How Shakespeare Changed Everything - Hardcover

Marche, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1443406503 ISBN 13: 9781443406505

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011

Synopsis

Shakespeare is all around us. From nightclubs to Broadway musicals, in voting booths in the American South and the trees of Central Park -- William Shakespeare’s literary power is so intense and widespread that it intrudes into the material world. Esquire columnist Stephen Marche takes us on a delightful tour through the continuous stream of Shakespeare’s influence, summoning up the Bard in the most unexpected places:

· In 1890, as part of a plan to introduce every bird mentioned by Shakespeare to North America, Eugene Shieffelin imported and released a bunch of pesky starlings into New York’s Central Park.
· The Nazi Party issued a pamphlet entitled “Shakespeare—a Germanic Writer,” and in 1936 there were more productions of Shakespeare in Germany than in the rest of the world combined.
· Shakespeare coined approximately 1,700 words, including lacklustre, fashionable, auspicious, bandit, glow, hush, dawn, gnarled, hobnob, traditional, and the name Jessica.
· In 1930, Paul Robeson became the first black actor to play the part of Othello in England after being rejected for the role in the United States Robeson famously said of his performance, “Othello has made me free.”

About this title

From the Back Cover

Shakespeare is everywhere

Nearly four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare permeates our everyday lives: from the words we speak to the teenage heartthrobs we worship to the political rhetoric spewed by the twenty-four-hour news cycle. In the pages of this wickedly clever little book, Esquire columnist Stephen Marche uncovers the hidden influence of Shakespeare in our culture, including these fascinating tidbits:

• Shakespeare coined more than 1,700 words, including hobnob, glow, lackluster, and dawn.
• Paul Robeson's 1943 performance as Othello on Broadway was a seminal moment in black history.
• Tolstoy wrote an entire book about Shakespeare's failures as a writer.
• In 1936, the Nazi Party tried to claim Shakespeare as a Germanic writer.
• Without Shakespeare, the book titles Infinite Jest, The Sound and the Fury, and Brave New World wouldn't exist.
• The name Jessica was first used in The Merchant of Venice.
• Freud's idea of a healthy sex life came directly from the Bard.

Stephen Marche has cherry-picked the sweetest and most savory historical footnotes from Shakespeare's work and life to create this unique celebration of the greatest writer of all time.

About the Author

STEPHEN MARCHE is a contributing editor at Esquire magazine. He also writes regular features and opinion pieces for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Walrus and elsewhere, and is a weekly contributor to CBC Radio. His books include four novels, The Hunger of the Wolf, Raymond and Hannah, Shining at the Bottom of the Sea and Love and the Mess We’re In, as well was a work of non-fiction, How Shakespeare Changed Everything. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.

 

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1443406503
• ISBN 13: 9781443406505
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224