SHAKESPEARE (Eminent Lives) - Hardcover

Bryson, Bill

3.81

45,854 ratings by Goodreads

9780007197897: SHAKESPEARE (Eminent Lives)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007197896 ISBN 13: 9780007197897

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2019

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Bill Bryson's Shakespeare pairs one of history's most celebrated writers with one of the most popular writers in the English language today. In this elegant, updated, illustrated edition, the superstitions, academic discoveries and myths surrounding the life of one of the world's greatest poets are evoked through a series of full-color paintings, drawings, portraits, documents and photographs. Bryson also discusses the recent discoveries of the Cobbe portrait and the remains of Shakespeare's first theatre in Shoreditch.

The centuries of mysteries, half-truths and downright lies about Shakespeare are deftly explored, as Bryson draws a picture that includes many aspects of the poet's life, making sense of the man behind the masterpieces. In a journey down the streets of Shakespeare's time, Bryson brings to life the hubbub of Elizabethan England and delights in details of his folios and quartos, poetry and plays. He celebrates the glory of Shakespeare's language and his ceaseless inventiveness, which gave us hundreds of now indispensable phrases, images and words.

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About the Author:

Bill Bryson is the New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods, The Lost Continent, The Mother Tongue, Neither Here Nor There, Made in America, Notes from a Small Island, Notes from a Big Country, Down Under, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Shakespeare: The World as Stage, At Home, and A Short History of Nearly Everything, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, won the Aventis Prize for Science Books, and was awarded the Descartes Science Communication Prize. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Bryson now lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and four children.

From AudioFile:

Little is known about Shakespeares life, and in this brief biography Bryson makes no attempt to expand on the known details, as other authors have. Starting by presenting the paucity of facts, he goes on to sketch the life of the worlds greatest playwright, from Stratford to London and back again. He also discusses the theories suggesting that Shakespeares works were written by someone else, dismissing them as ludicrous. While Brysons prose sparkles with Bard-worthy wit, his reading is lackluster, and this reviewer wonders why he doesnt entrust his audiobooks to more experienced narrators. This is an interesting, though brief, book about the Bard, and it deserves better. K.M. � AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright � AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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