Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Subject, Dull Treatment
Review: Though a longtime Shakespeare buff, I'm relatively new to the Authorship controversy, and find it fascinating. I've read a couple of Shakespeare biographies without having any idea how little documentation the standard story is based upon.This book, though, should greatly cheer those who wish the whole thing would go away. As introduction to the mystery, its hard to imagine a drier laundry list of evidence and candidates, written without a spark of insight or wit. Apparently the great selling point here is the author's objectivity, but this is taken to such absurd lengths that it starts to feel like a put on. And most damagingly, in his vague weighing of arguments, the author gives no indication of having a personal familiarity with Shakespeare's work -- if he has read and enjoyed the plays in any capacity aside from solving this mystery, he gives no indication of it here.
Rating: 
Summary: Will the Real Shakespeare(s) Please Step Forward!
Review: When it comes to the authorship of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, the passions run high and the lines are rigid. John Mitchell's "Who Wrote Shakespeare" is a delightful departure. If you are expecting a definitive answer at the conclusion, you will be disappointed. Mr. Mitchell lays out a case for each of the main proponents in clear, non-academic (thank you Lord!) prose. He presents his modest open-minded conclusion, and lets the reader do the same. The book is for the non-specialist who has a passing knowledge of Shakespeare's work and times. It led this reader many to other books; in other words, I was hooked. It is loaded with illustrations, many of which I'd never seen before. I read Ben Jonson's "Ode to Shakespeare" with fresh eyes. When I kept in mind that Jonson was a satirist, punster and humorist as well as a poet, I saw his Ode as less than straightforward. Kit Marlowe is a constant thread through Shakespeare's early writing period. As always, Kit is mysterious, elusive and roguish. At the very least, he and Will collaborated and perhaps much more. If you like a mystery, with as many red herrings as there are clues, this is your book. I don't think you will be disappointed. Grade A
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