Shakespeare in america book
James S Shapiro is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University who specialises in Shakespeare and the Early Modern period Shapiro has served on the faculty at Columbia University since 1985 teaching Shakespeare and other topics and he has published widely on Shakespeare and Elizabethan culture. Shakespeare in americal I wish there had been of an exploration of each piece rather than the pieces standing alone I think the context would ve allowed a greater impact but interesting nonetheless Literature Nonfiction A kind of People s History of the influence of Shakespeare on America or maybe so vice versa Literature Nonfiction Who knew that an anthology of essays poems etc touching on Shakespeare s influence in America would be so engrossing and endlessly fascinating So glad I read this Literature Nonfiction Although some critics have panned this book I enjoyed it Shapiro does his research and expertly connects historical events and how Shakespeare s works and subsequent performances were either used to prove certain beliefs of the time or later brought those beliefs into question in America I would recommend it to anyone interested in Shakespeare and those interested in American history Literature Nonfiction I worked through this weighty book for almost a year I like the type of books that lends itself to picking up and ketting go So much to like about the collection As a history buff I enjoyed seeing the work of Shakespeare through the cultural lens of various times in American history Some stories and essays really stand out like JAne Smiley s and the last short story Actors Literature Nonfiction 
This is a nice anthology from the Library of America series showing the reception and use of Shakespeare in America from colonial times to the present There s a lot here poetry essays reviews and I like that the anthology includes African American Native American and other populations not normally represented What most intrigued me was Abraham Lincoln s letter to actor James Hackett thanking Hackett for the gift of his book and discussing Lincoln s love of Shakespeare especially Macbeth. Shakespeare in america epub free A great read for the Shakespeare fan curious about the path of the Bard through American history Literature Nonfiction A rich and varied collection of poems short stories essays reviews songs letters speeches and tracing Shakespeare s influence in American life and culture from 1776 to the present Literature Nonfiction Great book for historical survey Enlightening for those who believed that Shakespeare like all things English in the New Republic had a tough go of it There were of course notable detractors like John Quincy Adams but he was largely in the minority The Shakespeare Riots in NYC theatre district appeared to have less to do with Shakespeare than the Nativist vrs English bias preference of the mob and the city s elites Shapiro and Greenblatt really make the book Highly recommended for those that wish to know about Shakespeare in America but still no substitute for reading the plays themselves Literature Nonfiction Honestly I cried on the subway reading a transcript of an interview with the creative team of West Side Story and that s all you need to know Literature Nonfiction I finally finished James Shapiro s 700 page anthology of American writing on Shakespeare It s a trek but as an American and a lover of Shakespeare the book is indispensable The Library of America has a real treasure here. Pdf shakespeare in america� The book isn t perfect In his introduction Shapiro expresses a reluctance to excerpt sections from longer works and thus leaves out for example relevant sections of Huckleberry Finn That omission alone is downright criminal And despite this proposed reluctance Shapiro does excerpt from longer novels poetry collections and the like I frankly think this stated aversion to excerpting should have been avoided in a few significant cases. Shakespeare in america book With a few exceptions the selections are marvelously chosen Shapiro pays careful attention to issues of race gender and class making sure to include selections from a very wide range of authors from many American backgrounds from American Indians to immigrants from famous names American Presidents like John Adams and John Quincy Adams notable authors like Washington Irving Edgar Allan Poe Ralph Waldo Emerson Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes to critics academics an anonymous author and contemporary poets. Shakespeare in american accent Not every work included spoke to me I was sadly bored to tears by Henry James s The Birthplace 1903 and a few others left little impression But for the most part the works anthologized were excellent and I was delighted to read most of them for the first time. Shakespeare in america epub online It s hard to label highlights since so most were superb But a few that just blew me out of the water were an anonymous Account of the Terrific and Fatal Riot at the New York Astor Place Opera House 1849 John Wilkes Booth s Letter to the National Intelligencer 1865 on the eve of his assassination of Lincoln Toshio Mori s Japanese Hamlet set in my native Bay Area of California 1939 the uncanny stories Cora Lee by Gloria Naylor 1982 and Actors by Cynthia Ozick 1998 and the closing piece of the book excerpts from Jen Bervin s poem NETS 2004. Shakespeare in american sign language The central piece though and perhaps the raison d etre for this volume is George F Whicher s 1931 essay for the Atlantic Monthly Shakespeare for America Describing the creation of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D. Kindle shakespeare in america series Whicher gives a wonderful history in miniature of Shakespeare in America to 1931 The essay is smack dab in the middle of the book highlighting its importance and also highlighting the fact that about half of the works anthologized predate the 20th century and half come from 1901 to the 2004 the book goes not to the present day but to about a decade ago. Shakespeare in americai in Also right in the center of the book are a ton of wonderful illustrations from Ira Aldridge as Othello c 1854 to Joseph Papp at the construction of the Delacotre Theater in Central Park in 1961. Shakespeare in americade 2023 I heartily recommend this book I ve actually given it as a gift once already before finishing it to my dad as a birthday present and I went to the Public Forum at the Delacorte in which notable artists read sections of the book along with some narration by Shapiro So I m a fan but justifiably so. Shakespeare festivals in america My only caveat is that if you re not that into Shakespeare or not from America or interested in American studies this book probably isn t for you but my guess is you knew that anyway Literature Nonfiction
The history of Shakespeare in America writes James Shapiro in his introduction to this groundbreaking anthology is also the history of America itself From our beginnings as a nation Shakespeare has been a central inescapable part of our literary heritage a figure so widely revered that as Tocqueville noted in the 1830s there was hardly a pioneer s hut without a volume or two Shakespeare in America reveals how for over two centuries the plays have been a prism through which crucial American issues revolution slavery war social justice were refracted debated and understood Shapiro traces the rich and surprising story of how Americans made Shakespeare their own through a wide range of genres poetry fiction essays plays memoirs songs speeches letters movie reviews and comedy routines and a remarkable roster of American writers from Emerson Hawthorne Melville Mark Twain and Henry James to James Agee John Berryman Pauline Kael Isaac Asimov Adrienne Rich and Jane Smiley American statesmen and presidents from John Adams to Bill Clinton in a foreword written for this volume offer their own testimonies to Shakespeare s profound and enduring influence The anthology also tracks the multitude of ways in which American theater and film have been indelibly marked by Shakespeare actors from Charlotte Cushman and Edwin Booth to John Barry Paul Robeson and Marlon Brando reinterpret Shakespeare for each new era the legendary productions of New York s Yiddish theater are evoked in Cynthia Ozick s story Actors in the Depression years Orson Welles revolutionizes Shakespearean performance with his landmark productions of Macbeth and Julius Caesar the creators of Kiss Me Kate and West Side Story write Shakespeare into the history of the classic American musical theater and Joseph Papp renewing a once flourishing popular taste for the plays establishes a New York tradition with Shakespeare in the Park Internationally acclaimed Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro introduces each piece with a lively and informative headnote to guide the reader through the fascinating record of our 250 year long engagement with Shakespeare and his works from the perennial interest in the birthplace at Stratford upon Avon to the uniquely American obsession with the question of who really wrote the plays and supplements the texts with a sixteen page illustration insert Shakespeare in America An Anthology from the Revolution to Now..C
