Life Interrupted

The Unfinished Monologue

By: Spalding Gray, Francine Prose - introduction

Narrated by: Sam Shepard

Life Interrupted was the monologue that Spalding Gray was working on when he died in the early winter of 2004.
Famous for his often manic and always humorous monologues, Gray was, by the late 1990's, in a happy marriage living in Long Island, doing yoga every day. But his life became unhinged after a devastating car accident in Ireland in 2001, which fractured his skull and crushed his hip. It sent Gray into a deep and unremitting depression.

But the fact that Spalding had begun performing a new piece in October of last year gave his friends and family reason to hope that he was emerging from his despair. The monologue recounts the story of the accident and Gray's hospitalization in Ireland with gallows humor: "The following day I slipped into a depression and I didn't know whether to tell the Irish about it, whether they would acknowledge this depression. I mean, does a fish know it's swimming in water? It's indigenous to the rainy culture."

The last time Gray performed his work-in-progress "Life Interrupted" at PS 122, he also read a short story called "The Anniversary," about the afternoon he spent with young Theo at the Carousel in Central Park on the tenth anniversary of the day he met his wife, Kathie Russo. Like the unfinished monologue, this piece is also much darker than Gray's early work. The third piece in this collection is a very short, remarkably poignant letter Spalding wrote about the terrorist attacks of September 11, titled "Dear New York City."

©2005 The Estate of Spalding Gray; (P)2006 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

good introduction to Spalding Gray

I found this audiobook to be an excellent introduction to Spalding Gray: his unfinished monologue, his short story, and his letter along with remembrance pieces from his closest friends, his wife, and his children gave me a better sense of him. Now I look forward to reading some of his other monologues.

Great closure

As a fan for many years of Spalding Gray, it was moving to hear the impact he left on so many people. And to hear Marissa and Kathy, voices I never expected, was a wonderful way to finish.

to go or not to go

Life Interrupted – the last dialogue from Spalding left me slightly angry and uncertain at his final exit stage left. Suicide may be one’s ultimate stage direction but it seemed to me a selfish ultimate attention getter…without the one whom needed the attention to appreciate and accept the love from others being returned to him. AM Holmes, and other speakers in a memorial, cast a portrait of a man afraid of everything, but confronting and attacking his anxieties. Spalding was transforming banality to sublime experience- a psychosocial anthropologist –representing the ethos and pathos of our time. The desk, the paid shirt, the water sipped, the water…I truly wish he was on a walkabout; it is very difficult to image life without him…

Hysterical!

Where does Life Interrupted rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is definitely one of the funniest books/monologues I've ever listened to.

What other book might you compare Life Interrupted to and why?

I haven't read or listened to much in this genre yet.

What about Sam Shepard’s performance did you like?

Sam Shepard is a superb performer of Spalding Gray, and a better speaker than Shepard. This was a genius pairing.

The Last Dialogue

A heart felt tribute to an unforgettable human. It filled in a lot of things I hadn't known that led up to his passing, therefore more informational than entertaining.