WS

I like this depiction of Shakespeare. It's from the jacket of the new book, Will in the World, How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, by Stephen Greenblatt.

I did a blog entry on the book early in October.

Here are links to reviews.
Washington Post Book World, The Observer, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, The Times of London

Here's a synopsis from reviewsofbooks.com:

Much is unknown about the details of William Shakespeare's life. In Will in the World, Stephen Greenblatt attempts to fill in many of the missing details. By exploring the events, lifestyles, and politics of the era, he re-creates the environment that would have provided the inspiration and background for Shakespeare's life and plays. Although much of it is conjecture based on circumstantial evidence, Greenblatt provides his estimation of the life lived by the bard. Will in the World has received mostly positive reviews with the Boston Globe saying, "Vividly written, richly detailed, and insightful from first chapter to last, Stephen Greenblatt's fascinating biography of Shakespeare is certain to secure a place among the essential studies of the greatest of all writers."

More review links (from reviewsofbooks.com)

Houston Chronicle review by Earl L. Dachslager,
New York Times review by Michiko Kakutani,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review by Bob Hoover,
New York Times review by Colm Toibin,
Boston Globe review by William E. Cain,
Chicago Sun-Times review by Mark Athitakis,
Salon.com review by Laura Miller,
New Yorker review by Adam Gopnik,
San Francisco Chronicle review by Robert Hurwitt,
BookPage review by James Neal Webb,
New York Observer review by Robert Cornfield