Originally published: New York : Random House, 1997.

P.B

To the Actor -- Some Thoughts -- Ancestor Worship -- A Generation That Would Like to Stay in School -- Scholarship -- Find Your Mark -- I'm on the Corner -- Business Is Business -- Auditions -- Paint by Numbers -- "Work" -- Oral Interpretation -- Helping the Play -- Acceptance -- The Rehearsal Process -- The Play and the Scene -- Emotions -- Action -- Guilt -- Concentration -- Talent -- Habit -- The Designated Hitter -- Performance and Character -- The Villain and the Hero -- Acting "As If" -- "They Once Walked Among Us" -- Eleven O'Clock Always Comes -- Meritocracy.

In True and False David Mamet overturns conventional opinion and tells aspiring actors what they really need to know. He leaves no acting tenet untouched, and slaughters some of the profession's most sacred cows.