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)

Too little...

I have always been a fan of Bill Bryson, but this was his first book to disappoint... The simple truth is there is too little to know about Shakespeare to justify the book. This is, of course, really too bad as I would really love to know more about it.

That being said, Bryson is fabulous as usual, his writing is terrific, and so is his narration. In certain parts you can hear he is having trouble not laughing, causing me too laugh out loud myself, attracting strange looks from people on the subway.

Over all - The subject matter gets 3 stars (for while it was interesting, as I said above, the actual facts were few and far between). However, the writing gets five stars as usual, thus garnishing a four star review.

Quick and light bio of Shakespeare

If you could sum up Shakespeare in three words, what would they be?

Light, educational, well-read.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

N/A

Which scene was your favorite?

N/A

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

No.

Any additional comments?

Bill Bryson is a good reader. The book itself is more light a connection of Shakespeare trivia than a scholarly book, but it is entertaining enough.

Great book!

Such a fun, pithy, and worthwhile read! I love everything from Bill Bryson, and this was a wonderful addition to all that I have already learned from him.

Masterful Synopsis of Shakespeare’s Life

If you feel that you only have the patience for one book about Shakespeare the man, this is the one book. Bill Bryson has managed to capture everything we know about Shakespeare in a craftily written portrait of a man we seemingly know little. His book has managed to fold in a thousand details and objectively identified conjecture, disposed of the myths all without losing a trace of the intrigue that is Shakespeare. You will be glad you read this book. You’ll very like want to read more about the world’s greatest playwright, but you’ll never find a better economy of words on this topic. Thoroughly satisfying.

Fascinating, though not riviting, read.

So many interesting and conflicting "facts" about Shakespeare. I had no idea there was so much controversy over Shakespeare's life. I enjoy reading historical fiction from this time period, and I liked the way Bryson included the greater English history in the Shakespeare history.

Thank you Bill.

Thank you for making a speciality subject so accessible to us non specialists.
Love peace happiness and health

Bryson does it again...

Bryson admits up front that we know practically nothing about Shakespeare, but proceeds to tell what we do know, and how we know it, about the Bard himself, London, and the theatre world at the time. And he does it in classic Bryson style, finding the humor in everything.

And clearly, he's having fun reading it. He should... it's a fun book.

Short, sweet, and accurate

This book — part travelogue, part collection of interviews — is actually a handy little biography of Shakespeare. Bryson is an amateur when it comes to Shakespeare, but as a writer he's a consummate professional: he's read the right books (Samuel Schoenbaum, G Blakemore Evans) and he's talked to the right people (Stanley Wells, Georgiana Ziegler), and he’s assembled the results in an entertaining and accessible way. He narrates his own book in a charming, maybe slightly less than conversational voice.

One of the things I like about the book is that brief as it is, it doesn't focus relentlessly on Shakespeare alone. Bryson takes the time to look to the right and the left of his subject, and his book is full of fascinating and little-known details about the period. (Little known by me, at any rate.) The last chapter is a cheerful takedown of the misguided idea that someone other than the glover’s son from Stratford wrote the plays. The book concludes with a brief interview with the always-enthusiastic author. (My favorite question: “Do you think we'll ever find the play Love’s Labours Won?”)

Short and sweet, accurate, deeply interested in his subject.... if you want to extend your knowledge of Shakespeare, start here.

Making Shakespeare Interesting

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

Anyone who would like to know more about Shakespeare, but not be bored by the lesson, will like this audio book. Bill Bryson absolutely brings his words to life. I listened to the audio book twice. You'll get to learn more about events that happened during Shakespeare's life, his competitors, the Globe Theater, document preservation, and more.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that the story cleared up misconceptions about who Shakespeare really was. He was not any of the proposed imposters - Bacon, Marlowe, etc.

What does Bill Bryson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love his voice. He's spent a lot of time outside of the U.S.; therefore, his accent is a blend of British English, Australian, and American.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I will likely listen to it again.

Fascinating discourse

Fascinating discourse on an enigmatic character in a very interesting age. William Shakespeare was clearly William Shakespeare.