrissy lying in the street; Trudy takes the aliens to see Lily's play in order to show them goosebumps.The book also includes still images, from the stage production, of Lily Tomlin, many of which were shot by Annie Leibowitz. Jane Wagner also created some montages of Lily as the many characters in the play.Full of wit, insight and tenderness, this play stands as a perfect glimpse into understanding society.

Done it and loved it

I'm in an arts/high school program, PCCA. I came in after all of the other students had already been there for over a year. This was the first piece I ever performed there. I did a section of it where Trudy is Trudy, in the beginning. The character was so rich. So many different quirks. The audience loved it, so did the other performers who did the same piece. This is one funny script. I wasn't nervous when i performed it at all. I just kept thinking how funny the script was, and that, not matter how terrible the acting, the audience would still enjoy the performing.

This book/script is ....... there are no words!!!

This one woman plays many characters, and will take you on a journey of laughter, and much more, and leave you smiling for long after you put it down...

Putting reality on a back burner

As she tries to explain human beings to extraterrestrials who are searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe, Trudy, the bag lady, channels among others: Agnus Angst, a throwaway teenage punk; Chrissy, an unemployed young woman who doesn't know what to do with herself; Kate -- a rich socialite bored with everything. It's a tough job, but Trudy is up to it -- she refuses to be intimidated by reality. Wagner weaves together the stories of these separate lives with speculations about time, space, reality, art, and human nature. From Trudy's skewed perspective a vision forms of the interconnectedness of human life -- maybe of all intelligent life in the universe. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and characters whose words and feelings ring true, this one-woman play is masterful writing from a deep and generous heart. If you didn't see Lily Tomlin's performance on Broadway, don't miss reading the book. It's more than a story; it's an experience.