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Title details for A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro - Available

A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

1599

by James Shapiro
Lewis Grenville
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

What accounts for Shakespeare's transformation from talented poet and playwright to one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this gripping account, James Shapiro sets out to answer this question and "succeeds where others have fallen short." (Boston Globe)

The year 1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet. It was when Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.

James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare's staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright.

The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780792744481
      • File size: 431905 KB
      • Duration: 14:59:48

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      With so little known about Shakespeare's life, it is helpful to glean evidence from the plays themselves and the vast historical context in which they were performed. The year 1599, therefore, when Shakespeare was writing four of his greatest plays, becomes a truly watershed year. Lew Grenville reads carefully and deliberately, moving so cautiously from Shapiro's text to Shakespeare's that the listener easily distinguishes between text, history, and biography. Grenville does it in so dramatic a way the listener is able to mingle the power of Shakespeare's line with what is largely, after all, Shapiro's conjecture, without sacrificing the sense of either. Thus, Grenville's reading reinforces a careful balance between criticism and biography that does justice to both. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 18, 2005
      The year 1599 was crucial in the Bard's artistic evolution as well as in the historical upheavals he lived through. That year's output—Henry V
      , Julius Caesar
      , As You Like It
      and (debatably) Hamlet
      —not only spans a shift in artistic direction and theatrical taste, but also echoes the intrigues of Queen Elizabeth's court and the downfall of her favorite, the Earl of Essex. Like other Shakespeare biographers, Columbia professor Shapiro notes the importance of mundane events in Shakespeare's art, starting here with the construction of the Globe Theatre and the departure of Will Kemp, the company's popular comic actor. Having a stable venue and repertory gave Shakespeare the space to write and experiment during the turmoil created by Essex's unsuccessful military ventures in Ireland, a threatened invasion by a second Spanish Armada and, finally, Essex's disastrous return to court. Shapiro is in a minority in arguing for Shakespeare initially composing Hamlet
      at the same time Essex was plotting a coup; there's little textual or documentary evidence for that dating. Still, Shapiro's shrewd discussion of what is arguably Shakespeare's greatest play, particularly its multiple versions, rounds out this accessible yet erudite work. 8 pages of color illus., 22 b&w illus. not seen by PW. Agent, Anne Edelstein.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      James Shapiro's blunt American tones sound raw compared to the elegant enunciations of most Shakespeare recordings, but he conveys better than anyone the vigor, bustle, and commercial necessity of so much of Shakespeare's life and work. Focusing on a single productive year, a dramatic one in English history, Shapiro has the advantage of a cohesive narrative, something missing in most Shakespeare biographies. This tight abridgment mixes critical analysis, political and stage history, and Shapiro's own wonderful readings from HENRY V, JULIUS CAESAR, AS YOU LIKE IT, and HAMLET, accompanied by a selection of scenes from their stage productions. Of these, Shapiro's readings, if not the most dulcet, remain the most persuasive and satisfying. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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