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More copies of this ISBNHamlet's Dresser: A Memoirby Bob Smith
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Bob Smith grew up in a town named for Shakespeare's birthplace: Stratford, Connecticut. His lonely childhood was dominated by the family's struggle to care for his severely retarded sister. At age ten, Smith read a line from The Merchant of Venice and discovered a window through which to view the world. He was infatuated with Shakespeare. When he was sixteen, Smith got a job as Hamlet's dresser at Stratford's renowned American Shakespeare Festival. Behind the scenes, he mingled with such theater luminaries as John Houseman, Jessica Tandy, Katharine Hepburn, and Bert Lahr. In the decades since, without a college credit to his name, he has taught the plays at universities, acting schools, prisons, and senior centers. In Hamlet's Dresser, Smith gracefully weaves the stories of his bittersweet childhood and his life's work with illuminating passages from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. A brilliant reminder of the redemptive power of literature, it will make readers fall in love with Shakespeare again or for the first time. Review:"Smith has wrought something precious: a reminder that the pure beauty of the English language can be a salvation." Connie Ogle
The Miami Herald Review:"Smith depicts characters so vividly and orchestrates their interactions so poignantly that the memoir would work if Shakespeare were absent. His presence makes the book more moving still." Chicago Tribune Review:"Hamlet's Dresser is a masterpiece. That's all there is to it." Frank McCourt Review:"That words have a healing power may be a cliché for some, but in this intimate, often wryly funny memoir, their ability to transform lives is demonstrable." Toronto Globe and Mail Synopsis:Smith gracefully weaves the stories of his bittersweet childhood and his life's work with illuminating passages from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. A brilliant reminder of the redemptive power of literature, it will make readers fall in love with Shakespeare again or for the first time. Synopsis:The true story of a boy whose life was saved by literature, Hamlet's Dresser is a portrait of a person made whole by art. Bob Smith's childhood was a fragile and lonely one, spent largely caring for his handicapped sister, Carolyn. But at age ten, his local librarian gave him a copy of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and it transformed him. In Bob's first look at Shakespeare's penetrating language — "In sooth I know not why I am so sad" — he had found a window through which to view the world. Years later, when the American Shakespeare Festival moved into Stratford and Smith was hired as Hamlet's dresser, his life's passion took shape. Blending tragedy and comedy, Smith gracefully weaves together his childhood memories with his experiences backstage and teaching the plays. The result is a gorgeous, tender, infectious book about the restorative powers of literature and art. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 1 comment: 
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