Part storyteller, part “best professor you’ve ever had,” he takes the reader on a journey. Shapiro’s style, to give a brief anecdote of British history, then make a sidelong connection to Shakespeare and/or an element in the text, is wonderful. Reading the first chapter (and prologue), I was hooked. If I had consumed it differently, I might actually say “great.” Lemme ‘splain. If all of that seems rather ominous, rest easy. I suppose the same can be said of titles. You know, they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. After the rave reviews it received in the press, how could I not? Especially since I knew the play of the title was just around the corner on this very blog (the past has become present, as we enter King Lear this month). Back in September of last year, I picked up a copy of The Year of Lear : Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro.
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