What do you think?
Rate this book
Shopping and F***ing
Shopping and F***ing is...Falling in love with your best friend - if you can get the right mix of Es and whizz...Passion buried beneath layers of bubble and wrap and cellophaneA world where microwaves are the only source of heat. A place where Shopping is sexy and F***ing is a job...And if you killed someone what would it feel like? Or maybe there are no feelings left...Shopping and F***ing is a witty and shocking look at a corrosive disposable world whose values have been determined by a disinherited generation.
96 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 1996
20 people are currently reading
1120 people want to read
About the author
Mark Ravenhill
63 books41 followersMark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist.
His plays include Shopping and Fucking (first performed in 1996), Some Explicit Polaroids (1999) and Mother Clap's Molly House (2001). He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He often writes for the arts section of The Guardian. He is Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre.
His plays include Shopping and Fucking (first performed in 1996), Some Explicit Polaroids (1999) and Mother Clap's Molly House (2001). He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He often writes for the arts section of The Guardian. He is Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
Want to read
July 27, 2023
Goodreads Recommendation Engine, I like your take on Proust. So few people are willing to acknowledge that side of him.
December 1, 2020
Normally to see a play would be better than just reading a play, but in this case it was the other way around. I got to see a performance of this a few years ago, and it really was quite bad. Even cutting out a scene at the end. Though it may have led to uncomfortable viewing, I believe a play should be shown
in it's entirety. Anyway, rich in cultural allusions, this is a fearless piece of work, that tackles the anxieties and money obsessions of youngsters - here a heroin addict and his flatmates - living in a post-financial crash world. Overall, pretty good. And the third Ravenhill play I've read.
in it's entirety. Anyway, rich in cultural allusions, this is a fearless piece of work, that tackles the anxieties and money obsessions of youngsters - here a heroin addict and his flatmates - living in a post-financial crash world. Overall, pretty good. And the third Ravenhill play I've read.
March 31, 2008
Goes with Sarah Kane's works. Horrible but good.
January 20, 2015
This is a wonderful play that gets straight to the point. No metaphors or hidden subtext it just puts everything on the table. I would really like to see a production of this one day to fully understand the confrontational text and how it was rightfully part of the 'In your Face' theatre movement in the UK in the 90's. The play clearly comments on how consumerism has become part of our societal value system and how that it is integrated into our everyday lives. It is shocking and explicit and humorous, ticking all the boxes of a good play.
October 5, 2022
kind of a banger i’m ngl; similar to kane’s but less traumatizing (i think, ask me again in a week)
August 22, 2019
Kimilerince çağdaş tiyatro için dönüm noktası olarak kabul edilen, Mark Ravenhill’in yazdığı Shopping and F***ing, ilk kez 1996 yılında Royal Court’da sahnelenmiş, ülkemizde ise in-yer-face yahut bir diğer adıyla yüzevurumcu tiyatro akımını üstlenen “dot” tarafından Alışveriş ve S***ş olarak seyircisiyle buluşmuştur.
Ravenhill’in “Artık insanlık, satılık!” sözünden yola çıkarak konuyu sadeleştirebileceğimiz oyun, kapitalizmin adının gitgide banalleştiği dönemde insan suratına çarpılan pislik gibi. Hiç çekinmeden içinden geçenleri tüm çıplaklığıyla söyleyebilen bir akımın da içinde sürüklenen başarılı bir yazın.
6:45 Yayın’ın blogunda dendiği gibi “Sansasyonel! Sapına kadar ibne! Ahlaksız! Kural tanımaz! Şiddet dolu! Pornografik! İğrenç! Evet, Ravenhill’in metni için genel söylenen-yazılan ifade kelimeleri bunlardır. Oysa denmesi gereken tek şey var: Sadece gerçek.”
Üzerine çok da yazmaya gerek yok, okuyun!
Ravenhill’in “Artık insanlık, satılık!” sözünden yola çıkarak konuyu sadeleştirebileceğimiz oyun, kapitalizmin adının gitgide banalleştiği dönemde insan suratına çarpılan pislik gibi. Hiç çekinmeden içinden geçenleri tüm çıplaklığıyla söyleyebilen bir akımın da içinde sürüklenen başarılı bir yazın.
6:45 Yayın’ın blogunda dendiği gibi “Sansasyonel! Sapına kadar ibne! Ahlaksız! Kural tanımaz! Şiddet dolu! Pornografik! İğrenç! Evet, Ravenhill’in metni için genel söylenen-yazılan ifade kelimeleri bunlardır. Oysa denmesi gereken tek şey var: Sadece gerçek.”
Üzerine çok da yazmaya gerek yok, okuyun!
December 19, 2019
I had to read this for my English Literature class, but I definitely did not enjoy it. I understand that the message of the play is to show how screwed up the world is or can be, but I found the narration lacking cohesion. Also, some of the scenes were just very disturbing.
This kind of plays is definitely not to my taste.
This kind of plays is definitely not to my taste.
August 2, 2021
Tak som si zamilovala Marka Ravenhilla a ani neviem poriadne prečo.
Po jeho dráme Faust (is dead) som k nemu pociťovala určitý odpor - je to tenučká kniha, no trpela som pri nej.
S odstupom času som ju však nevedela dostať z hlavy a vtedy mi došlo, že som asi zošalela, lebo v živote potrebujem viac jeho tvorby.
Nechutné, šokujúce, desivé, trpké, obscénne, veľa wtf momentov, zvláštne, príťažlivé, vtipné, silné...
To a veľa iného je dráma Shopping and Fucking. Človek by sa až čudoval, ako veľmi mu môže niečo také utkvieť v hlave. Je samozrejmé, že Ravenill sa snaží šokovať, kritizovať, bojovať.
Postavy majú veľkú sexuálnu slobodu, filozofia ich života sa krúti okolo sexu, lásky, drog, okolo slobody a peňazí, sú poznačené kapitalizmom a chcú stále viac a viac.
Dialógy sú živé, reálne, totálne uveriteľné, prepracované.
Ravenhill kritizuje krutosť systému, nastavuje zrkadlo konzumnej spoločnosti - robí presne to, čo si predstavíte v modernej literatúre, keď sa povie, že autor je rebel, anarchista a chce šokovať všetko a všetkých. Možno by som označila Ravenhilla za divadelného Palahniuka - lebo nikto iný, kto kritizuje spoločnosť s drsným humorom a jeho scenérie sú temné, chladné a až tak nepríjemne známe, mi momentálne nenapadá.
Vytkla by som asi to, že je toho dakedy až príliš. Autor sa v texte - na celkom malej ploche - snaží spraviť všetko, len nech to má ten „Och, preboha, to čo má byť!" efekt. Text je prehustený metaforami, nechutnými a smutnými scénami, úzkosťou a hraničnými situáciami.
No a asi je to nejaké prekliatie javiskového premýšľania, ale ani za nič si neviem predstaviť ten text fungovať na javisku. Možno len nie som otvorená všetkým možnostiam - predsa len, Shopping and Fucking sa v zahraničí hralo už niekoľkokrát. A možno je to len stigma slovenského divadla a všeobecného strachu prísť s niečím kontroverzným na javisko - a toho sa treba zbaviť, lebo potom si nebudeme užívať nič, čo v sebe obsahuje nahotu a vraždy.
Každopádne - Ravenhill je pre mňa cool dramatik (to je teraz vtip, lebo on a Sarah Kane sú priekopníkmi písania drámy, kt. sa volá cool dráma hehe)
Ale nie, naozaj je výborný, skrýva veľa a nie je to len o brutalite a sexe. Je to výpoveď, je to revolta, je to magickosť - jednoducho to, čo človek očakáva od modernej drámy - už sa nehrajme na tabu!
Stredovek skončil a na javisko patrí sex!
Po jeho dráme Faust (is dead) som k nemu pociťovala určitý odpor - je to tenučká kniha, no trpela som pri nej.
S odstupom času som ju však nevedela dostať z hlavy a vtedy mi došlo, že som asi zošalela, lebo v živote potrebujem viac jeho tvorby.
Nechutné, šokujúce, desivé, trpké, obscénne, veľa wtf momentov, zvláštne, príťažlivé, vtipné, silné...
To a veľa iného je dráma Shopping and Fucking. Človek by sa až čudoval, ako veľmi mu môže niečo také utkvieť v hlave. Je samozrejmé, že Ravenill sa snaží šokovať, kritizovať, bojovať.
Postavy majú veľkú sexuálnu slobodu, filozofia ich života sa krúti okolo sexu, lásky, drog, okolo slobody a peňazí, sú poznačené kapitalizmom a chcú stále viac a viac.
Dialógy sú živé, reálne, totálne uveriteľné, prepracované.
Ravenhill kritizuje krutosť systému, nastavuje zrkadlo konzumnej spoločnosti - robí presne to, čo si predstavíte v modernej literatúre, keď sa povie, že autor je rebel, anarchista a chce šokovať všetko a všetkých. Možno by som označila Ravenhilla za divadelného Palahniuka - lebo nikto iný, kto kritizuje spoločnosť s drsným humorom a jeho scenérie sú temné, chladné a až tak nepríjemne známe, mi momentálne nenapadá.
Vytkla by som asi to, že je toho dakedy až príliš. Autor sa v texte - na celkom malej ploche - snaží spraviť všetko, len nech to má ten „Och, preboha, to čo má byť!" efekt. Text je prehustený metaforami, nechutnými a smutnými scénami, úzkosťou a hraničnými situáciami.
No a asi je to nejaké prekliatie javiskového premýšľania, ale ani za nič si neviem predstaviť ten text fungovať na javisku. Možno len nie som otvorená všetkým možnostiam - predsa len, Shopping and Fucking sa v zahraničí hralo už niekoľkokrát. A možno je to len stigma slovenského divadla a všeobecného strachu prísť s niečím kontroverzným na javisko - a toho sa treba zbaviť, lebo potom si nebudeme užívať nič, čo v sebe obsahuje nahotu a vraždy.
Každopádne - Ravenhill je pre mňa cool dramatik (to je teraz vtip, lebo on a Sarah Kane sú priekopníkmi písania drámy, kt. sa volá cool dráma hehe)
Ale nie, naozaj je výborný, skrýva veľa a nie je to len o brutalite a sexe. Je to výpoveď, je to revolta, je to magickosť - jednoducho to, čo človek očakáva od modernej drámy - už sa nehrajme na tabu!
Stredovek skončil a na javisko patrí sex!
April 18, 2020
I think we all need stories, we make up stories so that we can get by. And I think a long time ago there were big stories. Stories so big you could live your whole life in them. The Powerful Hands of Gods and Fate. The Journey to Enlightment. The March of Socialism. But they all died or the world grew up or we grew senile or forgot them, so now we’re all making up our own stories. Little stories. It comes out in different ways. But we’ve each got one.
I read this play by Mark Ravenhill for a Uni exam and I have mixed opinions about it. The entire plot seemed to lack cohesion and this is something I didn't quite like. There are also many gruesome and disturbing scenes and reading about them didn't meet my taste. Anyway, I also think this play reflects very well Ravenhill's opinions and provides some very good points to reflect on.
I read this play by Mark Ravenhill for a Uni exam and I have mixed opinions about it. The entire plot seemed to lack cohesion and this is something I didn't quite like. There are also many gruesome and disturbing scenes and reading about them didn't meet my taste. Anyway, I also think this play reflects very well Ravenhill's opinions and provides some very good points to reflect on.
Read
April 18, 2025Alle Linien führen am Ende zu einem trotz der Kürze plausiblen und mitreißenden Gesamtbild.
April 19, 2020
3.5 Stars
Well... This play is very peculiar.
Well... This play is very peculiar.
December 22, 2010
Ravenhill's ambitious little play draws heavily from the literary traditions of Joe Orton, Bret Easten Ellis, Jay MacInery, John Osborn and pretty much everybody else who has ever become obsessed with the lowest, angriest scraping of the social barrel, but his classical roots allow him to find some level of redemption in his tales and that's what makes his work complex and interesting instead of just banal and exploitive. Though at first Lulu, Robbie and Mark seem like overly modern archetypes of modern in-yer-face theater the progression of the play allows them to become oddly relatable and even likable everymen struggling with the basic concerns of survival that plague most of us not born with an obvious future or tons of money. The ambiguous ending- just what, exactly, happens to Gary- is unsettling and raises some interesting questions about the meaning of mercy and exploitation and can they co-exist. Overall, a fast read, dramatically engaging and a thought-provoking play that is aging decently despite its pop-culture references and zeitgeist defining style.
October 14, 2009
I really enjoyed this play, though I kind of have an issue with the fact that I liked it so much. It's pretty perverse and the sexuality is not the type that is typically acknowledged. Reading about people who enjoy graphic, rough sex (not to mention imagining how in the world they would make this happen onstage) and abuse hard drugs -- especially in a book assigned for a class -- was fairly uncomfortable. However, I enjoyed the dialogue, found it very believable, and liked the pacing. There were a couple of things I didn't really understand (the movies that Brian played, as well as his hatred toward Robbie, and all the frozen food), but this was lost in everything that I did "get". It was refreshing to read a play that wasn't "safe." I'd definitely like to see this performed live.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2014
As you can likely guess from the title the author of "Shopping and Fucking" wanted to shock readers and playgoers. And following in the tradition of Edward Bond and Brad Fraser Mark Ravenhill delivers a solid upper cut with each scene. Yet the true shock of this work isn't the drugs or the violence or the sex but the moral void in which all of that happens. These are two dimensional characters on a large flat screen television. Everything can be purchased. No, it's worse than that: everything must be purchased. Ravenhill shows us how happiness and love have been consumer products.
It's chilling and bleakly amusing at once.
Carac
It's chilling and bleakly amusing at once.
Carac
March 28, 2018
Reste à decider si Mark Ravenhill est un excellent auteur à l’écriture flexible et ambitieuse où un manipulateur plutôt habile. De toute façon, ça m’a fait un effet. 4,6/5
February 5, 2022
someone please explain this play to me
March 26, 2021
“Rule number one. Never believe a junkie. Because a junkie is a cunt. And when a junkie looks you in the eyes and says ‘I love you’ that’s when you know he’s gonna fill you full of shit.”
Are all Ravenhill's plays like that? I'm still processing how I feel about it. Great concept, shabby execution. I actually appreciate how the play plays on the whole consumerist society, and how relationships are manoeuvred in a neoliberalist culture/society. It's smart enough but not mind-blowing. Surely, it can be done better. It reminds me of Tracey Emin's 'My Bed' (1998). It's a brilliant concept, but not much effort innit? And personally I'm just someone who appreciates effort is all.
“Pretty regular. The important thing for me right now, for my needs, is that this doesn’t actually mean anything, you know? Which is why I wanted something that was a transaction. Because I thought if I pay then it won’t mean anything. Do you think that’s right – in your experience?”
The 'age' thing bothered me. I feel like if one were to use that sort of thing in a work of art, it should be impactful/like contribute to the art/play in a significant way. I feel like if the 'age' thing was taken out of the play, it would not have changed the play much. So it made me think that (esp. because it felt so redundant) that was so careless - and a cheap/weak attempt to add some kind of 'shock' element to the play. I'm intentionally calling it the 'age' thing so that I don't accidentally give away too much.
“And I take you both away and I take you to my house. And you see the house and when you see the house you know it. You understand? You know this place.And I’ve been keeping a room for you and I take you into this room. And there’s food. And it’s warm. And we live out our days fat and content and happy.”
It is a rather dark and grimy play. I usually like that sort of thing (when it's done well), but this one just didn't deliver enough. It was okay, not bad. Would I recommend it? Probably not.
Are all Ravenhill's plays like that? I'm still processing how I feel about it. Great concept, shabby execution. I actually appreciate how the play plays on the whole consumerist society, and how relationships are manoeuvred in a neoliberalist culture/society. It's smart enough but not mind-blowing. Surely, it can be done better. It reminds me of Tracey Emin's 'My Bed' (1998). It's a brilliant concept, but not much effort innit? And personally I'm just someone who appreciates effort is all.
“Pretty regular. The important thing for me right now, for my needs, is that this doesn’t actually mean anything, you know? Which is why I wanted something that was a transaction. Because I thought if I pay then it won’t mean anything. Do you think that’s right – in your experience?”
The 'age' thing bothered me. I feel like if one were to use that sort of thing in a work of art, it should be impactful/like contribute to the art/play in a significant way. I feel like if the 'age' thing was taken out of the play, it would not have changed the play much. So it made me think that (esp. because it felt so redundant) that was so careless - and a cheap/weak attempt to add some kind of 'shock' element to the play. I'm intentionally calling it the 'age' thing so that I don't accidentally give away too much.
“And I take you both away and I take you to my house. And you see the house and when you see the house you know it. You understand? You know this place.And I’ve been keeping a room for you and I take you into this room. And there’s food. And it’s warm. And we live out our days fat and content and happy.”
It is a rather dark and grimy play. I usually like that sort of thing (when it's done well), but this one just didn't deliver enough. It was okay, not bad. Would I recommend it? Probably not.
February 9, 2023
got to know of this play since it was recommended after reading Kane’s work (some reviews also came from Kane’s readers)
i can see the similarities to Kane’s work, and sprinkle some Siken and a lot of discourse on modern western degeneracy, you’ll get this play.
i like its crudeness, its looseness, and its overall unhinged quality.
i can see the similarities to Kane’s work, and sprinkle some Siken and a lot of discourse on modern western degeneracy, you’ll get this play.
i like its crudeness, its looseness, and its overall unhinged quality.
September 9, 2024
Takes a long time to get to its point, and I'm not sure that what happens before isn't just designed to shock. It's not especially dark or shocking - it uses the same old tropes - and the writing is definitely not as poetic as Sarah Kane could be.
September 3, 2024
perturbador
February 13, 2015
"Mr. Ravenhill’s slack, simple-minded message is as flashily empty as the neon signs that illuminate the drama’s anonymous grungy set, and I’m not about to indulge it. Yet several admiring articles I’ve read about the play compare it favorably, almost inevitably, to the social rage and newness of John Osborne’s 1956 Look Back in Anger . How is it possible?
The Osborne landmark shocked an entire theatergoing generation into a new awareness of England precisely because nothing like it had been written before. Its antihero, Jimmy Porter, is characterized by passion, not Mr. Ravenhill’s empty disenchantment. The play is about love. It’s about love and class war and bad marriages and boring Sunday papers. It’s also about a nostalgia for the civility of Edwardian England. In other words, Look Back in Anger is about everything that Shopping and Fucking isn’t about."
By John Heilpern | 02/16/98 12:00am
Read more at http://observer.com/1998/02/shopping-...
Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook
I totally agree!
Estic totalment d'acord amb el que diu aquest senyor Heilpern.
The Osborne landmark shocked an entire theatergoing generation into a new awareness of England precisely because nothing like it had been written before. Its antihero, Jimmy Porter, is characterized by passion, not Mr. Ravenhill’s empty disenchantment. The play is about love. It’s about love and class war and bad marriages and boring Sunday papers. It’s also about a nostalgia for the civility of Edwardian England. In other words, Look Back in Anger is about everything that Shopping and Fucking isn’t about."
By John Heilpern | 02/16/98 12:00am
Read more at http://observer.com/1998/02/shopping-...
Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook
I totally agree!
Estic totalment d'acord amb el que diu aquest senyor Heilpern.
November 3, 2017
Duševní rozervanost každého z nás vyhrocená do extrému. Deprese a touha v několika obrazech. V citlivějším období bych asi týden hleděla do stropu, zabalená v dece, tišící myšlenky na smysluplný život.
January 1, 2016
Easily one of my very favourite contemporary texts.
Mark Ravenhill's emphasis on how our inner beings are driven by consumerism is evidently enthralling.
Mark Ravenhill's emphasis on how our inner beings are driven by consumerism is evidently enthralling.
January 30, 2017
Such a tough book to read... I just couldn't handle such strong scenes so I definitely know now that I won't be reading more in-yer-face theatre.
June 23, 2017
İleri okuma olarak Mimesis Dergi' de yayınlanan In-Yer- Face: Tarihsel ve Teorik Bir İnceleme' yi öneririm. Öyle güzel ki, öyle oynanılası! Tiyatro Dot oynamış, ellerine sağlık.
October 21, 2022
Even though Ravenhill's subject matter is always interesting and truly reminiscent of the zeitgeist of the time of publication, the execution leaves me confused. But maybe that's the point. Or maybe studying Some Explicit Polaroids has just ruined me and will now forever influence any encounter I'll ever have with Ravenhill.
However - it kept me entertained during a long train ride. The amount of anal sex in this play somehow fit the experience of traveling with Deutsche Bahn and that's all you need to know about the play and German public transport.
However - it kept me entertained during a long train ride. The amount of anal sex in this play somehow fit the experience of traveling with Deutsche Bahn and that's all you need to know about the play and German public transport.
February 23, 2025
Shopping & F***ing is a play that has something to say, which is both a strong suit and a weakness. Raven hill seeks to shock the audience with grotesque scenes that show the emotional disconnect of these characters whose main focus is getting money. There are some string moments where that rate against capitalism and the world peeks through. I enjoyed those parts a lot.
Sadly, this play mostly falls flat. The characters feel two-dimensional, which made it hard to care at all about the story. The dialogue also felt so choppy and made it even more difficult to get into the flow of the story. I’m not sure if this one would be better to see staged or not.
Sadly, this play mostly falls flat. The characters feel two-dimensional, which made it hard to care at all about the story. The dialogue also felt so choppy and made it even more difficult to get into the flow of the story. I’m not sure if this one would be better to see staged or not.
July 11, 2024
Brilliant. An underrated phenomenon.
Lovely depiction of realism meeting flamboyance in the battle for the dystopian narrative.
Ravenhill expertly manages to set a punky tone in a very polished peace of drama.
Unfortunately, we are way past the gloomy lifes of Lulu, Robbie, Mark, Gary and Brian but way behind on their thought provoking expressions.
Lovely depiction of realism meeting flamboyance in the battle for the dystopian narrative.
Ravenhill expertly manages to set a punky tone in a very polished peace of drama.
Unfortunately, we are way past the gloomy lifes of Lulu, Robbie, Mark, Gary and Brian but way behind on their thought provoking expressions.
May 8, 2025
more “in-yer-face” plays yoppee!!!!!!
did a presentation on this (that i think i slayed). similar to blasted in extremism, but this one definitely felt more political and economical. also why were there some kinda funny moments? and then it hit me with the crazy, soul crushing lines? pretty good
did a presentation on this (that i think i slayed). similar to blasted in extremism, but this one definitely felt more political and economical. also why were there some kinda funny moments? and then it hit me with the crazy, soul crushing lines? pretty good
June 27, 2025
This is my absolute shit. Disturbing and bitingly funny. So much explored about the human condition under capitalism, about loneliness and individualism and misdirected desires. Would love to be in this show.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews