- Paperback: 86 pages
- Publisher: Forgotten Books (15 Oct 2008)
- ISBN-10: 1606800140
- ISBN-13: 978-1606800140
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,242,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Is Shakespeare Dead? is a short, semi-autobiographical work by American humorist Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. It explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject.
The original publication spans only 150 pages, and the formatting leaves roughly half of each page blank. The spine is thread bound. It was published in April of 1909 by Harper & Brothers, twelve months before Mark Twain's death.
In the book, Clemens clearly states his opinion that Shakespeare of Stratford was not the author of the canon, and lends tentative support to the Baconians. The book opens with a scene from his early adulthood, where he was trained to be a steamboat pilot by an elder who often argued with him over the controversy. (Quote from wikipedia.org)
About the Author
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens... better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations. During his lifetime, Clemens became a friend to presidents, artists, leading industrialists and European royalty.
Clemens enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain 'the father of American literature.' (Quote from wikipedia.org)
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Cl
The original publication spans only 150 pages, and the formatting leaves roughly half of each page blank. The spine is thread bound. It was published in April of 1909 by Harper & Brothers, twelve months before Mark Twain's death.
In the book, Clemens clearly states his opinion that Shakespeare of Stratford was not the author of the canon, and lends tentative support to the Baconians. The book opens with a scene from his early adulthood, where he was trained to be a steamboat pilot by an elder who often argued with him over the controversy. (Quote from wikipedia.org)
About the Author
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens... better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations. During his lifetime, Clemens became a friend to presidents, artists, leading industrialists and European royalty.
Clemens enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain 'the father of American literature.' (Quote from wikipedia.org)
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Cl
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Audio Download
Incredibly insightful document by Mark Twain from 1909 - covering the full spectrum of the Shakespeare Authorship Question relating to the Baconian theory as an alternative... However the List of Authors so far includes these Luminaries: 10. Sir Fulke Greville 9. Emilia Lanier (Dark Lady) 8. The Group Thinktank theory 7. Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland 6. William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby 5. Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke 4. Sir Henry Neville 3. Christopher Marlowe 2. Sir Francis Bacon 1. Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (new Anonymous film) and of course 'Will i am Shake speare' a novel name indeed!
The Baconian Theory since Ignatius Donnelley's massive 2 book thesis The Great Cryptogram (1887), is the encompassing theory of who and how and why the whole concept may have happened. Mark Twain must have read this theory well - as the real 'facts' of the 'Shakespeare as author' story are so mind blowing they stretch the imagination - to the point of becoming so loose as to be ridiculous beyond measure and open a floodgate of questions. Once a serious contemplation is done, the Shakespeare Agenda appears to be an insightful political thinktank program to deliberately widen the scope and spread of the British language and British patriotism thru plays questioning corruption in an early England - based at the time in a muddied water of European languages and political dissent, in an aim to gain a hold of common people sensibilities and solidify a bickering quartered nation under one Elizabeth Tudor - which it succeeded in doing very well...
With Sir William Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Dee and others at her side - who knows what else she was up to!!
Richard Henzel reads this play so well you feel like you are at Mark Twain's side listening to him turning the pages in contemplation ... remarkable experience. High marks.
The Baconian Theory since Ignatius Donnelley's massive 2 book thesis The Great Cryptogram (1887), is the encompassing theory of who and how and why the whole concept may have happened. Mark Twain must have read this theory well - as the real 'facts' of the 'Shakespeare as author' story are so mind blowing they stretch the imagination - to the point of becoming so loose as to be ridiculous beyond measure and open a floodgate of questions. Once a serious contemplation is done, the Shakespeare Agenda appears to be an insightful political thinktank program to deliberately widen the scope and spread of the British language and British patriotism thru plays questioning corruption in an early England - based at the time in a muddied water of European languages and political dissent, in an aim to gain a hold of common people sensibilities and solidify a bickering quartered nation under one Elizabeth Tudor - which it succeeded in doing very well...
With Sir William Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Dee and others at her side - who knows what else she was up to!!
Richard Henzel reads this play so well you feel like you are at Mark Twain's side listening to him turning the pages in contemplation ... remarkable experience. High marks.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Compelling!
26 Oct 2010
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Twain critiques spectacularly--as usual, in this piece. I found it to be incredibly interesting and convincing, as Twain believes Shakespeare did not, in fact, write those plays and poems.
I would also recommend, by Twain: "1601", "In Defense of Harriet Shelley", and
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"
I would also recommend, by Twain: "1601", "In Defense of Harriet Shelley", and
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"
Badly made...
18 Nov 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a book worth owning but make sure you purchase it from a different publishing house. Kessinger Publishing will sell you a hardcover book for $24 that is so badly made that you can see the glue holding the binding together on page one. I expect a better quality from a hardcover than i would in a paperback and yet this hardcover is so cheaply made that the average paperback would put it to shame.
Now for the material itself. This is not Twain's wittiest of works nor even his best written, but I relish every line of it nonetheless as he builds a case advancing the notion that just perhaps the works of Shakespeare are not written by Shakespeare at all. Pen name? Sure, especially if you suspect the real author to be by Bacon instead but Twain goes about piecing together the sparse information concerning the great bard and the inconsistencies of what is known sniffing out what can only be a conspiracy to rival that of 9/11. But this is not the beauty of this work because after all what difference does it make who wrote the great works, shakespeare will always continue to be 'shakespeare', what Twain seems to be exploring is the ability for one to address what is known to be a 'fact', accepted truth or Holy Cow. Or as he wrote "I am aware that when even the brightest of mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never b e possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast doubt upon the validity of that superstition." All notions he suggests we get second-hand "we reason none of them out for ourselves".
Now for the material itself. This is not Twain's wittiest of works nor even his best written, but I relish every line of it nonetheless as he builds a case advancing the notion that just perhaps the works of Shakespeare are not written by Shakespeare at all. Pen name? Sure, especially if you suspect the real author to be by Bacon instead but Twain goes about piecing together the sparse information concerning the great bard and the inconsistencies of what is known sniffing out what can only be a conspiracy to rival that of 9/11. But this is not the beauty of this work because after all what difference does it make who wrote the great works, shakespeare will always continue to be 'shakespeare', what Twain seems to be exploring is the ability for one to address what is known to be a 'fact', accepted truth or Holy Cow. Or as he wrote "I am aware that when even the brightest of mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never b e possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast doubt upon the validity of that superstition." All notions he suggests we get second-hand "we reason none of them out for ourselves".
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