The Only Way Out

“The Only Way Out is a great read. Katherine Brewer Ball offers an innovative and stimulating analysis of escape in relation to minoritarian discourses that negate the idea of freedom. Brewer Ball’s emphasis on the performative aspects of escape works to highlight its impossibility, thereby enabling readers to refine their concept of what freedom might even mean, while working simultaneously to redefine the parameters of performance itself.” - Amber Jamilla Musser, author of Between Shadows and Noise: Sensation, Situatedness, and the Undisciplined

In The Only Way Out, Katherine Brewer Ball explores how fully the pursuit of freedom is interwoven into the fibers of Black and queer storytelling. Bridging classic American literature with the defiant voices of contemporary queer narrative and performance, this critical study unpacks the multifaceted theme of escape—a flight not just from oppression but also toward utopian horizons. In lucid and unsparing prose, Brewer Ball models criticism-as-conspiracy against whiteness.” - Tavia Nyong’o, author of Afro-Fabulations: The Queer Drama of Black Life

"A richly theorized and compelling study. . . . The Only Way Out reaches out toward readers and audiences in a conspiratorial gesture of generosity." - Maria Silk, GLQ

"Katherine Brewer Ball’s book offers a groundbreaking analysis of the American preoccupation with the notion of escape. . . . Brewer Ball fosters an interdisciplinary dialogue between Black studies and queer theory, highlighting both their convergences and divergences." - Andrés Ibarra Cordero, Theatre Research International