Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare

There are many reviews of this book which speak about the logical leaps made by Stephen Greenblatt. Greenblatt tends to extrapolate from the facts available and make certain guesses, but this is not simply the trait of the author. Greenblatt comes from the New Historical school of literary criticism. In this school, this is the norm and the narrativizing of events is also common. It is fine to criticize this approach to literary criticism, but to admonish this scholar for following his modus operandi is ridiculous. This book is not a simple biography. It is ABOUT conjecture. That being said, this book is beautifully written and well-researched. If nothing else, the reader can gain a great knowledge of the historical context in which Shakespeare came into his own. It is also fun to imagine the possibilities Greenblatt lays out for the reader. Over all, this is a fascinating read and I would recommend it to even a casual reader of Shakespeare.