REVIEW: HOW SHAKESPEARE CHANGED EVERYTHING by Stephen Marche

This is the perfect little handbook for the English major, or literary wit in your life.  Simple and compact, it is a compilation of interesting facts surrounding the myth and mystery of William Shakespeare.  Author Stephen Marche notes that when he embarked on his PhD dissertation, "I chose Shakespeare because I thought he would never bore me.  And I was right."

This book seems like a light study of all those little crumbs he picked up along the way, but had no place in an official academic paper.  His strongest moments are when he notes an anomaly, or finds a pattern and lets it lead him into something new.  The story of how starlings came to be in Central Park (and now North America) is one such discovery.  

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Marche's assessment of certain themes is also eye-opening.  In particular his chapter on youth, specifically the section about Ophelia, is lovely -- although, as an English major myself, I must politely disagree on his stance on Ophelia's state of mind.  I do agree with his notion that it's a bit weird that Queen Gertrude tells us all about Ophelia's death, as if she watched but did nothing to help her.  I've always attributed that to a necessary solution to a staging problem.  The point is, he brings up ideas is an easy manner and makes one take a second look -- or in some cases a first look -- at how one writer influenced the future. 

Paul Robeson as Othello

Other sections are not as engaging.  He notes that a Nazi pamphlet entitled Shakespeare - A Germanic Writer was circulated and there were more productions of Shakespeare plays in Germany in 1936 than in the rest of the world combined.  But Marche fails to comment on this.  Was it because the artistic left saw little else they could perform - and survive?  Was it is a commentary to the dangers of the rising party?  What did the Nazis see in Shakespeare that they felt could be used to their advantage?  Marche's short paragraph raises many questions but answers none.  Though this book is by no means intended to be an academic tract, it could have withstood a bit more fleshing out in parts such as this.  

Anne Hathaway's cottage, most likely the wife of William Shakespeare.

Thankfully, Marche only briefly goes over the many questions and conspiracies surrounding Shakespeare's identity and biography.  These are not relevant in this particular case, as the writing itself is what is being analyzed.  Overall, the book is very enjoyable and certainly accessible to anyone with a vague interest in Shakespeare, or simply in modern culture.  

Many thanks to the folks at HarperCollins for the review copy.

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ISBN: 9780061965531; ISBN10: 0061965537 

Imprint: Harper 

On Sale: 5/10/2011

Format: Hardcover

Trimsize: 5 x 7 1/4

Pages: 224; $21.99

Ages: 18 and Up

REVIEW: THE WHITE DEVIL by Justin Evans

I can't be sure how I became entirely sucked into this story.  Perhaps it was the easy, seductive charm of the setting; or the way the era was not obvious at the outset; maybe how it took on the genres of ghost story, coming-of-age tale and historical fiction all at once.

It is set in the exclusive Harrow on the Hill boarding school, just outside of London.  Alma mater for Byron as well as other fabled graduates, it becomes a torturous last chance for a young American studying abroad.  Escaping his own troubled past, our narrator seeks some sort of firm footing and perhaps a bit of acceptance.  Instead he finds himself the victim of an angry spirit's torments. 

It seems the ghost of Lord Byron's jilted lover has turned his sights on the main character and those that surround him.  With a few faithful friends and professors, they seek to sooth the phantom and release themselves, and the school, from his scornful mischief.  

It is enjoyable to explore Byron's past through the eyes of this author and his characters.  His imaginative story is based on numerable biographical facts.  Byron did attend this school, there is a play called The White Devil, Byron did have a close friend, who did die of tuberculosis and Byron did leave England suddenly in 1809.  (Read more from author Justin Evans here.)  The weaving of all of these unusual circumstances into a ghost story would have been too much for any author to resist.  Luckily they were picked up by Justin Evans who clearly enjoyed letting his imagination wander the underground chasms disguised by time.

   

All in all, the book is great fun.  The point-of-view changes fairly seamlessly.  The narrative style of inner thoughts that break in is particularly well-used.  What is not perfect in every aspect (sometimes the villainy of the Snape-like headmaster gets a little overdone), it more that makes up for in chills and creativity. 

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Thanks to the folks at Harper for the review copy.

ISBN: 9780061728273; ISBN10: 0061728276

Imprint: Harper

On Sale: 5/10/2011

Format: Hardcover

Trimsize: 6 x 9; Pages: 384; $24.99

Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:FIC031000

REVIEW: POX - AN AMERICAN HISTORY by Michael Willrich

I remember when I asked my mom about the round, dappled scar on her upper arm.  She said it was from a vaccination as a child.  I didn't have one.  All of my shots were just that - shots.  No scars, no lasting pain.  After a small sting, a bandaid and a sticker, it was mostly forgotten.  I could return to the playground and earn a real scrape.

Author Michael Willrich explores a not-so-distant past when smallpox was a scourge among the industrialized American population.  It was either a deadly or a horribly disfiguring disease that traveled easier between victims.  In a time when public health and sanitation were coming to the forefront, smallpox was a key battleground for health officers and politicians alike.  

It might seem an unlikely subject for an entire book, yet it is incredibly riveting.  Not only does it explore the medical tendencies of the virus, but how germ theory, diagnostic practices and treatments evolved around this virulent illness.  Willrich describes smallpox eradication from a colonialist perspective with the American possession of Puerto Rico and the Philippines as well as the widespread use in armies as early as the American Revolution.  The history of vaccination (including the etymology) and early 20th century medicine versus "snake-oil" peddlers, are also scrutinized.  The very first pharmaceutical companies (some still in business today) sprung up around the surge in vaccinations.  (In fact, the Barnes Foundation, featured in The Art of the Steal, was set-up by Albert Barnes, who made his fortune by inventing a mild silver nitrate solution, marketed as Argyrol. His collection of art remains unparalleled.)

Possibly most relevant to today's readers is the anti-vaccination movement which was as prevalent as the disease itself.  These activists objected to compulsory vaccination on the grounds of personal liberty and religious freedom, but based their arguments largely on unsafe vaccine and secondary infections that were fairly common.  This controversy is not unlike those surrounding childhood vaccinations by parents who either believe in a natural immune system, or contend vaccines cause autism (this has since been proven untrue and the study that suggested it has been debunked as falsified).


Yet despite advances in modern science, there is a psychological skepticism that lingers in the American psyche.  Willrich thoroughly and perceptively pieces together a history that drew class and ethnic lines, despite the disease's inability to recognize such superficial differences.  It is far more than a book about a virus.  It provides perspective about where we have come from -- and possibly where we are headed.
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ISBN 9781594202865 | 400 pages | 31 Mar 2011 | The Penguin Press | 6.14 x 9.25in | 18 - AND UP


Thanks to the folks at Penguin Press for the review copy.

Author photo

Hear Michael Willrich on NPR.