42 pages 1 hour read

David Mamet

Glengarry Glen Ross

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1983

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Act IAct Summaries & Analyses

Act I, Scene 1 Summary

Content Warning: This section of the guide references crude language, anti-gay slurs, racist language, and a mention of child sexual assault, which feature in the source text.  

Shelly Levene, a seasoned real estate agent, and John Williamson, the young manager of the real estate office, are arguing in a Chicago Chinese restaurant booth. Levene attempts to convince Williamson to give him some of the prime sales leads that are supposed to go to the salesmen with the best track records. Levene asserts that Williamson is throwing away leads by giving Glengarry Highlands to Roma, and he ought to give it to someone like him who has proven his ability to close. Williamson reminds Levene that he failed to close his last four leads, but Levene protests that he did close two of them; it’s just that one of the leads “kicked out” (16) and another sale was been invalidated by a judge for reasons he couldn’t have foreseen. Levene insists that he’s only having some “bad luck” which “runs in streaks” (16). When Williamson questions him about the other two leads, Levene avoids the subject. Leven argues that in 1981 and 1982, he had been the second top salesman after Roma, but Williamson corrects him:  Moss was second.