Cover Image: Stalking Shakespeare

Stalking Shakespeare

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What a creative book! Lee Durkee’s Stalking Shakespeare is a memoir of a man’s search for a true-to-life portrait of William Shakespeare. If you like Shakespeare and history, this book is for you! I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this well-researched, well-written, funny book. Great read!

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In his memoir Stalking Shakespeare, Lee Durkee falls down a rabbit hole while searching for portraits of William Shakespeare painted from life. Obsessed with making sense of the wildly differing possibilities he finds online, Durkee purchases high-quality digital copies to pore over more closely, requests x-ray and infrared analyses so he can trace changes that might have been made to the portraits over time, and then eventually travels to museums and archives across the world so he can see the portraits in person.

Durkee’s “time travel back through the layers of paint,” as he says, was “magical and demented, intuitive and haunted.” This book about his journey is not only a fascinating exploration of scholarship on Shakespearean portraiture and identity but also a thrilling tale of potential deceit and murder he uncovers during his research process. It is also a hilarious yet deeply moving account of where Durkee’s alcohol- and Adderall-infused passions threaten to take him.

As engaging as Durkee’s investigations into the portraits are, what makes this book especially enjoyable is Durkee’s writing style--one which proves he is a consummate Mississippi storyteller, steeped in southern literary traditions, with a keen understanding of both the comedy and the tragedy of his tale.

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Absolutely hilarious! Laughed out loud so many times. . .Lee Durkee knows how to turn a phrase inside out, slap some Shakespeare sauce on it, and tell you where in the world and what he was doing as it was being written for your review, Dear Reader. It will knock you out of your studious reading position, for certain. You will plop to the floor cross-legged, skinching your back up to the closest comfy furniture as you did when you pulled out the Mad magazines back in the day. Recommence that read. . .be ready for the next crazy surprise.

All that wrapped around the author's obsession with finding That Last Painting of Shakespeare, Himself, lost in a world of so many portraits of May Be Shakespeares, Probably Is (or Isn't) Shakespeares, without leaving out the Could Be Shakespeares! The writing is smart, quick and clearly the author has Shakespeare chops and is tech savvy. I was pre-conditioned by the actors in my family to staunchly defend the family stand on the Shakespeare Controversy, but once Mr. Durkee started in I could see the problem was deeper and darker than I or my peeps (or most people in the world?!) realized. For that persuasion alone, stars are won. The laughs, even more, and for coming somewhere closer to the truth than anyone wants to accept. . . .HA. 5 star bingo!!

Two truths underlined herein: 1) Again proved is that history IS written by Current Victors (reserving all rights to overwriting Previous Victors, ad infinitum); and, 2) the only real truth ever exists in the Present Moment. . . all else is a translation. . .and we know that can't be a 100% truth, right?

5 stars to the Bard & Mr. Durkee.

*A sincere thank you to Lee Durkee, Scribner, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.*

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For the most part I consider Shakespeare an overused central subject in both fiction and exploratory nonfiction, but a long time ago I read a novel by Lee Durkee called Rides of the Midway that I loved, so I thought I’d give his nonfiction offering a whirl.

Though I was no less sick of speculative Shakespeare stuff after reading this, I really enjoyed the Art History aspect of it, and Durkee proves to be as reliable a researcher as he is a writer.

I didn’t care much about the more personal reckonings the author included in the book and it’s a stretch to tie them directly to any of the actual research content, but I also didn’t particularly mind that they were there.

Kudos to Durkee for finding a new angle (or at least a new approach to an existing angle) on an over-saturated topic and presenting it in a way that entertains and feels fresh.

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If you have an interest in Shakespeare, then this is the book for you. An obscure memoir of a person's journey down a rabbit hole and came out years later. I am someone who finds this period of British history fasinating and this book was filled with information that I had never considered or heard about from that time period. it is delievered with sarcasm, pop culture references and humor to lighten the material and add humor to what could be a very dry topic. The author is incredibly detailed with his search and analysis for the acutal picture of Shakespeare rather than what the world has been led to believe. It is an educated conspiracy text. Lots of "what ifs" with facts and disecrepancies to support them. It also opened my eyes to the art historians of the world and how lack of consensus on portraits is just an accepted idea. I will spend the rest of my life looking at any Elizabethean portriat and wonder if it isn't the real Shakespeare. I chuckled a bunch and learned a lot. I highly recommend if you like the era of history.

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This book is perfect for a history buff (which I am not lol). It's very history heavy mixed with Durkee's humor and personal story of trying to track down Shakespeare's original painting.

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This one was fairly riveting, albeit in a totally nerdy and slightly manic way.

I have read some Shakespeare plays in my time. But I had never considered that we don’t actually know what he looked like. There are a few popular portraits that are used to portray him, and many that have been assumed to be him over the years, but – while they all depict men of his era, and are similar in some ways – there are discrepancies among them that would indicate they may not be portraits of the same person.

So, who decides if any of these Elizabethan men are or are not William Shakespeare? Apparently, there is a whole world of museum curators, art restorers, and scholars who debate things like this. And often, disagree. And maybe even, sometimes, hide or purposefully misrepresent their findings?

The author, though, is admittedly obsessive. Also an alcoholic, on Adderall, and at times addicted to pain killers. So, while some of these tales are indeed fascinating, we have to ask if he is predisposed to seeing things as “conspiracies.”

Another theory that arises from this world is one that I had heard of before, but didn’t realize was still hotly debated. And that is: was William Shakespeare even real? Obviously, his plays were. But were they written by someone else using a pen name? Or perhaps even by several authors? The various theories on who else might have written his works are peeked into in this book, and make for pretty scandalous reading at times.

I enjoyed this one, but I feel like it may get too “in the weeds” for a casual reader. It would easily appeal to fans of history, and specifically British and/or art history.

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Great start. Loved the first couple of chapters I was cracking up.
Then it was a lot more memoir then Shakespeare and the final 60% was dragging

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Durkee's last work is full of humor and contains a lot of facts. Formulated as a memoir and discussing everything Durkee went through during his time searching for an accurate image of Shakespeare, there are parts I enjoyed and parts I felt a bit overwhelmed or lost in.
Overall, a good read that can be enjoyed by a multitude of readers. If you like memoirs, this fun, quirky, and entertaining. If you are interested in Shakespeare or history, this contains a lot of well-researched and informative information. I have already recommended to a few colleagues and friends.

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We all know the story of Shakespeare not writing all his playes, that his name is a psuedonym, but how many are aware, that we may not ACTUALLY know what he looks like, and that generations have been the victim of a series of 'public cons'? While the premise may seem dry, the book is anythng but! I don't remember ever laughing out loud so hard with a historical book before, Lee has a knack for setting up a situation, and making the 15th century interesting! LOL By taking it a chapter or two at a time, the book stays interesting and may illicit some late night searching on the web for full color illustrations, for those using an ereader! It's a great look at how the underdog can discover something the professionslas have overlooked and find the needle in the haystack, which in this case, is closer to who Sakespeare actually was!

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Stalking Shakespeare by Lee Durkee was an impulse pick for me. The art history aspect caught my attention and had me curious. The personal bits of the book were entertaining! Durkee goes through a divorce and finds himself obsessed with finding an original painting of William Shakespeare. His wry sense of humor shines throughout the book and kept me reading. However, the details about the different portraits he obsesses over get very deep into the weeds. I learned quite a bit about the art of the Elizabethan era. I also learned about the fashion of the era, the history of the era, the politics of the era, etc., etc. There was a LOT of information. That almost lost me. But Durkee's humor would draw me back in. If the history books I had in high school were this entertaining, I might have learned a bit more back in the day!

The humor saved the book. If you're an Elizabethan era history buff, or a die hard Shakespeare fan, this book may be more your speed. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't a favorite either. I ended up giving Stalking Shakespeare three out of five stars.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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I'll admit -- the premise for this memoir caught my attention super fast. I'm a giant Shakespeare nerd and to me the dispute about authorship feels overdone. This however, was a totally different way to look at it with totally new evidence and claims. The memoir follows Lee as he pours over different portraits that may or may not be Shakespeare and sees why each was ruled out. My favorite parts were when he came up against the different institutions who wouldn't run more tests on any paintings that seemed suspicious to him. For this, I'm totally on his side -- how could anyone not care enough about this topic to ignore it??

The part I did like was most of the side story. I didn't enjoy hearing about the author abuse drugs or his different fugue states as he neglected himself to look at Shakespeare paintings. It was an obsession in every sense of the term. It just didn't feel as if it fit into the narrative of the book as well as the other parts of his journey to find the truth.


Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Stalking Shakespeare is a fascinating memoir. Author Durkee is honest about his abuse of Adderall and alcohol while consumed with his obsession with finding the definitive portrait of William Shakespeare. I enjoyed “watching” him collect images, harass art historians and librarians while searching for the consummate image.

There is a lot of art history (and art terminology) and British history here, more than the usual memoir might contain, but it all pertains to his sometimes obsessive search. The prose is witty, snarky, and irreverent. It should be a treat for Shakespeare nerds to read and can serve as a detective story as well. I cannot comment more without giving away the prize question: did Durkee find the truth he sought or not?

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Lee Durkee is obsessed with finding an accurate portrait of William Shakespeare. This is an unusual blend of obsession, biography and art history, told by the man on a mission himself. Durkee goes on a worldwide search for an accurate portrait of the mysterious man, Shakespear. Definitely a wonderfully odd read.

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This authors obsessiveness about Shakespeare and this painting, like he said “the uglier the better” was too funny. It reads as fiction, quirky as hell, I couldn’t stop laughing. Being that I don’t have knowledge in art history and the Shakespeare Era it was sometimes hard to follow through without having to stop and google things. I was googling A LOT. This book was not for me, even though I appreciated the humor of it all. Thanks Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

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There was some interesting information in "Stalking Shakespeare" about the portraits, but it's drowned out by the author's strange attempts at humor and personal stories. I wanted a book about Shakespeare, not some random guy's sad midlife crisis.

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This was unlike anything I'd ever read before. The way that he tells the narrative is equal parts chaotic and witty. He has moments where he's in an alcohol and Adderall fueled hunt. But when he's not the clear thinking and logical and methodical way he handles, it was really fascinating to see the difference.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the images that are throughout this book. So when he's talking about things you have a visual representation that you've just seen so you really understand where he's coming from.

This book is equal parts, historical, mystery and investigative. It's really quite a fun read.

For anyone who is a fan of Shakespeare or has ever gone down a rabbit hole of the theories of who Shakespeare was. If he truly was the author of his work, what he looked like, things like that. I definitely recommend picking up this book.

It really shows you that obsession can work its way into any portion of your life. Even something like a portrait of Shakespeare.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This book was wild, but not necessarily in a good way. Both the author and his subject matter come off as quite chaotic which results in much of the book feeling disjointed or hard to read. Also, I know it's billed as a memoir but frankly the sections about the author's life were 90% distracting and offputting and only 10% useful to the ''plot'. That said, I enjoyed the humor and the deep dive into Shakespeare lore, but ultimately this book just wasn't for me.

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A chance encounter during a Vermont winter with a book that catalogues Elizabethan-era portrait miniatures ignites the author’s interest in identifying unidentified miniatures. This innocuous hobby, forges an 18-year obsession with finding an image of Shakespeare captured from life.

What follows is a first person deep-dive into Elizabethan-era politics, facial recognition comparisons, artistic symbolism, overpainting, Queen Elizabeth’s sex life (and whether she was impregnated by her own biological son), interspersed with his own descent into madness, born from monomania and addiction.

While I was more interested in the search than the madness, fans of Lee Durkee will thoroughly enjoy the autobiographical thread. Some of it was interesting and relevant; however, a little goes a long way.
Unfortunately, I read this book in spurts, with sometimes more than a few days between chapters. It’s probably easier to keep track of which portrait is which if the story is read more continuously, in large uninterrupted chunks. Some readers may find it necessary to create and maintain their own rogues gallery of their own to remember which portrait is which. There are 14 by my loose count. While the digital ARC included images, it was challenging to go back and forth with the black and white images. (Hopefully the final copy includes larger color images.)

The story grew more captivating as the end drew near, particularly as he began actually visiting the portraits in person. The epilogue, longer than most chapters as it equaled 20% of the total book, was satisfying.

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A delightful international journey through the fraught realms of Shakespearean biography through the lens of the contemporary images purported to portray the Bard of Avon. Durkee sets out to view, catalog, and explore the authenticity of the scores of portraits that supposedly depict William Shakespeare. This is a funny, fascinating account from a very talented writer, who started his exploration as an intrigued amateur observer and became a true expert in the process, likely assessing and comparing more portraits in toto than any previous scholar in a very crowded field. Durkee's quest ultimately verges into the realm of the authorship controversy as well. This book is at times hilarious, at times touchingly personal. A dynamite read from a promising author who spares no scholar's dignity, including his own.

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