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Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare | Stephen Greenblatt
"Greenblatt knows more about [Shakespeare] than Ben Jonson or the Dark Lady did."John Leonard, ?Harper's A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained? How did Shakespeare become Shakespeare? Stephen Greenblatt brings us down to earth to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life, could have become the world's greatest playwright. ?A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Finalist.
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Leftcoastzen
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I read Shakespeare way too young , we had a one volume book of his plays in my home .Granted , there cannot be a definitive bio. of Will , so much is unknown.Using the plays & what was going on in England at the time , the book does have potential clues to the life of Shakespeare.I will tell you there‘s a lot of hanging , draw & quartering , then boiling people in this book.Always wondered about origins of the word “overkill”.Pick!

LeahBergen This sounds good! 5y
Leftcoastzen @LeahBergen I enjoyed it.Honestly, so much of his life is not known.But learning about England in that time expanded my understanding of the plays.Made me want to know more about the anti -Catholic turn , lots of violence indeed. 5y
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MeganRiddle11
Mehso-so

Good history, but lots of conjecture

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WanderingBookaneer
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Will was hanging around The Globe. (London, UK)

Velvetfur I didn't know you guys were in London! I haven't been on Litsy for a week or so.... Anyway I hope you have a great rest of your stay here! 5y
WanderingBookaneer @Velvetfur : Thank you! We flew over here late June, but took a Cunard cruise for two weeks. We arrived back at Southhampton on Sunday and will leave this Sunday. It‘s been delightful. 5y
89 likes3 comments
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
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While I learned from Bill Bryson‘s book about Shakespeare that his birth/death day is probably closer to May 3rd due to Julian/Gregorian calendar shenanigans, today is as good a day as any to celebrate the Bard and the beautiful things he built with words.

Since Romeo & Juliet in 9th grade I‘ve never been able to get enough.

Happy birthday, Will!

heikemarie Looking for Branagh‘s Hamlet like 👀 7y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk There were a ton that I simply couldn‘t fit in the image but that is totally on my shelf. Special Edition blu-ray of course. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Loved Bill Bryson‘s book. So much we really still don‘t know about such a talent. 7y
AlaMich That is an impressive collection! 😊 7y
72 likes4 comments
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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 3! A young man from a small provincial town moved to London in the 1580s. In a remarkably short time, he became the greatest playwright of all time. How can this achievement be explained? He shows how an acutely sensitive boy immersed in the rich Elizabethan era could have done it. Sounds fascinating! #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

scripturient This is such a good book. I definitely recommend it. :) 7y
CindyMyLifeIsLit I have this already, but haven't read it yet. I didn't know it was a National Book Award finalist! My copy doesn't have the sticker. Guess I need to put it in the rotation! 7y
mabell Sounds interesting! I need to revisit the Shakespeare bio. It's been a long time since I read 7y
MariaW I had to read this one for one of my classes at university and was totally hooked. 👍👍👍 7y
74 likes11 stack adds4 comments
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ninergrl6
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Did anyone watch the new show Will tonight? I LOVED it, but I'm a #Shakespeare nerd 🎭 If you missed it -- SHAME! -- you can watch the first 2 eps online at tntdrama.com #WillOnTNT #teachersoflitsy

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CateKeesling
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#catesbookstagramchallenge Day Twenty Nine: National Puzzle Day. My current read, puzzling out how Shakespeare became Shakespeare; and my newly begun puzzle, puzzling out why Puffins are so darn cute.

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CaseyMoore
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My Christmas book. It is sitting on top of a banned books notebook my wife got me.

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Devyn
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Pickpick

I can finally check this one off my list! Took me forever to finish it but it is absolutely the best book to start with if you're even slightly interested in the Bard. Can't recommend it enough for a surprisingly thorough intro to the whole culture of Shakespeare.

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Devyn
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Am I the only one that picks up non-fiction books and then takes forever to finish them because I can't read more than a chapter at a time? Really hope I'm not.

Coleen You're not. I don't read a lot of non-fiction for that very reason. 8y
Devyn @Coleen So glad I'm not alone! It's just such a bummer because I love learning stuff, I'll just have to put the book under my pillow and hope I absorb all the knowledge :) 8y
EnidBiteEm Same. 8y
6 likes3 comments
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TheEscapist
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I think the thing I dislike about Shakespeare conspiracy theorists (it WASN'T Bacon!) is the idea that a glover's son couldn't possibly have written plays so enduring. Why not? I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in how Shakespeare's life influenced the themes of his work.

TheEscapist *conspiracy theories 8y
4 likes1 comment
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SquareBooks
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Shakespeare month may be over, but the fun never stops. So many new books today and I shelved t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ way too many of them.