“I think that’s one of the reasons why this book still has legs.
“(I) wanted to write a book for people who, like me, didn’t necessarily get what this writer and his books were about. “I hated Shakespeare in high school,” said Shapiro, now regarded as one of America’s leading Shakespearean scholars. James Shapiro’s 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare originally won the award in 2006, when it was known as the Samuel Johnson prize. Shapiro said it was “extraordinarily gratifying” that the book is still read and recommended, almost 20 years after it was first published. A ' must read ' for all those interested in theater,poetry, history and society in Elizabethan England.
It touches on The life of Shakespeare, his familys history, his writings and those of his contemporaries. Shapiro, professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, was awarded the 25,000-pound ($31,000) prize at a celebratory dinner in Edinburgh, Scotland. An excellent history of a particular year of life in 16th Century England. Unfortunately, this volume is basically a house of cards. James Shapiros A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 British title: 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare is not a scholarly study and should not be confused with one. It was crowned from a field of six finalists drawn from the 24 winners of the Baillie Gifford Prize, which marks its 25th edition this year. Paperback: New York: Harper Perennial, 2006, 14.95. James Shapiro’s “1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare” won the Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners award on Thursday. (Oct.LONDON (AP) - An engrossing account of “how Shakespeare became Shakespeare” has been named the greatest-ever winner of the U.K.’s leading nonfiction book prize. Still, Shapiro's shrewd discussion of what is arguably Shakespeare's greatest play, particularly its multiple versions, rounds out this accessible yet erudite work. Shapiro is in a minority in arguing for Shakespeare initially composing HamletĪt the same time Essex was plotting a coup there's little textual or documentary evidence for that dating. Having a stable venue and repertory gave Shakespeare the space to write and experiment during the turmoil created by Essex's unsuccessful military ventures in Ireland, a threatened invasion by a second Spanish Armada and, finally, Essex's disastrous return to court. Like other Shakespeare biographers, Columbia professor Shapiro notes the importance of mundane events in Shakespeare's art, starting here with the construction of the Globe Theatre and the departure of Will Kemp, the company's popular comic actor. not only spans a shift in artistic direction and theatrical taste, but also echoes the intrigues of Queen Elizabeth's court and the downfall of her favorite, the Earl of Essex. The year 1599 was crucial in the Bard's artistic evolution as well as in the historical upheavals he lived through.
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