Cheap The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition (Book) (William Shakespeare, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, Stephen Greenblatt, Stephen Jay Greenblatt, Andrew Gurr) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition

The best of the lot.
I confess that after examining 5-6 of the top-selling complete Shakespeares I tried not to like the Norton. There are less expensive editions, there are editions with glossy pages and colored photographs, there are editions that are half the weight and bulk of this leviathan, which is far more Shakespeare than the average reader--perhaps, even scholar, for that matter--would ever require. But despite its bulk and unwieldyness, its 3500 (!) thin, flimsy pages, its sheer excess, I couldn't ignore its advantages. The small print enables the publishers to squeeze in contextual materials--in the introduction and appendixes--that in themselves amount to an encyclopedic companion to Shakespeare's works; the introductions to the plays are written not in "textbook prose" but in an engaging style worthy of their subject; and perhaps, best of all, this is the only edition that places the glosses right alongside the "strange" Elizabethan word instead of in the footnotes. You can read the plays without experiencing vertigo of the eye. So this is the edition, though you may wish to go with the smaller, bound portions that Norton publishes of the same edition--especially if you can't afford the cost of a personal valet to carry this tome from home to office. On the other hand, the complete edition is excellent for doing crunches and other aerobic exercises--activities many of us who read the Bard are abt to ignore.

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the best available complete edition
I am currently using this edition for my University undergraduate course. It is simply the most comprehensive edition available in one volume. The introductions to each play offer stimulating views using modern, contemporary criticism and the 'scene-setting' introduction to the collection, by Greenblatt, is highly informative. The text is wonderfully readable and actually makes you want to pick it up (or lay it on a table given its size) and just read. I like the thin pages, although they are susceptible to creasing, as it makes it feel as though you're reading a Bible - a suitable analogy I think. Recommendable to anyone interested in Shakespeare - this is an edition which does justice to his greatness (anyway I'd better stop wasting time on the 'Net and get back to my essay on 'Othello'!).

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The Best Available
I am new to Shakespeare and have started to read about him, his times, his works, and as a hobby try to become fairly knowledgeable about him and his place in our literary history. Starting from the basics I have reviewed a number of books and eventually I put together a "listmania" list of about 22-25 books. I am still not an expert nor do I claim such.

Having said that, to get your feet wet there are a few good biographies and I like the Anthony Burgess book "Shakespeare" that is an easy read and just over 200 pages long. Also there are a few other books and tour guides such as the new DK guide with lots of maps and photos. Then there are books such as Boyce's book "Shakespeare A to Z".

But I think the crown jewel of the books available is the present book almost 3500 pages long with CD which rises head and shoulders above anything else on the market. It is simply an excellent book by a group of highly qualified editors using the resources of Oxford. Obviously it can be improved but as of now it is the leader.

Jack in Toronto