10-8-08 My Name is Will by Jess Winfield - Fiction

4 - The subtitle of this book is "A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare." Take that to heart. Lots of sex, tons of drugs (one of the main plot lines is the journey of a HUGE psychedelic mushroom), and of course Shakespeare, in two forms. The first William Shakespeare is the playwright, but before he became Shakespeare. The second William Shakespeare is a masters student at UC Santa Cruz. The story alternates between the two Wills showing the similarity of their situations even though they are separated by centuries. A hilarious story, this will be enjoyed most by those of us who already enjoy Shakespeare's comedies, but may also open up the world of Shakespeare for others who are not yet fans. Jess Winfield, one of the founding members of The Reduced Shakespeare Company (Rent some of these on DVD. They are crying in your seat, wet your pants funny!), has written a laugh out loud yet insightful story about how Shakespeare the bard relates to all of us.