Uncool History - Will of the World

Jeff's Uncool history series continues with a look at William Shakespeare.

"Will of the World" by Stephen Greenblatt

As a kid and high schooler, I was particularly averse to anything having to do with William Shakespeare. It wasn't until my later years at good ol' James Madison University that I took my required Shakespeare classes from Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen that I started to develop an appreciation and love for the work. Willy Shakes was a real literary genius. Not in the Hollywood sense of "you're a genius" but in the Einstein sense of "how could a human do that?"

Anyway, I picked up this book a couple of years ago because I'm always fascinated about how regular dudes become super-human dudes. This book is an interesting look at the world that Willy Shakes probably grew up in. I don't think it sheds much light on how he became what he became (that's probably an impossibility anyway) but it certainly paints a picture of the English countryside during those interesting times.

Happy birthday, Will...

P.S. Read some Shakespeare!