William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (Oxford Paperbacks) [Paperback]

S. Schoenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Series: Oxford Paperbacks | Publication Date: May 14, 1987

Covering 400 years of Shakespeare scholarship, Schoenbaum's now classic William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life received high acclaim from critics and scholars. The New York Review of Books called it "a masterpiece," and the Guardian labeled it "our best life of Shakespeare."
Making the resources of the world's greatest Shakespeare collections more accessible to all readers, this updated "Compact Life" contains a refined and amplified version of the original text and fifty of the original documents reproduced in smaller format. Schoenbaum has incorporated new material into his narrative, including an eyewitness account, in harrowing detail, of a murder believed to have occurred in New Place, the house that Shakespeare bought in Stratford in 1597. He also provides a new postscript which includes newly-compiled information from recent research on Shakespeare.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A splendid book that not only presents all salient information lucidly but that also quietly advises students as to the fragility of biographical allegations--a vivid lesson as to why scholarship matters!"--Dennis R. Dean, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

"Masterly...[Schoenbaum] manages to mention everything relevant, and the details are so organized that we never lose sight of the design of the whole....This book will remain the standard life for many years."--Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare Quarterly

"Schoenbaum is the outstanding living authority on Shakespeare's biography....The 'Compact Life' is essential reading for anyone even moderately curious about the current state of Shakespeare biography."--O.B. Hardison, Jr., Georgetown University

"[This book] is the abridged amplified version of the magnificent $50 edition. The Shakespearean authority strips away four centuries of myths, mistakes, and scholarly embellishments; the Bard emerges, pristine, more fascinating than ever."--The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"No student or reader of the plays can afford to neglect Schoenbaum either in the earlier luxurious book or in the graceful, sure-handed compact documentary life now available. The first is an investment, the new one proof that small too can be beautiful."--The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

S. Schoenbaum, Director of the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland, is the author of Shakespeare's Lives and Shakespeare: The Globe and the World.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (May 14, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195051610
• ISBN-13: 978-0195051612
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 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: #1,125,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly yet compelling biography of this elusive figure., September 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Schoenbaum's book, which I have used to teach college courses for years, is rigorous and objective in its scholarship. He succeeds in separating the legend from the fact, and gives us the best possible view of the notoriously elusive "man who was Shakespeare." The text is eminently readable, and irresistably interesting.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Play it Again Sam, May 15, 2000

By 

Jerry Harner - See all my reviews

This review is from: William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I was a personal friend of Sam's in fact a neighbor of his in Maryland for 6 years. I spoke with him a week before he passed away and he was telling me that Shakespeare's Identity was still an elusive subject for him and other scholars. He felt that his book ,William Shakespeare : A Compact Documentary Life, a lifelong pursuit was a good primer for beginners but that he felt incomplete about it and wished he had another life to make changes. This I found powerful as he was willing to be open about this and not be stuck in being an expert. Although his research in this book carries influence as authoritarian on Shakespeare's life , Sam up till the end of his life was convinced there had to be more. His publisher of course was unwilling to consider a new revised edition. But one thing Sam stressed over and over in the book as well that it was important for teachers who used his research to be careful in not telling students this was the absolute Gospel on Shakespeare's life.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Seminal (Modern) Shakespeare Biography, December 13, 2009

By 

M. R. Sullivan "pageturner" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

In graduate school, I asked an eminent Shakespeare scholar for recommendations on Shakespeare biographies to consult for my thesis on _Measure for Measure_, and he pointed to this work. After studying modern Shakespeare criticism, it is clear that this is, and has been since the 70s, the seminal biography of the bard. Schoenbaum's biography is a shorter version of his more magisterial volume (Shakespeare: A Documentary Life). I prefer the readability of this 'compact' life, in that it excludes Schoenbaum's sometimes lengthy considerations (in the full version) of critical controversies regarding Shakespeare's life.

What makes this biography so impressive and so esteemed by scholars is its (mainly) objective presentation of the facts surrounding Shakespeare's life. He avoids much of the speculation and even fantasizing of many Shakespeare biographies out there, including Stephen Greenblatt's readable and rewarding imagining. Whereas some scholars eagerly interpret the plays as windows into Shakespeare's life, even using excerpts from the plays as biographical evidence, Schoenbaum tends to present the facts without interpretation.

For those students and teachers of Shakespeare out there looking for a complete and unbiased presentation of the facts of Shakespeare's life, I recommend this biography over all others.

But a word of warning: do not expect a colorful portrait of Shakespeare. Because of the lack of evidence, Shakespeare's life can come across as frustratingly incomplete. If you experience this impression, it is a sign you are reading a dispassionate presentation of the facts. Also, do not expect much interpretation of the plays. Such is the approach of impressionistic biographers, and their biographies, while more readable, involve inferences that tell you more about the biographer than Shakespeare.