"There are few readers more astute than Bloom...the true value of Bloom's sensitive reading lies in his ability to articulate his emotional response to the play. He leaves readers with a memorable new perspective on Othello."--Publishers Weekly

"At the outset of this pithy exegesis of King Lear, Bloom describes the play's title characters as one of Shakespeare's 'most challenging personalities'...Bloom guides the reader scene by scene through the play, quoting long but well-chosen swaths of text and interjecting commentary that reveals the nuances of Shakespeare's word choices...he is also deft at bringing out dramatic contrasts between characters...Bloom's short, superb book has a depth of observation acquired from a lifetime of study, and the author knows when to let Shakespeare and his play speak for themselves."--Publishers Weekly

"A masterfully perceptive reading of this seductive play's endless wonders."--Kirkus Review

"Famed literary critic and Yale professor Bloom showcases his favorite Shakespearian character in this poignant work... He has created a larger-than-life portrait of a character who is 'at his best a giant image of human freedom.'"--Publishers Weekly

"To read this book is to hear a powerful call to fall in love again with Shakespeare and his plays... I can think of no more engaging and nourishing pair of literary works: a drama of towering, perhaps unmatched, genius joining an exquisite work of literary criticism by a scholar of genuine greatness." --Baltimore Sun

"Not perhaps since Samuel Johnson in the mid-eighteenth century has a critic explained to a general audience as ably as Mr. Bloom does how much Shakespeare matters to our sense of who we are." --The New York Times