A thrilling portrait of the English theatre's great transgressor. Stephen Greenblatt gives brilliant life to Marlowe's vaunting intellect, his reckless sexuality, his double-dealing with the security services and above all his theatrical imagination, which exploded out of nowhere to transform the Elizabethan stage.--Sir Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of London's National Theatre
A staggering achievement in character study, about the man who could have been king of the poets had Shakespeare not supplanted him. . . . From the formidable twenty-first-century mind of Stephen Greenblatt, this is an all-inclusive exploration of one of the sixteenth century's most consequential and extraordinary talents.--John Douglas Thompson, Tony Award-nominated actor in Tamburlaine, Parts I and II
The era- and genre-transforming radicalism of Christopher Marlowe's work has never been examined more cogently. . . . In gorgeous, gracefully authoritative prose, Stephen Greenblatt makes the miracle of artistic genius inhabit a recognizably human plane.--Tony Kushner, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America
As was clear from Will in the World, such speculative riffs are not a weakness but a mainspring of [Greenblatt's] biographical approach.... Greenblatt's speculations are too well informed to be idle.--Anthony Lane "The New Yorker"
Effortlessly gripping and unputdownable.--Neel Mukherjee, author of Choice
A vivid back-stage tour of the turbulent world from which Marlowe emerged and what may have been his enduring impact on early modern culture. Essential reading.--Farah Karim-Cooper, director, Folger Shakespeare Library
Stephen Greenblatt's writing is effortless, his humor superb, his arguments unanswerable. He brings to life Marlowe in the way that he did Shakespeare. . . . In short, he has done it again: written a totally engrossing, compelling read.--Eric Idle, Grammy Award-winning lyricist, and co-creator of the Monty Python comedy group
A rigorous and sparkling exploration of what makes an artist. Essential and addictive reading: Stephen Greenblatt's Kit Marlowe leaps from the page with all the élan and immediacy of his plays.--Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet
Brilliant and riveting. . . . No critic has done more than Stephen Greenblatt to illuminate Marlowe's world and work.--James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Stephen Greenblatt has the rare ability to write vivid narratives for the general public that rest on firm scholarly foundations. This gift is particularly valuable in his new book, Dark Renaissance, '... Greenblatt crafts a brilliant recreation of the world Marlowe inhabited.--Wendy Smith "Washington Post"
[E]legant, engrossing... From aristocrats to shopkeepers to "bawdy baskets" (prostitutes), Greenblatt captures the crowds that cut across classes. His analysis is Shakespearean in spirit, crisp and conversational, tipped with puns and wordplay... Dark Renaissance offers a genial tutorial on the vitality of a humanities education, kindled by Greenblatt's close readings in an era of declining literacy and the rise of AI.--Hamilton Cain "Boston Globe"
[R]iveting... In previous books including Will in the World, his best-selling biography of Shakespeare, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Swerve, Greenblatt emphasized the importance of cultural context in understanding literature, the so-called 'new historicism.' In Dark Renaissance, he does so with dazzling effects, evoking England circa 1580 as an almost dystopian backwater"--Ann Levin "Associated Press"
As evocative as any novel, Stephen Greenblatt takes the reader into the biting cold and dark of the little ice age of Elizabethan England and explores the network of spies, patrons, poets and fraudsters who copied, exploited and trapped Christopher Marlowe. A triumphant piece of storytelling.--Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl
This is such a gleeful piece of writing. Greenblatt writes with his customary exuberance - which, of course, perfectly suits his principal subject, the life and work of Christopher Marlowe.--Simon Russell Beale
A scintillating biography of Christopher Marlowe by one of America's leading humanities scholars.-- "Kirkus (starred review)"
The magic of Dark Renaissance, the usual Greenblatt magic, is the way he uses the individual life to illuminate corners of the surrounding culture.-- "Tablet Magazine"
Greenblatt excels at immersing the reader in that time and place and has an ear for the delectable turn of phrase. The rich historical detail, thriller-like pacing, and an abundance of intrigue keep the pages turning.--Bill Kelly "Booklist"
In Dark Renaissance, ' Mr. Greenblatt tells this murky but exhilarating tale with pace and gusto... No one can speculate with greater authority than Mr. Greenblatt.--Boyd Tonkin "Wall Street Journal"
Greenblatt efficiently traces Marlowe's improbably journey... Greenblatt writes comfortably for a general audience despite his academic background, skillfully melding conventional biography with accessible and informative literary criticism.--Harvey Freedenberg "Bookpage"