Hamlet's Dresser: A Memoir
Books / Paperback
Books › Biography & Autobiography › Literary
ISBN: 0684852705 / Publisher: Scribner, February 2003
A Shakespeare instructor to the acting community discusses his childhood spent with an overwhelmed mother, critical father, and severely handicapped sister; the discovery of Shakespeare that gave him a purpose and a means of viewing the world; and his work with celebrated actors, seniors, and college students. Reprint.
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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.
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