Shakespeare (2007) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“An interesting, concise look at Shakespeare; who he was and his impact on the world. Bryson is always an enjoyable narrator, and that holds true in this book.”

• Rated 3 stars

“This was my second time of reading. Entertaining enough. Canny that he manages to write a book about someone we know so little about!”

• Rated 3 stars

“Plucked this one off the library's shelf, looking to be a more well-rounded reader and human being person, for afterall, "a fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." T'was goodly!”

• Rated 0 stars

“Dit is een goed en leuk boek. Aanrader. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“Though Shakespeare was undoubtedly prolific, very little is know about his personal life, People are not even sure he wrote all, or any, of the plays attributed to him. He is a mystery shrouded in an enignma. This very readable biography is part history of the man, part history of the time, and part history of his works. It's a good start for anyone studying the Bard.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Very little is known about Shakespeare's biography, so Bryson faced a tough challenge when contributing to the Harper's Eminent Lives Series. But, with his usual aplomb and eye to the market, he has risen to the challenge, consulting the leading US and UK scholars (Kermode, Schoenbaum, Wells, ...) and producing an enjoyable and readable account of the life and times of William Shakespeare -- 'whoever he was', as the book ends. Bryson has no truck with the theories that Shakespeare was a front for someone else and takes joy in noting that among the proponents of rival claimants were individuals named Looney, Silliman and Battey. This aligns with a very healthy scepticism about all sorts of theories and speculations that have inevitably arisen around a figure about whom we have so few factual data, all presented with humour and wit that had me smiling and sometimes laughing out loud on almost every page. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Bill Bryson gives us a short popular history of Will Shakespeare. I enjoyed the ancillary descriptions of life in Elizabethan London. I am also struck by how little that we know of the master of the English play. What we do have is the result more of luck than anything else. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“I picked up this book after seeing Bill Bryson at Portland Arts and Lectures. It's an enjoyable and interesting read.”

• Rated 0 stars

“An excellent view on why how little we actually know about the man as well as a good walk through of daily life in 16th century London.”

• Rated 0 stars

“A well written (of course: it's Bryson) and short history of what we know about The Bard. It's written in Bryson's personal style, injected with dry humor, and a very interesting read.”