Off The Bookshelf US -Books Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives) Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives) New & Used Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives) Books CDS DVD's Nusic Electronics

Search Books - select a category

Buy Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives) online at Discounted New and Used prices. Delivered to your door with Off-The-Bookshelf.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives)
by: Bill Bryson

List Price: $19.95

Off The Bookshelf's Price: $14.57

You Save: $5.38 (27%)
Prices subject to change.

Used Price: $3.10
Collectible Price: $19.95
Third Party New Price: $5.93

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 822.33
EAN: 9780060740221
ISBN: 0060740221
Label: Eminent Lives
Manufacturer: Eminent Lives
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: November 01, 2007
Publisher: Eminent Lives
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Studio: Eminent Lives
Sales Rank: 170919

Related Items:

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right

Editorial Review:

Product Description:

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.

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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- makes you appreciate Shakespeare more, even if you don't think that's possible.
Bill Bryson's biography of Shakespeare has the perfect subtitle. Not just because it is so fitting for Shakespeare, but--as Bryson shows--it is a necessity when looking at the greatest genius of all humanity. Bryson cuts through the speculation and goes to what we actually know about Shakespeare the man, which is next to nothing. And yet, Bryson writes a wonderful book filled with his compellingly trademark style that engages and engrosses the reader. He focuses on the world of Shakespeare and what little we know about him, and also how wonderful he was and how lucky we are to have had him. Sure, most of the information isn't really new, but that's not the point. It, like with Shakespeare himself, is how it is done. This is going on the treasured spot on my bookshelf right next to Bryson's ... Read More

Rating:

- Bryson never fails to entertain
Shakespeare:The World as Stage (eminent Lives) by Bill Bryson

I have always found Bill Bryson"s books filled with just the right kind of humor and information. I was surprsed to see this title. This has to be the best bio on Shakespeare I've ever read and I have read alot of them. As Bryson points out, there isn't alot to tell. Somehow he manages to give you just about everything known about the man but conveys it in ways that are just plain funny. But don't think Bryson hasn't done his homework. This must have been quite an endeavor. If you like to learn about Shakespeare, you'll love this book. Long Live Bill Bryson!! gail maizel

Rating:

- Crafted, concise, and fun to read
Bill Bryson's concise biography of Shakespeare is brilliantly written, humorously insightful, and entirely delightful. The prose is a well-crafted and playful presentation of the dozen odd facts known about Shakespeare and many of the suppositions, inferences, and wild speculations about the man and his work. This Shakespeare primer can be easily understood by any high-school level reader and no prior knowledge about Shakespeare is required--Bryson even helpfully informs the reader that "William Shakespeare of Stratford was unquestionably" (p. 196) the author of Shakespeare's plays and poetry, a fact that is apparently not self-evident.

Bryson has written several books including the prize-winning A Short History of Nearly Everything. The book under review is provided as a volume ... Read More

Rating:

- Something for everyone
I really enjoyed this quick read. I knew virtually nothing about Shakespeare; never having read much of his work, nor any explanation of his existence. I learned a good bit, stayed entertained and walked away with a much better appreciation of Shakespeare's impact on the world.

I still can't watch Laurence Olivier's Hamlet however.....

Rating:

- As much as most people will ever want to know
When I visited Ashland, Oregon's Shakespeare Festival the buyer in their large, authoritative bookstore suggested this as a good basic biography of William Shakespeare. I've concluded it was a good recommendation for several reasons.

It is a relatively brief 224 pages because Bryson makes the case that extremely few documented facts are known about Shakespeare's life. It seems that essentially nothing is known about Shakespeare's relationships with his immediate family members or known theatrical colleagues, and there are blocks of years during which nothing can be said with certainty about even where he lived much less what he was doing. Bryson makes the case that other - more scholarly? - biographies of The Bard which purport to provide greater detail are, of necessity, essentially ... Read More

Books : Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives)