The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0843  Sunday, 1 May 2005

[1]     From:   Hardy M. Cook <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, May 01, 2005
        Subj:   SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

[2]     From:   Martin Steward <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Friday, 29 Apr 2005 17:48:24 +0100
        Subj:   SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

[3]     From:   R. A. Cantrell <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Friday, 29 Apr 2005 14:15:30 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

[4]     From:   Joseph Egert <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Friday, 29 Apr 2005 19:44:03 +0000
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

[5]     From:   Tad Davis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Saturday, 30 Apr 2005 13:36:34 -0400
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Hardy M. Cook <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, May 01, 2005
Subject: Shakespeare's Lives
Comment:        SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

 >I picked up a copy of Shakespeare's Lives by S. Schoenbaum last night.
 >Can anyone recommend it?

Yes, I can.

Having been told in graduate school that there was nothing more to be
done in Shakespearean biography, Sam proceeded to make a career out of
re-inventing the genre with Shakespeare's Lives; William Shakespeare: A
Documentary Life; William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life;
William Shakespeare: Records and Images; and Shakespeare: His Life, His
English, His Theater to name a few of his books that I own.

I knew Sam casually when he taught at the University of Maryland. Once
at a party given by C. Walter Hodges, after one or two more glasses of
wine than I should have consumed, I told Sam that I looked forward to
purchasing William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life but I could not
afford it at the time. I was a struggling graduate student. A few years
later, Sam's wife Marilyn (to whom I had recommended a story that she
included in her A Shakespeare Merriment: An Anthology of Shakespearean
Humor) informed me that Sam was excited that he had just published the
Signet paperback Shakespeare: His Life, His English, His Theater. She
added that he was pleased that it cost only $4.95.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Martin Steward <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 29 Apr 2005 17:48:24 +0100
Subject: Shakespeare's Lives
Comment:        SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

"I picked up a copy of Shakespeare's Lives by S. Schoenbaum last night.
Can anyone recommend it?"

I'd say it's one of the best books on Shakespeare I've ever read, and
certainly the most entertaining.

m

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           R. A. Cantrell <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 29 Apr 2005 14:15:30 -0500
Subject: 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

 >I picked up a copy of Shakespeare's Lives by S. Schoenbaum last night.
 >Can anyone recommend it?

It is an excellent book, and if memory serves, a good prequel for Gary
Taylor's even better Re-Inventing Shakespeare.

All the Best,
R.A. Cantrell

[4]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Joseph Egert <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 29 Apr 2005 19:44:03 +0000
Subject: 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

To Mark Alexaneder on Schoenbaum's essential SHAKESPEARE'S LIVES:

Read every word. Enjoy!

Regards,
Joe Egert

[5]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Tad Davis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Saturday, 30 Apr 2005 13:36:34 -0400
Subject: 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0831 Shakespeare's Lives

Mark Alexander asks whether anyone can recommend "Shakespeare's Lives"
by S. Schoenbaum.

I can. My response to this book may be on the extreme end of the
continuum: I found it not only a great read but (quite literally) a
life-changing experience. I had majored in English as an undergrad, but
had never been introduced to methods of literary or historical research;
Schoenbaum's book was, for me, an education by example. Armed with
Schoenbaum's principles of rigorous scholarship, and tempered by his
humane attitude toward the subjects of his research, I approached
graduate school with confidence and ultimately with great success.

One point to keep in mind when you begin reading: the first section,
which contains a dry recitation of known facts, isn't representative of
the engaging and penetrating style of the book as a whole.

Tad Davis

_______________________________________________________________
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Hardy M. Cook, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

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