Cocktails with George and Martha

The behind-the-scenes story of a provocative play, the groundbreaking film it became, and how two iconic stars changed the image of marriage forever.

 

“Delicious.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Smart and entertaining.” —NPR
“Raucous, unpredictable, wild, and affecting.” —Entertainment Weekly

From its debut in 1962, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod that scandalized critics and magnetized audiences. Across its 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn’t be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the I Love Lucy 1950s.

Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee’s sophisticated play—and won. Costarring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film won five Oscars and minted first-time director Mike Nichols as industry royalty. How this scorching play became a movie classic—surviving censorship attempts, its director’s inexperience, and its stars’ own tumultuous marriage—is one of the most riveting stories in all of cinema.

Marfield Prize winner Philip Gefter’s deliciously entertaining book explores how two couples—one fictional, one all too real—forced a nation to confront its most deeply held myths about relationships, sex, family, and, against all odds, love.