Preview
  • Shakespeare

  • The World as a Stage
  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (74 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Shakespeare

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.22

Buy for $23.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

This short biography of William Shakespeare by world famous writer Bill Bryson brims with the author’s inimitable wit and intelligence.

Includes an exclusive Q&A session with the author.

Shakespeare’s life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard – from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died.

Following his international bestsellers ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ and ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’, Bill Bryson has written a short biography of William Shakespeare for the Eminent Lives series – which seeks to pair great subjects with writers known for their strong sensibilities and sharp, lively points of view.

©2007 Bill Bryson (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, UK
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Shakespeare

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    45
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wit wittled down by voice

As a Bryson fan I have thoroughly enjoyed his books and was looking forward to his insightful and irreverent treatment of this noble subject. He lived up to expectations with a rather concise account of the life, times and work of Shakespeare with generous dollops of sarcasm, humour and derision thrown in. It would have been a splendid piece of work had Bryson settled for a professional narrator (as in Short History of Nearly Everything). Instead Bryson's clipped, clumsy and poorly enunciated voice is intrusive and jarring. What a pity. I hope the publishers consider another edition with a trained actor as narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Not the book you might think it is...

This is a book about Shakespeare the man (and the times he lived in) - it is not a guide to his works. But given that qualification, it is an intriguing account. It flows easily into the ear, constantly asking interesting questions, and answering many. But in the end, we are still left wondering how any person could grasp so much and penetrate so deeply into humankind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, a must for fans of Bill Bryson

The books information is put in a lighthearted interesting way to make it easy to understand while also having Bill Bryson’s fantastic voice to listen too. Definitely a fantastic audio book :D

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

another Bryson best

If you could sum up Shakespeare in three words, what would they be?

a good read

Have you listened to any of Bill Bryson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

as good as 'at home' also excellent work

Any additional comments?

keep up the good work Bill

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"Born in Latin but dies in English."

Bill Bryson, with witty, journalistic style, turns his spotlight onto Shakespeare, the wordsmith playwright who introduced so many words and phrases into the English language, many of which are still in use today, and about whom so many words, in turn, have already been written. This is not really a biography: so little is known about the man, even down to what he looked like. Instantly recognisable, yet there are only three known portraits of him, two made years after his death and the third, a painting, which quite possibly isn't even of him. Nor is this an analysis of his works, though these are touched upon, of course. Instead it is a trip around the man, what little is known, the time and place in which he lived, the 'academic obsession' he has.become and the many, many others who have written about him.

Always written with a light touch and an eye for the curious, Bryson's book is short at only about five and one half hours and constantly entertaining as well as informative. He reads his book himself, his s. pleasant and brisk, a smile behind the text.
Thin book is a joy, as is also the short interview with the author which follows.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!