From the AV俱乐部 Magazine Fall 2011
If you had to choose one person to study in the whole English canon, William Shakespeare is your man, says Stephen Marche (BA鈥�97). In his new book, How Shakespeare Changed Everything, he declares Shakespeare to be the most influential person who ever lived.
He鈥檚 not short of evidence, but incredibly,
Dr. Marche may be the first to claim this title for the bard of Avon.
In the book, Dr. Marche turns a mountain of history into a breezy, thoughtful read, spinning a far-reaching web of influence over the last 400 years.
Proof ranges from the fanciful 鈥� who knew Grenadine islanders recited passages from Julius Caesar every Shrove Tuesday 鈥� to the linguistic 鈥� Shakespeare鈥檚 invention of over 1,700 words and countless quotable phrases.
Each chapter tells a story that demonstrates the playwright鈥檚 cultural impact, from how he created the first teen-agers; to inspiring Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 murder; to improving our sex lives, all the while managing to remain unknowable as a man.
Dr. Marche studied English and contemporary studies and recalls a great Shakespeare class with Ron Huebert. When he immersed himself in Shakespeare鈥檚 world during his PhD, what a strange world he discovered it to be.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go far for these crazy Shakespeare stories,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ctually, it turns out Shakespeare produced a lot of very eccentric people who have been very obsessed with Shakespeare.鈥� The plays are 鈥渧ery easy to get obsessed with,鈥� he admits. 鈥淲hen I left being a professor, the one thing that was a little sad was leaving Shakespeare behind.鈥�
Dr. Marche left teaching at the City College of New York for Toronto when his wife, Sarah Fulford, became editor of Toronto Life. Having already written two novels, Raymond and Hannah (2005) and Shining at the Bottom of the Sea (2007), he decided to pursue writing full-time.
聽Currently, he writes a wide-ranging monthly column called 鈥淎 Thousand Words AV俱乐部 Our Culture鈥� for Esquire magazine; and in 2012, he will have a new novel out with Gaspereau Press.
鈥淓very writer鈥檚 fantasy, right? It鈥檚 one of these accidental tourist things,鈥� he says, almost bashful about his success.
To abuse another phrase from the Bard, right now the world appears to be Stephen Marche鈥檚 oyster.