Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art

A finalist for the 2017 George Freedley Memorial Award

“A compelling, absolutely unputdownable story . . . And, in case you’re wondering, yes, the book is funny. In places, very funny. A remarkable story, magnificently told.” — Booklist

In this richly reported, scene-driven narrative, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan...