Wendy Wasserstein, 1950-2006

Pulitzer-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein died earlier today “after a bout with lymphoma,” according to her NYT obituary. Wasserstein was best known as the author of plays such as The Heidi Chronicles, but was also about to make her debut as an novelist with Elements of Style, a comedy of Upper East Side manners scheduled for April 2006 release by Knopf. Despite what it referred to as “a disconcerting number of false notes,” Publishers Weekly was largely enthusiastic about her fiction-writing debut, dubbing it “witty and entertaining.” Obviously, Wasserstein’s ten-city reading tour has been scrapped, but Knopf’s publicity department had no comment about what would become of the other promotional efforts for what was sure to have been and may well remain a major spring release.

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