How Shakespeare Changed Everything - Softcover

Marche, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061965545 ISBN 13: 9780061965548

Publisher: HarpPeren, 2012

Synopsis

Did you know the name Jessica was first used in "The Merchant of Venice"? Or that Freud's idea of a healthy sex life came from Shakespeake? 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, including these fascinating tidbits: Shakespeare coined over 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. 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 writer of all time.

About this title

Review:

"An ambitious and entertaining new book...[How Shakespeare Changed Everything] explores the many, often unsuspected ways in which the great playwright shaped just about every facet of contemporary culture." --Maria Popova, BrainPickings.com

From the Back Cover:

Shakespeare is everywhere

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, including these 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 writer of all time.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarpPeren
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0061965545
• ISBN 13: 9780061965548
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224