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The Zoo Story
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Plot Summary of The Zoo Story
"Peter is nearing middle age and appears neat and well off. While sitting in Central Park Zoo, he is approached by a younger man, disheveled and dirty. This man, Jerry, brings up questions that seem silly and give the play great humor but deal with religion and sexuality (particularly homosexuality). "
Jessica Marler, Resident Scholar

"The Zoo Story is a confrontation between middle-class America and the outcasts of society. Set in central park, Peter, an average American, is confronted by Jerry, a lonely man from the wrong side of the park. Jerry tries to teach Peter the realities of life that Peter has tried to ignore. He tries to teach Peter the nature of human existence and relationships. Through a serious of failed conversations and misinterpretations of the act of love, Jerry begins his experiment to see if the middle class Americas are animals after all.
"

joanna kapusta, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Zoo Story
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - humorous
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - nature of existence (heavy philosophy)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric - emotionally unstable - wild
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - hard edged
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique - quite fatty

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 1 ()
City? Yes
City: - New York

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment - moderately detailed references to deaths
Unusual Style: - a lot of play on words - a lot of stream of consciousness - No single main character?
Is this a play? Yes
Amount of dialog - mostly dialog
Most similar books to The Zoo Story
Wild Animus by Rich Shapiro
Figure in the Distance by Otto de Kat
Forced Entries, The Downtown Diaries by Jim Carroll
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies


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Edward Albee Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
joanna kapusta  

SCHOLARS:
Andres Becerra  Jessica Marler  


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