The Early Modern Commons

Shakespeare Confidential

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Completions and communions

22 March 2017

Not long after I finished the complete works, I popped into a bookstore. I knew exactly where to find him. He has his own section. He always has his own section. I strutted straight...

Mothers of self-invention

14 March 2017

I issued the usual complaint to my wife: “I don’t know what to write about.” Henry VIII was in the books but no inspiration was coming to me. I had come down with...

The Enchanted Pen: The Reign of King Edward III

27 February 2017

I stood up, fist-pumped a triumphant “Yes,” and collapsed onto the floor into giddy carpet-angels. At 2:59pm on January 5, 2017, I did it. I read the word “queen”...

Everything and nothing: Hamlet, Part 3

21 February 2017

January 4 Words, words, words. (2.2.192) It was my father’s birthday. From the basement, where the guest suite is, I heard him come home from work. He sounded tired. It sounded...