How Shakespeare Changed Everything
Paperback – Illustrated, August 7, 2012
HarperCollins · Paperback · August 7, 2012
Nearly four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare permeates our everyday lives: from the words we speak to the teenage heartthrobs we worship to the political rhetoric spewed by the twenty-four-hour news cycle.
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- Who it’s for
- A brisk, playful look at how Shakespeare’s words and work keep turning up in modern life.
- Genres
- Shakespeare Studies, Books & Reading, Tudor & Elizabethan Britain
- Published
- HarperCollins, August 7, 2012
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Nearly four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare permeates our everyday lives: from the words we speak to the teenage heartthrobs we worship to the political rhetoric spewed by the twenty-four-hour news cycle. In the pages of this wickedly clever little book, Esquire columnist Stephen Marche uncovers the hidden influence of Shakespeare in our culture.
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Some fascinating tidbits: - Shakespeare coined more than 1,700 words, including hobnob, glow, lackluster, and dawn. - Paul Robeson's 1943 performance as Othello on Broadway was a seminal moment in black history. - Tolstoy wrote an entire book about Shakespeare's failures as a writer. - In 1936, the Nazi Party tried to claim Shakespeare as a Germanic writer. - Without Shakespeare, the book titles Infinite Jest, The Sound and the Fury, and Brave New World wouldn't exist. - The name Jessica was first used in The Merchant of Venice. - Freud's idea of a healthy sex life came directly from the Bard. Stephen Marche has cherry-picked the sweetest and most savory historical footnotes from Shakespeare's work and life to create this unique celebration of the greatest bard of all time.
The Bard, Everywhere
A brisk, playful look at how Shakespeare’s words and work keep turning up in modern life.
Come here for
- Shakespeare’s fingerprints on everyday language and culture
- Literary history with a sly, surprising edge
Expect
- Historical footnotes spanning politics, performance, and popular culture
- A celebration that treats the Bard’s influence as anything but dusty
Where it sits
| Shakespeare Studies | 89% |
|---|---|
| Tudor & Elizabethan Britain | 19% |
| Books & Reading | 18% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Western European History
- Studying History
- Civilizations
- Authors
- Stephen Marche
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- August 7, 2012
- Format
- Paperback
- Reading lane
- Western European History