Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard (original 2008; edition 2012)

by Ben Crystal (Author)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
249	19	108,951	(3.96)	4
Who's afraid of William Shakespeare? Just about everyone. He wrote too much and what he did write is inaccessible and elitist. Right? Wrong. "Shakespeare on Toast" knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of Shakespeare, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling and uplifting drama. Actor and author Ben Crystal brings the bright words and colourful characters of the world's greatest hack writer brilliantly to life, handing over the key to Shakespeare's plays, unlocking the so called difficult bits and, astonishingly, finding Shakespeare's own voice amid the poetry. Told in five fascinating Acts, "Shakespeare on Toast" sweeps the cobwebs from the Bard - from his language, his life, his time - revealing both the man and his work to be relevant, accessible and full of beans.… (more)

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Member:	GeoffSC
Title:	Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard
Authors:	Ben Crystal (Author)
Info:	Icon Books (2012), 272 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	currently-reading, aa-must-read-book, aaa-book, aaa-next, ben-crystal, drama, own, read-soon, shakespeare, shakespeare-shelf

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Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard by Ben Crystal (2008)

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Informative - especially sections on Elizabethean era, The Globe, the hierarchy of sonnet, Thou vs You etc. However, the section on rhythm is a bit too heavy for me. (

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harishwriter | Oct 12, 2023 |

A useful breezy breakdown of the way Shakespeare writes to try to make it less intimidating but too basic really beyond high school or the complete newcomer. Maybe I was expecting too much. (

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arewenotben | Jul 31, 2020 |

Shakespeare, dont we all love him - though this was a bit much for me, more technical that I would want, so it's toast! (

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DramMan | May 11, 2020 |

Stumbling over the Pit of Poetry amuses me. (

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natcontrary | May 21, 2018 |

After reading “The Shakespeare Wars” by Ron Rosenbaum (review here), I sunk into a lethargic stupor. What can I read that will topple Rosenbaum’s book? I’d “Shakespeare on Toast” on my TBR Pile for a while. It went there just when it came out, but I thought it’d be something of a pastiche on Shakespeare's works, and I was not in the mood for that. What finally made the decision for me was my subconscious. I wanted something that could be used as a counterpoint to the Rosenbaum’s book. At least that was what I thought, but the book is nothing of the sort. It’s instead a nice complement to the Rosenbaum’s book. It didn’t exactly rock my socks off, ie, it didn’t revolutionize the way I see Shakespeare, but it gave me a fresh, zingy insight into his work.

You can read the rest of this review on my blog. (

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antao | Dec 10, 2016 |

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ALCS Educational Writers’ Award (Shortlist – 2010)

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2008

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First words

"Never, never, never, never, never." King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3, line 306

That quote is one of the most stunning lines in Shakespeare, and after reading this book you'll be able to give a number of very good reasons why this is true.

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Eyre, Richard

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▾Book descriptions

Who's afraid of William Shakespeare? Just about everyone. He wrote too much and what he did write is inaccessible and elitist. Right? Wrong. "Shakespeare on Toast" knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of Shakespeare, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling and uplifting drama. Actor and author Ben Crystal brings the bright words and colourful characters of the world's greatest hack writer brilliantly to life, handing over the key to Shakespeare's plays, unlocking the so called difficult bits and, astonishingly, finding Shakespeare's own voice amid the poetry. Told in five fascinating Acts, "Shakespeare on Toast" sweeps the cobwebs from the Bard - from his language, his life, his time - revealing both the man and his work to be relevant, accessible and full of beans.

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