Get Thee to a Nunnery: A Pair of Shakespearean Divertimentos [Hardcover]

David R. Slavitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

These two novellas are prose divertimentos, creating intellectual fun in the playful way they juggle themes, characters, plots, and ideas. In “Lorenzo's Book,” the priest who aided the star-crossed lovers in Romeo and Juliet tells the tale the way it really happened. The action is driven by the selfish plots of a clever Rosaline, a dull and clumsy Romeo, a spirited and lustful Juliet, and a bawdily Machiavellian Lorenzo, whose manipulations of the others change as rapidly as his goals, which range from becoming Cardinal of Venice to having Juliet for himself. In “Luke’s Book,” Measure for Measure is relocated to the Old West. The New Mexico territory serves as the backdrop for this quick-witted musing on the values of the western frontier.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Get thee to a nunnery!" Hamlet advises Ophelia. "Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" Sex and sin are much on Slavitt's (The Cliff) mind as he retells two of Shakespeare's plays?Measure for Measure and Romeo and Juliet?to explore timeless patterns of attraction and deceit. The two novella-length pieces, "Luke's Book" and "Lorenzo's Book," not only use Shakespeare's plots, but also employ Machiavellian storytelling that subverts the original story with a new twist. "Luke's Book" transplants the Renaissance Vienna-set problem play to a town in the American West named Hotdog, a place that offers just the minimal services: a bath, a drink, a decent meal, supplies and a whorehouse. Luke (Lucio in the original) narrates a twisted plot involving the nun Isabel, who is told that she can save her brother's life if she consents to sex with a town official who has mounted a campaign to outlaw extramarital affairs. In "Lorenzo's Book," Friar Laurence of the original becomes a Medici-like schemer; Romeo is a boor and a dolt; Juliet an unformed child whose hold on the male mind is a mystery; Rosaline a political schemer and illegitimate daughter of the Friar; her Prince a wimp and the Friar himself true neither to the church nor to the women he claims to love. Employing contemporary vernacular, this pair of devilishly clever "divertimentos" ponders, with Lorenzo, the age-old problem and paradox: "How is the double man to be true to himself?" in a text that doubles as intellectual exercise. (Apr.) FYI: The author is a classics scholar whose translations include Aeschylus, Seneca, Virgil and the Psalms of David.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The prolific Slavitt, equally at home with quirky mainline writing (The Lives of the Saints, 1989. o.p.), academic send-up (The Cliff, LJ 8/94), poetry, and Latin translation, here offers up a "Pair of Shakespearean Divertimentos." The first sets Measure for Measure in the emerging Western town of Hotdog, NM (a new "Vienna"Aget it?). Lucio is Luke, a wisecracking philosophical Easterner just arrived on the scene as Duke outlaws the local brothel, takes off, and reappears in religious garb that fools no one; meanwhile, Claude (Claudio) is arrested for fornication. The second piece relates Romeo and Juliet through Lorenzo, a cynical and venal priest, with Juliet cast as a Lolita (sort of) and Romeo "that galoot, that oaf, that ape." Both treatments are wryly irresistible new versions of Shakespeare's originals. How much a knowledge of the two plays is necessary for appreciation is open to debate, but you'll never see the plays the same way again after this. Highly recommended.ARobert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Catbird Press (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945774419
• ISBN-13: 978-0945774419
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,181,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart writing and laugh-out-loud humor., July 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Get Thee to a Nunnery: A Pair of Shakespearean Divertimentos (Hardcover)

Slavitt is at ease with language, Shakespeare, and human nature. I couldn't put this one down, not because I was on the edge of my seat, but because I kept falling off it laughing. Philosophy and Sociology were never as much fun as they are in this little volume. By the way, dust off the dictionary before you start this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get thee to this book--it's hilarious!, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Get Thee to a Nunnery: A Pair of Shakespearean Divertimentos (Hardcover)

Don't know any Shakespeare? Don't worry. Even if your education was as incomplete as mine, you can still follow along and enjoy these two stories. The writing is witty, sly and a delight to read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and Intelligent, July 4, 2003

By 

Okla Elliott (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Thee to a Nunnery: A Pair of Shakespearean Divertimentos (Hardcover)

These two novellas are witty, playful, irreverent, intelligent--everything we've learned to expect from Slavitt. This book is a must-have for any Shakespeare fan, but it's not only for the lover of Shakespeare.

I personally prefer the the shorter novella, a retelling of Measure for Measure, set in a small, less-than-reputable Old West town. Need I say more?

The retelling of Romeo and Juliet is wonderful as well, uncovering hidden lusts for thirteen-year-old Juliet harbored by many older men.

But these novellas are not only humorous retellings of classics, but also in depth excursions into the nature of civilization and the nastier parts of human thought and emotion.