John Patrick Shanley has come a long way. He started in The Bronx and now lives in Brooklyn. His plays include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, the dreamer examines his pillow, Beggars in the House of Plenty, Welcome to the Moon, Where's My Money, and Dirty Story. He has two new plays receiving New York productions: Doubt, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club and Sailor's Song, produced by LAByrinth Theater Company.

In the arena of film, Mr. Shanley has had four spec screenplays produced: Five Corners, Moonstruck, The January Man and Joe Versus the Volcano. Five Corners won the Special Jury Prize for its screenplay at the Barcelona Theatre Festival. For Moonstruck, Shanley received both the Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also did the film adaptions of both Alive and Congo. Mr. Shanley directs in both theatre and film, but otherwise seems completely clueless.