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)

fascinating

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned all sorts of fascinating facts about Shakespeare and his time.

Bryson

My 3rd Bryson book....all are equally engrossing. I find it hard to put down anything he writes.

Interesting and impeccably researched

A very enjoyable listen, although I feel it is best savoured in morsels as opposed to being bingeworthy. Thank you Mr Bryson.

Very enjoyable

Concise, but enjoyable biography. I particularly like the discussions dealing with the ridiculous anti-Stratfordians. Yes, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare. I thought this and Schapiro's book are the two best I have come across dealing with the authorship issue. In any case, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Shakespeare.

Bryson and Shakespeare

Bill Bryson and Shakespeare make a dynamic duo!! Bryson covers so many
facets of Shakespeare, the reader looks forward to each chapter!

Bill’s fake accent

The last chapter where he was interviewed absolutely made me cringe with his fake British accent. He’s from the Midwest. He will always have that Midwest accent. He must’ve worked really long and hard to get rid of it or bury what will always be lurking in his right brain.
I know he moved back to the United States for a while but miraculously he still uses the word “crisps“… Once a Midwestern are always a Midwestern or sorry Billy.

With that said I have listened to every single one of your books, some of them twice… But the accent?… No!!

very enjoyable!!

I downloaded this book to kill time while driving but found that I really wanted to pay more attention to it than I could while on the road. Bill Bryson's lyric humor and research of the subject makes this most enjoyable.

So much fun

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

This is a great attempt to bring to light the life of Shakespeare within the context od the times he lived in.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shakespeare?

Shakespeare's impact on the English language was probably only second to the bible. Not only the language but many of the cultural metaphors that now underpin our understanding of the world came from his art.

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

I listen to these books on long trips and I couldn't wait to get back on the road to finish it.

Bryson Rocks

Where does Shakespeare rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

Fascinating book and a bit different for this author since it is not a first person narrative. I love how he can see to the heart of a topic with cool rationality and still make it emtertaining. He's one of my favs and this book is a great listen.

Interesting, Accessible

Whether you're interested in Shakespeare the man or Shakespeare the professional, you will find this book as comprehensive a layman's study as is possible, given the limited number of recorded facts that remain of his life.

How sad that we know so little about this towering giant who did so much to shape our literature and our language.