Angels in America

More Life, a time for Hope

This is my favorite play. Tony Kushner rendered a heart-wrenching story, and this most completed version brought it even closer to perfection. Noticable changes have been made, especially to Part 2: "Perestroika," but I think they all work to the overall story's advantage. The two scenes that were cut from the original published version are still available to read in the back. There are also notes and an intro written by Kushner himself. For someone who claims not to care for intros, he makes decent work of them. ;)The book itself is very sturdy (I bought the hardcover version), the cover beautiful (even if I'm not a fan of dust jackets) and the pages have held up through three read-throughs so far as I carry this book all over town like a security blanket and read it everywhere from the breakfast table to waiting rooms to my local park. Most satisfying purchase I've made yet. I recommend this to anyone who needs their heart broken and/or healed, or just has space on their bookshelf.

Pure genius! The 2 Part split formation works perfectly to highlight the shift in atmosphere and am glad to say the ending isn't predictable. Time to find a live stage version of this.

This was and continues to be one of my favorite plays of all time. The subtitle describes exactly what the play is all about: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Bear in mind, this play takes places in the mid 1980's: President Reagan was in office and the new Millennium is approaching, a time of uncertainty. Some call it an AIDS play, but it is much more than that. It's about love, betrayal, abandonment, religion, forgiveness, friendship, and the supernatural. The dialogue can be preachy, but that does not mean it's bad. Quite the opposite. It's pretty excellent. Mr. Kushner's use of words are quite exquisite. Probably my favorite scene of this play occurs in part 2 of the play, when the character Harper is alone in the Mormon center, and she obtains advice about life from an interesting source. Overall, the play is worth re-visiting after 23 years since its world premiere at Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco, CA.

All went as well as it could go with this order. No delay, book arrived in condition as described and I have no reason for complaint.