How Shakespeare Changed Everything
Overview
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. 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.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780061965548
- ISBN-10: 0061965545
- Publisher: Harper Perennial
- Publish Date: August 2012
- Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.35 pounds
- Page Count: 224
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