The Shakespeare Miscellany

by David Crystal, Ben Crystal

In the best tradition of sound-bites and pithily entertaining witticism, the authors gather together essential facts and fascinating insights about William Shakespeare--probably the most famous writer of all time--and the world in which he lived and worked.

Genres: Shakespeare, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Literary Criticism, Biography

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2005

About the author

David Crystal works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in 1941, he spent his early years in Holyhead. His family moved to Liverpool in 1951, and he received his secondary schooling at St Mary's College. He read English at University College London (1959-62), specialised in English language studies, did some research there at the Survey of English Usage under Randolph Quirk (1962-3), then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at Bangor, then at Reading. He published the first of his 100 or so books in 1964, and became known chiefly for his research work in English language studies, in such fields as intonation and stylistics, and in the application of linguistics to religious, educational and clinical contexts, notably in the development of a range of linguistic profiling techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He held a chair at the University of Reading for 10 years, and is now Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. These days he divides his time between work on language and work on internet applications.

source: http://www.davidcrystal.com/

Reviews

[Annabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Crystal uses his wit and humour alongside his fantastic wealth of knowledge and academic style.
This text is full of lots of interesting facts - 'miscellany' is exactly what it is! A perfect 'dip in' book for lovers of Shakespeare. The text does not cover Shakespeare's plays, but it is actually quite refreshing to read about Shakespeare, without worrying about the texts.

I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Shakespeare, or indeed anyone who enjoys Crystal! His signature style once again wins here.

[Paul Sugarman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book which includes much useful information and many fun facts. Essential for any Shakespeare library.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim volume compiles statistics on various aspects of Shakespeare’s writings and includes a multiplicity of quotes about the plays, acting, and Shakespeare himself … wide-ranging in scope …

[Mrs. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole family has been enjoying this collection of facts and observations as “bathroom reading” for months now. I think that I alone have been utilizing the sewn-in bookmark to read it all the way through. One of my favorite entries regards The Original Shakespeare Company, which endeavors to recreate the performance conditions of Shakespeare’s time by using original texts, rehearsing only briefly on the day of a performance, working from cue texts (an actor’s own part with cues, rather than a complete score), and an onstage “book-keeper” to signal the beginning and end of scenes, and to prompt the actors. I think it would be great fun for our local community theater's Shakespeare group to perform a play this way! I know I would love to see it!

[Rozonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Bardophiles like me, absolutely delightful. For the rest, a mixture of anecdotes and facts about Shakespeare at every level-from the types of verse used by Shakespeare, his use of "thou" and "you" or the word that appears the most in his plays to what you get if you search "Schwarzenegger Shakespeare" in Google or the weirdest versions of the plays in theatre and film. And all mixed up with no order whatsoever. Yes, it's as fun as it sounds.

[Lisa Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was jam packed with interesting information related to Shakespeare and his plays. It's not really a book you can sit down to read cover to cover because your head would be spinning from information overload. I sort of used it as a restroom book if you know what I mean. Taken a bit at a time, it is very interesting and contains lots of facts that I did not know. If you love Shakespeare, then this is the book for you!

[Monic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat less interesting than I had hoped. Be warned that this is miscellany about Shakespeare, and not about his texts exclusively (as I would have preferred). There is a lot of dithering about on the subject of his siblings, home life, movements across the UK, school years etc. However, the map of all the settings of his plays, as well as line counts for different characters etc were enjoyable.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A melange of all things Shakespeare...life, plays, poems, acting, theaters, etc. Included is a sizeable index to relocat entries such as "False Friends." These are words defined in "modern sense" usage followed by "obsolete sense" with examples from various works. One entry notes that play goers were provided with vegetables and fruit to throw at the actors. Audience involvement I guess.

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Booksale purchase, and mighty expensive at P150. And a delight to read. It made me miss my reading group, whom I read Hamlet and Julius Caesar with. Some of the trivia here I already knew, thanks to that group. This may just be the book that jumpstarts/revives the group to regroup. And tackle a certain Scottish play...

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting to prepare for a course in the history of the English language that I will be teaching next year and began with this book. It has provided me with a good base to start learning about Shakespeare language next.

[Zachary Waltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains a number of interesting trivia that's certainly interesting and at times insightful. It includes a collection of false friends, i.e. words that have changed their meaning from Shakespeare's time. A misunderstanding of these will dislead your reading. Here is the collection:

[Kayla]

LOVE IT!!! it sounds like something that would be incredibly boring to some people but i find it to be one of the most interesting nonfiction books i've ever read.

[Tom Delise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chock full of great information, facts, and statistics for all things Shakespeare.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun Shakespeare facts, in no particular order. Full of quotes you'll want to mark with a post-it for later use!

[Rachel Heeter]

It was a great book.

[Helen Mears · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful feast of facts and gobbets.

[Emily Weathers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good resource.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"i'll take 'random tidbits of information from shakespeare's life and works' for a thousand, alex."

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. This is how I learned I am not a miscellany kind of guy.