{"product_id":"shakespeare-was-a-woman-and-other-heresies-how-doubting-the-bard-became-the-biggest-taboo-in-literature-winkler-elizabeth-hardcover","title":"Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature -- Elizabeth Winkler, Hardcover","description":"\u003cb\u003eA thrillingly provocative \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003einvestigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy...and who the Bard might really be.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, vexed, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard's biography is a \"black hole,\" yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) \"immoral.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eShakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking readers from London to Stratford-upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers--from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices--who have grappled with the riddle of the plays' origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare's plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs she interviews scholars and skeptics, Winkler's interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth--and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we're looking for. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn irresistible work of literary detection\u003ci\u003e, Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies\u003c\/i\u003e will forever change how you think of Shakespeare... and of how we as a society decide what's up for debate and what's just nonsense, just heresy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Elizabeth Winkler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/09\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.21lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.18h x 6.31w x 1.23d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781982171261\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/06\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/10\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElizabeth Winkler is a journalist and book critic whose work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Economist, \u003c\/i\u003eamong other publications. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her master's in English literature from Stanford University. Her essay \"Was Shakespeare a Woman?\", first published in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, was selected for \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Essays 2020. \u003c\/i\u003eShe lives in Washington, DC.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Winkler, Elizabeth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43967652430052,"sku":"9781982171261","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0611\/9587\/8628\/files\/41vMj8OXA1L.jpg?v=1719481760","url":"https:\/\/bookandmortar.com\/products\/shakespeare-was-a-woman-and-other-heresies-how-doubting-the-bard-became-the-biggest-taboo-in-literature-winkler-elizabeth-hardcover","provider":"BookandMortar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}