Shakespeare

The World as Stage

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Bill Bryson

Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

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 academics to eccentrics. Emulating the style of his famous travelogues, Bryson records episodes in his research, including a visit to a bunker-like basement 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.

©2007 Bill Bryson (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Bryson is a pleasant and funny guide to a subject at once overexposed and elusive." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great narrator, easy read, story OK

Very easy read, the narrator just takes you through the story easily. Unfortunately, the whole book's idea is that we cannot know a lot about Shakespeare. The description of the era is amazing, I wish to know more so I will get another book from the same author

Unexpected Findings in a Quality Bryson Book

There's not much that can shock me about Shakespeare theories. I have a BA in English Literature. I've read all the plays, sonnets, even the ones suspected to be by Shakespeare.

It seemed an odd topic for beloved Bryson to tackle and I was curious about his angle on it. I was pleasantly surprised, "What do we really know about the bard?" he asks in the first chapter.

This was a refreshing and lively investigation into what's real and what's dreamed about one man's life. Solid topics, using all types of research from court records to paintings, Bryson gives a new eye on an ages old mystery. In the process, we learn about how many things have simply been made up by well meaning researchers for the past four hundred years!

I found myself wishing there was more. I loved it.

Well done!

A concise yet satisfying trip through the life of the Bard, excellently written and structured.

Bill Bryson has done it again!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I liked the way that Bryson was able to take a man that little is known about, and distill down the entire spectrum of theories into a reasonable view of the type of man Shakespeare could have been.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Bryson has a good sense of humor and I did find myself chuckling a few times.

Any additional comments?

Bill Bryson's narration, as always, is great. I found myself looking for an excuse to go for a drive just so I could listen to this book more. I always like it when the author narrates their own book, it feels more personal that way.

Solid history, and very enjoying

It is challenging to write a historical book that evokes feelings in you, that makes you care about the characters. I feel he does that in this book. Bill is a great storyteller, I think he does a great job of assuming that no one is really interested in his subjects and finds a way to engage a reader to his book. Bill Bryson is the answer to anyone who comments that learning about, specifically reading about history or science is uninteresting or has no bearing on peoples lives. I have listened to this book twice since I purchased it. To start Bill Bryson reads his own book, which is something I enjoy for a history or science book, although I admit It can go bad quickly in a fiction story.
Bryson has put together a great book here. I tend to like when journalists write history books, or non-fiction books as the writing can be much more colorful than the historian, again I admit much can be lost on a journalist whereas the historian is dryer but you know it comes from authority-years of scholarship in the specific subject.
Anyway, I think the reason I read this twice was that it really put me in the world surrounding life in that era. Instead of a dry reading of facts, Bryson has put together a rich historical story. He really loves the subject and it shows. He shows us why this should be important and why it is important. Why we care about Shakespeare, everybody knows who the man was and everyone is told they should like him, but I am not sure that we really know why.
I have enjoyed almost everything I have read from Bryson and this book is no different. I will confess an ignorance about Shakespeare, and didn't think I really would be interested but I was fascinated by this book and the story of W.S. The book talks about why we know so little about him, and why we know the things we know about him. It talks about the process of book making during those times, and does its best to give you an insight on what he was really like apart from his written works.
I highly recommend this book, it is short and to the point, the writing is beautiful. And it is fun to listen to Brysons pronunciation, which has taken on a bit of an English accent.

He gets Shakespeare!

Excellent across the board. Well researched and well written. just a delightful treat! Bryson is wiity and insightful. Shakespeare, as much of a mystery as he is, really comes to life.

Excellent as always.

Bill Bryson writes and narrates this book brilliantly. This audiobook brings to life the fascinating and mysterious life of the worlds greatest writer in an engrossing, entertains, and interesting way.

Delightful Bryson on Shakespeare

I cannot recommend each and every one of Bryson's history and science books enough. His genuine interest shows through, and is infectious and contagious. Obviously an interest in Shakespeare helps in this case, but anyone with an open mind should find this informative and enjoyable.

It's a funny topic because so little is known about Shakespeare's life that Bryson is able to cover it all while still going on his classic digressions and character studies of peripheral figures in a tidy 5.5 hours.

Loved it the first time, relistened over a decade later, and loved it all over again. Easy to overlook among Bryson's oeuvre because of its size, and I wouldn't rank it as highly as One Summer or At Home or Short History, but it's absolutely worthy of 5 stars.

Very good book

Would you consider the audio edition of Shakespeare to be better than the print version?

An excellent book, as is everything from Bryson.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shakespeare?

The debunking of whether Shakespeare wrote his own stuff or not.

Any additional comments?

It is fascinating that Shakespeare's work has such an influence on our modern world and so little is actually known about him. Bryson handles this well and at the end of it... Shakespeare is still Shakespeare.

really interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes - for the entertainment value

What did you like best about this story?

Bill Bryson's expressive use of the English language

Which character – as performed by Bill Bryson – was your favorite?

I liked his opinion of Marlow

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Any additional comments?

no