First Love (Taylor) Book

THE STORY: Richard Watts describes the play as the appealing heartfelt chronicle of a son's often sorely tried devotion to a remarkable, courageous and almost epically exasperating mother. Episodic and somewhat leisurely, it possesses a kind of humorous sadness that is steadily engaging. If the French author-diplomat hadn't loved his mother deeply, he might have made a fairly devastating case against her. Possessive, driving and ruthlessly resourceful, she could be a trial to everybody and an embarrassment to her child. But she had the indomitable quality of never accepting defeat, she fought on unceasingly for the goal she had set, and her ambition was not for herself, but for the two loves of her life, her son and France. And she was capable of every sacrifice to further the dreams to which she devoted her life‚¬¦ Based on the memoir Promise at Dawn, by Romain Gary, this imaginative and affecting Broadway success delineates the special relationship between a widowed mother and her son. Played on a virtually bare stage, it ranges widely in time and place and from boyhood to maturity, creating a mosaic of scenes and events which blend into an unforgettably human story. Gary's story is enchanting, and so is playwright Taylor's device for putting it on stage. - NY World-Telegram and Sun. ‚¬¦a warmly affectionate play‚¬¦ - NY Post. ‚¬¦scenes that have humor and tenderness‚¬¦ - NY Newsday.