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Steven asked this question about The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America:
Grammar nerd warning Is anyone else put off by the misplaced modifier in the title of the book? Yes, the world spins forward, but it doesn't "only" spin forward. "The World Spins Only Forward" is, I suspect, what the authors really mean. Not to mention more accurate.
Marissa "The World Only Spins Forward" is a famous quote from "Angels in America," the subject of this oral history, so first of all, your quibble is with pla…more"The World Only Spins Forward" is a famous quote from "Angels in America," the subject of this oral history, so first of all, your quibble is with playwright Tony Kushner, not with the authors of this book. Second of all, good playwrights know that good dialogue is not always grammatically correct dialogue, because human beings do not speak with perfect grammar 100% of the time. To me, the phrase "The world only spins forward" rolls off the tongue with a much less awkward cadence than "The world spins only forward," which I presume is one reason why Kushner phrased it like that.(less)
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The World Only Spins Forward
by Isaac Butler
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