"Terrence McNally is one of our most original and audacious dramatists, and one of our funniest."--"New Yorker" Since his first play, "And Things That Go Bump in the Night," which premiered in 1965, McNally has proven himself to be a trailblazing figure and unique voice in American theater, known for his exploration of gay themes and his chronicling of America's changing social attitudes over the past fifty years. His thirty-three plays, nine musicals, three operas, and seven scripts for film and television, are a testament to his astonishing commitment to writing. In "Selected Plays," for the very first time, McNally collects a set of eight plays that he considers the most important of his oeuvre, including the Tony-nominated "Mothers and Sons" and the critically acclaimed "And Away We Go," neither of which have been previously published. Introducing each play with a personal essay that recounts an anecdote or discusses an aspect of the play that proceeds it, McNally himself frames his own life in the theater. "Selected Plays" is a landmark publication, a memoir in plays from one of America's most highly regarded and best-loved playwrights.