For the rest, he is the literary equivalent of an electron - forever there and not there. This is typical Bryson hyperbole, however - once we go through this slender volume we understand we do know a lot about Shakespeare: as much we can expect to know about a person who lived five centuries ago. We must remember that his iconic status came into being much later. At the time of his life, Shakespeare was just a phenomenally successful playwright. I really like Bryson - he has a wonderfully dry sense of humour and at times can have me in stitches laughing. His travel books have delighted me for years and his books on English usage have also been very amusing and fun. On 22 November 2012, Durham University officially renamed the Main Library the Bill Bryson Library for his contributions as the university's 11th chancellor (2005–2011). [40] [41] The library also has a cafe named after Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island. [42]

Nancy Dalva wrote in the New York Observer: "Right off, the author’s established his blithe and sunny tone: If a trio of witches were cooking up this book in a cauldron, there’d be a pinch of P.G. Wodehouse, a soupçon of Sir Osbert Lancaster and a cup of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One can be firm of purpose and blithe at the same time, it turns out; one can write a seriously entertaining book." [3] Bryson takes to 'Streets of Bournemouth' ". bournemouth.ac.uk. Bournemouth University. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016 . Retrieved 16 July 2018. Bill Bryson". Durham University. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010 . Retrieved 29 July 2010. From my limited experience with author biographies, I've learned that the less I know about an author, the happier I am. Thankfully (or regretfully, perhaps), I or anyone else is at little risk of having the Bard's work spoilt by too much biographical information of its creator. The aim of this slender book is to collect all of what we know about Shakespeare, which is precious little indeed.For a better assimilation of the capsule, Bryson needs to correct our modern expectations, and remind us that to know so little about a sixteenth century craftsman is nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the material from the sixteenth century has been lost. What is most miraculous about surviving in Shakespeare is that, given the frightful odds, he withstood childhood and got to be an adult. Bryson insists on the very exceptional situation that so much of his works have survived, and this is thanks to the initiative of two of WS’s friends and colleagues, Henry Condell and John Heminges, who decided to publish the First Folio posthumously. Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.) This book essentially poses more questions rather than answers; Was Shakespeare gay? Did he really wear an earring? Are any of the paintings of him actually, you know, him? How should we really spell his name? Where was he a lot of the time? What's up with only leaving your missus a second rate bed? We don't know if he ever left England. We don't know who his principal companions were or how he amused himself. His sexuality is an irreconcilable mystery. On only a handful of days in his life can we say with absolute certainty where he was. We have no record at all of his whereabouts for the eight critical years when he left his wife and three young children in Stratford and became, with almost impossible swiftness, a successful playwright in London. By the time he is mentioned in print as a playwright, in 1592, his life was already more than half over. He’s obviously an important guy – I use his words and allusions all day long, but he’s also so important that studies and books about Shakespeare tend to be a bit intense…and a bit dense.

Bryson succeeds admirably in providing a context for Shakespeare's life and works. He describes what was happening in England throughout The Bard's lifetime, and how those events and attitudes might have shaped his choices and influenced his writing. For instance, the issue of Queen Elizabeth's succession was a national preoccupation for much of Shakespeare's life. It's no surprise, then, that one quarter of his plays deal with questions of royal succession. In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson authored Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he announced that he had retired from writing books. In 2022, he recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas. [5] He has sold over 16 million books worldwide. [6] [7] Early life and education [ edit ]In the end, for me the Authorship Question has the kind of interest of one of those alternate histories: what if the South had won the Civil War, or if Hitler had won WWII? Or (not that I've seen this one, yet) what if the moon really was made of green cheese? The South didn't and Hitler didn't, and the moon isn't, and while what-if's are entertaining, they're not otherwise productive. And, in the end, did the world desperately need one more book about Shakespeare? Well, no. But am I for one happier because Bill Bryson wrote one? Yeah. I am. We also talk about his great rival, C. Marlowe. In 1598: Shakespeare joined the troop of the Chamberlain, whom he would never leave. They were actors of the king later. It specified that Shakespeare sought his ideas elsewhere for most of his plays while sublimating the text. But all the authors did that at that time. Dream of a Summer Night, Love's Labour's Lost, and The Tempest are three pieces only of his own. I was fascinated to learn that Shakespeare created new words for his time as "excellent, vast, lonely, frugal, ..." Bill Bryson receives Honorary Doctorate". University Business. 26 July 2015 . Retrieved 16 July 2018. urn:lcp:shakespeareworld00bill:lcpdf:116331f0-b740-4840-9c9f-3e51bc2a6d08 Extramarc University of Toronto Foldoutcount 0 Identifier shakespeareworld00bill Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t4mk98m3k Invoice 11 Isbn 9780061673696

We should be glad that Harper-Collins chose Bryson, whose writing style, so very limpid and fluid and clear, is entirely suitable for the making of this capsule. Made in America (UK) / Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (U.S.) Nyilván ha valaki írt egy könyvet "majdnem mindenről", és utána szükségét érzi, hogy külön Shakespeare-ről is írjon egyet, akkor Shakespeare nem tartozik a "majdnem mindenbe". Hát kösz, Shakespeare nevében. What did Shakespeare look like? We don't know. There are three portraits that are "the best". But two of them were done after his death and the other (the only one done during his lifetime) may be of someone else entirely. We don't even know how to spell his name, though it appears that neither did he. "Shakespeare" was the standard spelling of the time, but in the six surviving signatures we have from his own hand, he didn't spell it the same way twice. So, was he Willm Shakp, William Shakspēr, Wm Shakspē, William Shakspere, Willm Shakspere, or William Shakspeare? I have no idea how Shakespeare was able to write, perform, run the business of, direct, and manage his plays all at once…and still sleep

a b c "Writer Bill Bryson remembers his Iowa roots". Ames Tribune. Gannett Co. 28 October 2013 . Retrieved 31 January 2020. When I worked as a secretary on a tabloid newspaper, many years ago, journalists writing stories based only only a few facts would say they were 'cooking with gas'. This is a cheerful and entertaining read where Bryson is doing just that - so little is known about Shakespeare's life. Yet I think he does a great job. He talks about Tudor England - and the general experiences of playwrights, actors and audiences during this period. We are able to get an excellent flavour of the theatre scene in late 16th century, early 17th century London. Bryson also talks about the research and scholarship attached to Shakespeare's works - some of it an ever-expanding celebration of extraordinary minutiae. (This cheers me up. There are apparently people in this world a whole lot crazier than me.) a b "Bill Bryson breaks retirement to record Christmas audiobook". The Guardian. 27 September 2022 . Retrieved 13 December 2022. Most all Shakespeare biographers go off into pure speculation after that – but Bill Bryson instead explores his world, his work, and contemporary scholarship and weaves it all together into a still rather short book. But I’ve said that already. Duvan koji se u Londonu pojavio godinu dana posle Šekspirovog rođenja, isprva je predstavljao luksuz, ali je uskoro postao tako rasprostranjen da je u gradu krajem veka već bilo ništa manje nego sedam hiljada duvandžija. Korišten je ne samo iz zadovoljstva, već i kao lek za raznovrsne boljke, ubrajajući tu i venerične bolesti, migrenu, pa čak i neprijatan zadah, i smatrao se tako dobrom preventivom protiv kuge da su čak i decu podsticali da ga koriste. Izvesno vreme učenicima u Itonu pretila je kazna batinama ukoliko se ustanovi da zanemaruju duvan."