Lakeboat

Lakeboat tells of the summer experience of Dale, a young man who signs on as a cook on a Great Lakes cargo boat. There is no plot to speak of -- the eight men aboard interact as they cross the lake again and again, self-aware of the fact that they are stuck in their own lives, even as they are constantly moving. The story is told from Dale's logbook as he soaks up the tales of the older men. Lakeboat is probably Mamet's earliest play, drawn from his own vacation job aboard a Great Lakes boat. Already his work shows his salty language and unflinching realism.