Overview

This version of Hamlet breaks the mold of what annotated Shakespeare texts have looked like up to now. Rather than putting the historical background and literary insights in an introduction, where they are nearly never read, Hamlet by William Shakespeare: Know-It-All Version presents that information as a running commentary interlaced with the lines of Shakespeare. This commentary provides supportive elements in engagingly digestible bites, including the occasional “Pro-Tip,” in which the reader gets wry life advice inspired by the events or tensions of the play. The most important aspect of this format is that it empowers readers in real time as they read, while encouraging them to laugh and connect personally to the text in purposeful ways. As readers interact with this play, they pause to consider what’s happening, to make supported guesses about what’s just been said, to find the double-entendre in the previous line, or to have their comprehension verified or expanded through historical context. There is space in this commentary for readers to consider the text on their own terms rather than being told a single set of interpretations through a performance or a “translation.” It’s an elegant, supported, and sumptuously interactive reading experience.

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9781475858440

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Reviews

At last, a Hamlet for ironic young readers. Rachel DeTemple's version offers help and encouragement without burying the classic text in footnotes. Near the end, for example, when Hamlet's mother gives him advice, he mutters, She well instructs me. DeTemple observes, So he finally admits his mother can be right. He must be about to die. This commentator knows her audience. -- Dr. Janis Lull, Professor Emerita of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; editor of Shakespeare's King Richard III for the Cambridge University Press series 'The New Cambridge Shakespeare' Rachel DeTemple's unpretentiously engaging tone in her commentary on Hamlet makes her good company for first readers of the world's most famous play. Her conversational observations -aptly relating the words and actions to the world of students-make their encounter with the play an entertaining journey. -- Ralph Alan Cohen, Gonder Professor of Shakespeare, Mary Baldwin University; Founder Executive Director, American Shakespeare Center

"Rachel DeTemple’s unpretentiously engaging tone in her commentary on Hamlet makes her good company for first readers of the world’s most famous play. Her conversational observations —aptly relating the words and actions to the world of students—make their encounter with the play an entertaining journey. -- Ralph Alan Cohen, Gonder Professor of Shakespeare, Mary Baldwin University; Founder Executive Director, American Shakespeare Center At last, a Hamlet for ironic young readers. Rachel DeTemple’s version offers help and encouragement without burying the classic text in footnotes. Near the end, for example, when Hamlet’s mother gives him advice, he mutters, “She well instructs me.” DeTemple observes, “So he finally admits his mother can be right. He must be about to die.” This commentator knows her audience. -- Dr. Janis Lull, Professor Emerita of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; editor of Shakespeare’s ""King Richard III"" for the Cambridge University Press series ‘The New Cambridge Shakespeare’"

Rachel DeTemple's unpretentiously engaging tone in her commentary on Hamlet makes her good company for first readers of the world's most famous play. Her conversational observations -aptly relating the words and actions to the world of students-make their encounter with the play an entertaining journey. -- Ralph Alan Cohen, Gonder Professor of Shakespeare, Mary Baldwin University; Founder Executive Director, American Shakespeare Center At last, a Hamlet for ironic young readers. Rachel DeTemple's version offers help and encouragement without burying the classic text in footnotes. Near the end, for example, when Hamlet's mother gives him advice, he mutters, She well instructs me. DeTemple observes, So he finally admits his mother can be right. He must be about to die. This commentator knows her audience. -- Dr. Janis Lull, Professor Emerita of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; editor of Shakespeare's King Richard III for the Cambridge University Press series 'The New Cambridge Shakespeare'

Author Information

Rachel DeTemple has been teaching Shakespeare for more than two decades. She has awakened a love of Shakespeare in students from the Deep South (Mississippi) to the Far North (Alaska). She has made Shakespeare fun and approachable for reluctant readers, enthusiastic readers, downright hostile readers, fledgling readers, advanced readers, adult readers, teen readers, and everyone in between.

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