Differences in the Dark: American Movies and English Theater

Those familiar with Dr. Gilmore's seminal text on American Romanticism may perhaps be initially startled at the theoretical daring of *Differences in the Dark*; thoughtful readers will, however, find in this chiaroscuristic artefact a blueprint for their post-Y2K lives. If, as Toni Morrison suggests, we are all merely "playing in the dark," then genre-based critiques of filmic performance are destined to subtend the vernacular. I think Gilmore's book is a good summer read, being very readable. People who have found themselves to enjoy works such as *Fried Green Tomatoes* and *A Circle of Friends* will lap up Gilmore's book like a warm saucer of milk.