16th century(14) 17th century(10) 2008(15) 2009(9) audiobook(8) biography(303) British(6) Bryson(20) drama(20) Elizabethan(7) Elizabethan England(6) England(20) English(12) English History(7) English literature(11) historical(7) history(119) humor(17) humour(16) literature(43) London(12) non-fiction(161) own(10) plays(8) read(20) read in 2008(15) Shakespeare(196) TBR(13) theatre(19) unread(15)

▾Will you like it?

won't like will probably not like will probably like will like will love

▾Member reviews

English (62) Danish (1) All languages (63)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 62 (next | show all)

A very short, concise biography, which paints a good picture of Elizabethan times and debunks all the myths about Shakespeare not actually writing his plays. (

)

Sandydog1 | Oct 27, 2009 |

Excellent read, manages to be highly entertaining as well as informative. (

)

fanakapan | Oct 19, 2009 |

William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself. His Shakespeare is like no one else's—the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time.

kdmclynn | Sep 13, 2009 |

Bryson could make about anything interesting. Only he can manage to write a gripping tale about Shakespeare and still be truthful and funny. (

)

emhromp2 | Aug 28, 2009 |

Short but quite a fun read as usual. Amazingly little information available about Shakespeare. Does an excellent job of debunking the claims that he did not write his plays, in the last chapter. (

)

topps | Aug 9, 2009 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 62 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

Eminent Lives

Canonical Title

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

Original publication date

People/Characters

William Shakespeare

Important places

London, England, UK

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, UK

Important events

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

To Finley and Molly and in memory of Maisie

First words

Before he came into a lot of money in 1839, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, second Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, led a largely uneventful life.

Quotations

We don't know if [Shakespeare] ever left England. We don't know who his principal companions were or how he amused himself. His sexuality is an irreconcilable mystery. On only a handful of days in his life can we say with complete certainty where he was. . . . For the rest, he is a kind of literary equivalent of an electron—forever there and not there.

In fact it cannot be emphasized too strenuously that there is nothing—not a scrap, not a mote—that gives any certain insight into Shakespeare's feelings or beliefs as a private person. We can know only what came out of his work, never what went into it.

One variation [of bearbaiting] was to put a chimpanzee on the back of a horse and let the dogs go for both together. The sight of a screeching ape clinging for dear life to a bucking horse while dogs leaped at it from below was considered about as rich an amusement as public life could offer. That an audience that could be moved to tears one day by a performance of Doctor Faustus could return the next to the same space and be just as entertained by the frantic deaths of helpless animals may say as much about the age as any single statement could.

[I]t needs to be said that nearly all of the anti-Shakespeare sentiment—actually all of it, every bit—involves manipulative scholarship or sweeping misstatements of fact.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Shapiro, James

edit this data

▾Common Knowledge (short form)

Canonical title	Shakespeare: The World as Stage
Series	Eminent Lives
People/Characters	William Shakespeare
Important places	London, England, UK, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, UK
Dedication	To Finley and Molly and in memory of Maisie
First words	Before he came into a lot of money in 1839, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, second Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, led a largely uneventful life.
Quotations	We don't know if [Shakespeare] ever left England. We don't know who his principal companions were or how he amused himself. His sexuality is an irreconcilable mystery. On only a handful of days in his life can we say with com... (show all)
Last words	(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Blurbers	Shapiro, James

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0060740221, Hardcover)

Bryson documents the efforts of earlier scholars, from today's most respected academics to eccentrics like Delia Bacon, an American who developed a firm but unsubstantiated conviction that her namesake, Francis Bacon, was the true author of Shakespeare's plays. Emulating the style of his famous travelogues, Bryson records episodes in his research, including a visit to a bunkerlike room in Washington, D.C., where the world's largest collection of First Folios is housed.

Bryson celebrates Shakespeare as a writer of unimaginable talent and enormous inventiveness, a coiner of phrases ("vanish into thin air," "foregone conclusion," "one fell swoop") that even today have common currency. His Shakespeare is like no one else's—the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400)

(see all 3 descriptions)

▾Open Shelves Classification

The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.