"If your interests are in how the output of an immensely talented and noted playwright reflects and also shapes the geist of his age, then welcome to Emma Creedon's analysis. ... Sam Shepard and The Aesthetics of Performance is an easy read. ... Emma Creedon's intensely researched work will prove enormously stimulating and thought-enhancing if one takes the time to consider the movement of a writer within streams of cultural influences." (Hubert O'Hearn, sandiegobookreview.com, January, 2016) "In this book, Creedon provides an invaluable service to students of Shepard's work. Her learned evocation of a Surrealist context within which to situate and read Shepard's plays, early and late, produces truly significant insights, particularly into the visual elements of his theatre." - Stephen Watt, Indiana University Bloomington, USA "Sam Shepard and the Aesthetics of Performance is an engaging, insightful, and beautifully argued study of selected Shepard plays. Exploring the Surrealist textures within the plays, and Shepard's ongoing search for the Real, Creedon makes a valuable and original contribution to the field. This is a solid piece of scholarship, one that is essential reading for those interested in Sam Shepard and the contemporary stage." - Matthew Roudane, Georgia State University, USA