"Direct quotes from surveillance reports on Fried give the book an amazing sense of authenticity, matched only by the candid shop talk of the playwright’s fictional characters. This study of an undaunted, feisty Cold War figure is thus honest and revealing."—Robert D. Parmet, New York Labor History Association
“Fried’s odyssey through the postwar American political, business, and theatrical landscape provides a vision of the era unlike any other. Courageous and talented, Fried lived a life that will inspire renewed interest in this remarkable time thanks to Witham’s impressive scholarship and bracing writing.”—James Fisher, author of the Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings
“Witham has done a masterful job providing an introduction to Manny Fried’s contributions as a blacklisted labor organizer and playwright, and explains how the three plays enclosed illuminate those battles in realistic, compassionate, and highly stage-worthy terms. This is a timely and informative book.”—Stuart J. Hecht, author of Transposing Broadway: Jews, Assimilation and the American Musical
“Witham's thoughtful study illuminates the achievements of a man who refused to stop fighting on behalf of American workers, who called out racial, ethnic, and gender bias and abuses of government authority.”—Heather Nathans, author of Hideous Characters and Beautiful Pagans: Performing Jewish Identity on the Antebellum American Stage
“Witham offers both a moving account of Fried’s life and compelling analysis of his plays.”—Jonathan Chambers, author of Messiah of the New Technique: John Howard Lawson, Communism, and American Theatre., 1923–1937— -