An exponent of the theory that William Shakespeare, the modestly educated provin
cial man from Stratford-upon-Avon, could not have written the works - full of er
udition and accurate professional jargon - which are attributed to him, Mark Twa
in offers an eloquent and entertaining analysis of this issue of authorship, pep
pered with personal recollections of his own first encounters with the Bard's pl
ays on a boat on the Mississippi.Balancing humour, insight and vitriol, Is Shake
speare Dead? is a provocative contribution to the tradition of Shakespeare-doubt
ing, as well as a fine example of the great American novelist's critical writing
.
