Customer Reviews

Unspeakable ShaXXXspeares: Queer Theory and American Kiddie Culture

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This insightful book shows how Shakespeare has permeated the American popular culture, from the exportation of some quotes to the inspiration of whole porn film scripts. Richard Burt proves not only that a scholarly, cogent discourse can be held on pop (even trash) culture, but also that the line between the so-called 'high' and 'low' cultures is much more porous than it seems. 'Unspeakable Shaxxxspeares' is written in a style which is both highly rigorous and accessible, and should appeal to scholars as well as readers interested in Shakespeare, cinema or cultural studies in general.

Richard Burt - a gentleman, a scholar, possibly a visionary, but certainly a writer and theorist of some note. I base this solely on my experiences between the covers of this fine book.

This book is not just for Shakespeare junkies, although those strung out on Shakespeare will find a refreshing look at the Bard. Each page is filled with fresh insight into the Poet's oeuvre. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I was especially gratified to see mention of Lloyd Kaufman and Troma and their fine work in revivifying a Shakespeare classic in TROMEO & JULIET. It takes a true genius to recognize one.

This book is worth the pound of flesh it requires to buy it.

I ran across this book while reading an essay in Lingua Franca about Shakespeare porn. Burt lists a whole series of Shakepseare porns on his personal website and he discusses many of them in a long chapter to his book. From his website, which I found very intriguing, I see that he will be publishing an another article on the same topic. While all this makes for extremely interesting criticism (and college courses to), the book also discusses a wide range of what Burt calls "replays" of Shakespeare in mostly 1990s mass culure. Burt is also the editor of a book I will buy called Shakespeare After Mass Media. Burt documents the many positive academic reviews and the extensive media coverage Unspeakable ShaXXXspeares has received on his website. After reading this excellent book, I can see why it has such a high profile and why Burt's work is getting so much positive attention.

Burt's book comes on like dynamite, exploding established divisions between academic and popular culture. An inveterate explorer in the jungle of the quotidien-inane, Burt immerses himself in the culture of stupidity without drowning in it. The Shakespeare that emerges here is a hipper, more knowing bard for our times.

Richard Burt is undoubtedly a scholar ahead of his time. Unspeakable ShaXXXespeares chronicles the "Shakespeare Boom" prior to its juicy climax at this year's Academy Awards. This book takes the reader to a time before "Shakespeare in Love chic" rocked the malls and fashion runways of the world. Burt delves into the bloated underbelly of American pop culture where unknown and unarchived Shakespeare adaptations hide themselves from the critical eye of Shakespeare scholars.

It is safe to assume that until Unspeakable ShaXXXespeares, the Shakespearean work of porn stars Rick Savage and Nina Hartley went wholly unnoticed by people in academic circles. While hard core porn offers a surprising bounty of Shakespeare adaptations, Burt also explores soft core late night "Skin-a-max" movies like Skyscraper (starring the beautiful and talented Anna Nicole Smith), 70s and 80s television shows including Scooby Doo, Star Trek, Giligan's Island, and Moonlighting, and big budget mall movies like Clueless and Last Action Hero.

Burt's book is not only successful in dramatically expanding the Shakespeare archive. Using the lens of queer theory and what he calls "loser criticism" Burt illustrates that Shakespeare's reoccurring role in American pop culture is not always as a signifier of "authentic high culture". The Bard is often simultaneously "queered", assassinated, or portrayed as "the loser" in many of the films discussed in this book.

Unspeakable ShaXXXespeares is a revolutionary work which would appeal to academics, Shakespeareans, film buffs, queer theorists, losers, and anyone into HARD CORE PORNO.

Hot! Hot! Hot! This brilliant book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the current(Spring-Summer 99) spate of both teen Shakespeare movies and the "tourist class" response to them in art house theaters. Presenting a comprehensive but open-ended scholarship of the popular, Burt canvasses a range of films and television shows that allude to Shakespeare from mid-century forward, concentrating on the 70s through the late 90s. He also displays a sure hand as a reader of the plays he discusses and recent cultural criticism about Shakespeare. The book accounts for a recent phenomenon: the way in which the plays' processing by mass media totally empties them of whatever cultural values or political effectiveness current criticism of the right and left have claimed for them. Marking a major paradigm shift in masscult studies from the critic as "fan" to the critic as "loser," Burt challenges the distinction between progressive and reactionary takes on both Shakespeare and the culture industry. As losers, Shakespeare critics are closer to what's happening than they realize--and than they really want to be, despite their medium cool academic fantasies. Along the way, Burt provides strong interpretations of Dead Poet's Society, sound in porn movies, Polanski's Macbeth, Quiz Show, key TV adaptations, and much much more. Maddening, persuasive and a blast to read, this book will tax whatever preconceptions you have about Shakespeare, the mainstream and pornographic film industries, and popular media in general.

Richard Burt's Unspeakable Shakexxxxpeares is a wise and witty, incredibly knowledgeable overview of some of the more intriguing, unexpected, and at times bizarre uses of Shakespeare in popular culture, especially in the movies. But Burt's book, written with panache and wit, does much more than bring to light some of the hidden corners of Shakespeareana: he offers a trenchant critique of the dumbing down of Shakespeare in popular culture and he takes to task those academics who are only too willing to substitute a trivialized Shaxxxspeare for the more difficult challenges offered by the genuine article. Burt's discussion of pornographic Shakespeare gives new meaning to the phrase "Shakespeare in Love." Employing Queer theory and what he terms "loser criticism," among other approaches, Burt demonstrates how sophisticated critical concepts can be discussed in an accessible, non-intimidating style. Strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare and/or popular culture, or anyone who just wants to read a fun book.

Professor Richard Burt of UMass-Amherst has produced an excellent demonstration of his own theory of looser-criticism, which perfectly captures the most useful trends in literary studies. Bungee-jumping off of the tip of the ivory tower, Burt thrusts forcefully into the depths of pop-culture, kiddie-culture, hard-core porno and the rest of what is most dynamic and influential in contemporary American culture. Reveling the velvety folds of Americana, Burt finds (gasp, choke) Shakespeare, alive, well and living in da hood. His erudite, fearless and shameless investigation explains both the continuing relevance Shakespeare's work, and the significance of Shakespeare as a pop icon, in (apparently) ALL facets of US culture. By rights this intervention ought to make Burt, a man who constantly promotes his own fascination with celebrity, a media celebrity himself (next on Springer: "You read my book, bitch!"). This is a volume that must be read by all who profess a serious interest in Shakespeare and/or popular culture. And therefore never send to know for whom the porn was made - it was made for thee. Word.

Combining glittery high theory with `low' culture materials, Richard Burt has written an absolutely brilliant, path-breaking study of Shakespeare in contemporary mass media, focusing mostly on film, but discussing t.v. sit-coms, comic books, and novels as well. Most of these films and other texts have never before been archived or examined by any other Shakespeare critic. What is particularly original about Burt's book is the way he views what he concedes are often trashy films, including some hardcore pornographic adaptations, from the vantage point of the critic as loser. Instead of trying to redeem mass culture `trash' as politically dissident, transgressive, or subversive material, as most critics doing cultural studies now do, Burt questions whether the trashy material he examines can be recycled, and opens up as a profound, troubling question whether criticism (avowedly political or not, high-minded or low-minded) can ever fully transcend questions concerning its own potential triviality and stupidity. This is a very sophisticated and challenging book, but is very accessible and very entertaining. Burt will soon emerge as the Stephan Greenblatt of post-millenial Shakespeare criticism. His book is a truly remarkable read!

I too found this book charming, cogent, concise, and funny. I will therefore not repeat what others have so well said. In reading it, I was reminded of an experience I had while reading another wonderful book, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. There, a Jewish writer wrongly takes for granted the enduring power of classical music in the midst of a heinous invasion.

My father, born a poor man, was blessed with a college education as a benefit from serving during World War II. On hearing classical music for the first time in a college dorm, he raced up several flight of stairs, pounded on the door of the room from which the music came, to ask a fellow student what was that magnificent sound? He made sure his children should not be similarly deprived by surrounding us with that treasured music. Yet, like Shakespeare, it is now puzzingly gone, save perhaps among those foreign born or gay.

Here, the author points the blame to a mass culture determinedly aimed at selling to children as that market which, at least at one time, offered the highest profit. I am not entirely convinced of this explanation as both Shakespeare and classical music still survive among a small but delighted audience of mostly amateur players. Yet, it does seem that the mainstream no longer values wisdom or its fountainhead, serenity. That both were venerated after the cataclysm of world war and are now forgotten in an age of immediate gratification does make me wonder if Burt isn't onto something when he calls the result unfinished mourning. In opposition to trendy cultural critics, setting the record straight by carefully examining what was once treasured, an integral task of mourning, may yet turn out to be the most political work.