Maybe it's one of those pieces where you really have to see it performed live; as an audiobook performance it felt stilted and emotionless. ( )

One of Simon's better plays, although not as drop-dead funny as many. It is humorous and poignant, tracing a few days in the life of a Jewish family in New York circa 1937 through the eyes of a young man not quite fifteen (to use the author's phrase). The family rings true, and the phrases used by the adults in this young man's world are amusingly right on the nose. The habit of the young man of breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience isn't something Simon used a lot; it worked for him here, giving it a sort of Glass Menagerie feel. I was fortunate to see a splendid performance of this at a local college theatre, and the performance remained very true to the script. There were a couple of typos that were problematic, as they placed the wrong character's name on a line, which had to be puzzled out before certain things made sense; that probably isn't a problem in other editions. ( )

Avery funny play, but also dramatic and heart-touching in the appropriate moments. The narrator's teenage perspective gives the play a lot of its humor and works well. ( )

This was good. This was really good. ( )

An excellent, excellent play. Fun and fast to read. Set in Brighton Beach and told by the younger son in the story, Eugene Brighton Beach memoirs depicts a typical Jewish American family and a typical teen coming of age at the end of the Great Depression (1937) facing issues of family, puberty and sexuality. Delightful! ( )