Theater can be a transformative experience, particularly for those who choose it as a career.

Now the American Theatre Wing has compiled the remembrances of 19 playwrights talking about where their adoration of live performance began and what influenced their careers as writers. The book radiates an affection for the stage, celebrating the memories and inspiration that are left after the curtain has come down.

“The Play That Changed My Life: America’s Foremost Playwrights on the Plays That Influenced Them” (Applause, $18.99), is best read in short takes, maybe one playwright a day to make the enjoyment last longer. And the range of experience, emotion and insight is astonishing.

Doug Wright, for example, discusses the genius of Charles Ludlum and his innovative Ridiculous Theatrical Company. And he remembers a community that was being devastated by AIDS. It will leave the reader grieving for a generation of lost theater artists.

Christopher Durang delivers sharp, often witty analyses of two big musical hits of the 1960s — “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and “Carnival!” — the first a giddy satire, the second a more serious, often dark musical-theater romance.

Beth Henley doesn’t honor one particular play but instead pays loving homage to her mother, Lydy Becker Caldwell, a Mississippi stage actress who gave her daughter a lively backstage view of theater life. And even helped a young Henley get on stage in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ “Summer and Smoke.”

Among the other playwrights unlocking memories are Jon Robin Baitz, Horton Foote, Tina Howe, Donald Margulies, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl and John Patrick Shanley.

The book is a beguiling read not only because of these memories, but also because it helps readers tap into their own theater experiences. And let’s face it. If you’re reading this book, you have them.