A review by krismcd59
The Late Mr. Shakespeare by Robert Nye

5.0

Robert Reynolds, alias Pickleherring, narrates this memoir of his life as a boy actor in Shakespeare's troupe, hoping to dispel the many rumors and lies about his older friend and mentor's life. Robert Nye has based this fictional biography on a variety of legitimate sources, but relies most on a healthy dose of sheer tall-tale-telling and bawdy reconstructions of Elizabethan London. His reconstruction of Shakespeare's childhood and the infamous "lost years" in particular abound with rich detail about life in suburban Stratford. Pickleherring also offers provocative theories about the sources for Shakespeare's greatest characters and speeches, and gossipy commentary on other luminaries of the Elizabethan stage, like Kit Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and the mysterious Dark Lady of the sonnets. Take this sometimes silly but immensely entertaining story for what it's worth -- and be prepared for some pretty raunchy scenes -- and you'll have a great time. You'll have an even better time if you know a little about Shakespeare and his world before you read the novel. Nye also subtly interweaves quotations from the plays into his narrative, so real Shakespeare devotees will enjoy this book most of all -- if, of course, they aren't offended by a portrait of their idol that sometimes exposes his all-too-human nature.