The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America

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The oral history of Angels in America, as told by the artists who created it and the audiences forever changed by it--a moving account of the AIDS era, essential queer history, and an exuberant backstage tale. When Tony Kushner's Angels in America hit Broadway in 1993, it won the Pulitzer Prize, swept the Tonys, launched a score of major careers, and changed the way gay lives were represented in popular culture. Mike Nichols's 2003 HBO adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, and Mary-Louise Parker was itself a tour de force, winning Golden Globes and eleven Emmys, and introducing the play to an even wider public. This generation-defining classic continues to shock, move, and inspire viewers worldwide. Now, on the 25th anniversary of that Broadway premiere, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois offer the definitive account of Angels in America in the most fitting way possible: through oral history, the vibrant conversation and debate of actors (including Streep, Parker, Nathan Lane, and Jeffrey Wright), directors, producers, crew, and Kushner himself. Their intimate storytelling reveals the on- and offstage turmoil of the play's birth--a hard-won miracle beset by artistic roadblocks, technical disasters, and disputes both legal and creative. And historians and critics help to situate the play in the arc of American culture, from the staunch activism of the AIDS crisis through civil rights triumphs to our current era, whose politics are a dark echo of the Reagan '80s. Expanded from a popular Slate cover story and built from nearly 250 interviews, The World Only Spins Forward is both a rollicking theater saga and an uplifting testament to one of the great works of American art of the past century, from its gritty San Francisco premiere to its starry, much-anticipated Broadway revival in 2018.

Reviews

There are few plays that have affected me more deeply than Tony Kushner's Angels in America. I absolutely cannot wait to dive into Butler and Kois's oral history. * Washington Post, "Most Anticipated Pop Culture of 2018" *
The definitive oral history of one of the definitive works of American drama. * Entertainment Weekly, "February 2018 Book Preview" *
[A] fascinating oral history. * Vogue *
[A] superbly paced, enthralling oral history of this now-classic work of theater, Butler and Kois splice interviews with more than 200 figures including Kushner, Meryl Streep, critic Frank Rich, director Oskar Eustis, and Kushner's husband, writer Mark Harris, into an extraordinary narrative of the origin and evolution of a groundbreaking work of genius. * National Book Review *
An illuminating assemblage of anecdotes, commentary, and nitty-gritty rehearsal notes. . . The World Only Spins Forward will stand as the definitive account of the birth, life, and legacy of Angels. * American Theatre *
The definitive history of this now iconic play in oral history format . . . This gathering of the voices of actors, writers, and others is exceptional . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in performance, cultural history, and theater. -- starred review * Library Journal *
A brash and buoyant oral history of Angels in America . . . This invaluable origin story also examines the AIDS era and queer history in general. -- starred review * Booklist *
A rich historical resource, the book chronicles the emergence of AIDS and the nation's changing attitudes toward homosexuality from 1978 to 2018, when Angels is set to be revived yet again . .. A chorus of candid, emotional, and often moving testimonies. * Kirkus Reviews *
Even those who have never seen Angels will certainly be entertained and will come away with a great appreciation for the play. * Publishers Weekly *
A fascinating, backstage tour... The point is not just to show how this play found its voice, but also to place it in context... Theater magic. Youve got to love it. And Dan Kois and Isaac Butler have captured a lot of it in The World Only Spins Forward. -- Bob Mondello * NPR *
We can more than guarantee that you won't read anything quite like this phenomenal collection all year. * PopSugar *
A must-read historical account for theater lovers, history buffs, and actors alike. * Backstage *
Ingenious . . . Captures all the twists and turns of fate that went into the two-part epic's creation with a sense of suspense and drama--from the joy and exuberance to the heartache . . . Butler and Kois place us on intimate terms with the play's characters, ideas, and humanity--and their book, a prescient reminder of the need to follow one's truth in the face of oppression and intolerance, will be an invaluable text for years to come. * Lambda Literary Review *
Tony Kushners Angels in America is a significant accomplishment. Significant as well were the tremendous efforts that went into the making of it: the setbacks, doubts, battles, scenes considered and reconsidered, as well as the revelations and epiphanies. All of it is here in The World Only Spins Forward, a vital contribution to our understanding that a great play does not simply descend to Earth, fully formed, like an angel on a wire. This book should be required reading for anyone who cares about art in all its forms. -- Michael Cunningham
A meticulously textured oral history about an extraordinary work of art and the era of its creation, woven out of the words of the genius who created it and all of the artists, producers, and friends whose love, talent, and dedication made it possible. -- Anna Deavere Smith
A wildly entertaining and definitive chronicle of the most important play of its era, The World Only Spins Forward manages to be a fascinating look at the artistic process, a sophisticated case study in how politics informs art, and a probing, lively work of criticism. In digging deep into the singular achievement of Angels in America, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois also make a persuasive case for the oral history itself, a deceptively tricky form that, as they demonstrate, can be as ambitious as any other. An essential part of any culturally-engaged persons library. -- Jason Zinoman, New York Times-bestselling author of LETTERMAN: THE LAST GIANT OF LATE NIGHT
Several people interviewed in this book called Angels in America 'the Hamilton of its time'--which makes reading The World Only Spins Forward the next best thing to being in the room where it happened. It's deep. It's dishy. It's a must-read for theater fans and engaged Americans. -- Tim Federle, author of BETTER NATE THAN EVER
Theater fans, preorder this book right now! It's basically free compared to your Angels in America tickets and it will deepen your experience exponentially. -- Rachel Fershleiser
EXTRAORDINARY. -- Terry Teachout
REQUIRED READING THAT KEPT ME UP LATE. -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, on Twitter, of the Slate feature
A truly astounding read and worth your time. -- Cheryl Strayed, on Twitter, of the Slate feature

Author Bio

Isaac Butler is a writer and theater director, most recently of The Trump Card, a meditation on the peculiar rise of Donald Trump with the solo performer Mike Daisey. Butler also wrote and directed Real Enemies, a collaboration with the composer Darcy James Argue and the video artist Peter Nigrini, which was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and named one of the top ten live events of 2015 by the New York Times. He holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota, and his writing has appeared in the Guardian, Slate, American Theatre, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn. Dan Kois is an editor and writer for Slate's culture section and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. He's the former culture editor at Slate, where he launched the Slate Book Review. He previously co-hosted the podcast Mom and Dad Are Fighting and is a frequent guest on Slate's Culture Gabfest. His previous book was Facing Future, about the Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, for Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 series, and his next book is How to Be a Family, a memoir of parenting around the world.