"In just a few pages, the author manages to unearth the fullrichness of the Bard, opening the reader's mind and askingquestions rather than providing glib, easy answers. This is aterrific beginner's volume for the novice English literaturestudent tasked with studying the works of William Shakespeare, anda valuable re-entry point for the intermediate Shakespeare readerlooking for additional analytical methods." (SimplyShakespeare, November 2009)
"The first chapter is a fabulous, full-frontal,thirteen-page assault that both dispenses information and suggestseffective questions that student readers might employ when readinga text in order to 'read aggressively' (p. 9). What ismildly revolutionary is that it is here, in print, ready to beeasily disseminated to students and thus to more easily and readilyarticulate the type of engagement with a text that we hope andexpect our students will undertake. Bevingtonchallenges his readers to think in historical, theatrical, andcharacterological terms. Bevington's list isinstructive and at times brutally honest. Schools should considerinvesting heavily in this text for the benefit of their pupils;college or university-level students would also be aided byBevington's straightforward, avuncular reading advice."(Year's Work in English Studies, 2008)
"The first chapter is a fabulous, full-frontal,thirteen-page assault that both dispenses information and suggestseffective questions that student readers might employ when readinga text in order to 'read aggressively' (p. 9). What ismildly revolutionary is that it is here, in print, ready to beeasily disseminated to students and thus to more easily and readilyarticulate the type of engagement with a text that we hope andexpect our students will undertake. Bevingtonchallenges his readers to think in historical, theatrical, andcharacterological terms. Bevington's list isinstructive and at times brutally honest. Schools should considerinvesting heavily in this text for the benefit of their pupils;college or university-level students would also be aided byBevington's straightforward, avuncular reading advice."(Year's Work in English Studies, 2008)