Shakespeare & Me - Autographed Copy

I had the most fun writing this book. I had tea with Sir Ben Kingsley at the Ritz in New York, where I was skewered with his sharp but twinkling gaze and tried in vain to hold my own. I got to know Brian Cox, who found me a place to live in London - I couldn't have done the book without him. I went to the Globe with Harriet Walter, whose clever mind is matched by her kindness. I saw Ralph Fiennes backstage after playing Prospero (for a dizzying moment, shirtless!), and brought him to tea with Harold Bloom, who was charmed but otherwise unimpressed and called him "my dear". I also got to meet F. Murray Abraham at Harold's, and they were a riot together, both larger than life. I traveled to Stratford to call on the legendary voice coach, Cicely Berry, and then I went to the theatre, where I was introduced to Sir Patrick Stewart. I then sat in the row behind him, next to two over-perfumed, buxom, whispering ladies. At one point, he turned around and shushed loudly, and to this day I hope he didn't think the chatter came from me! I met Tobias Menzies for coffee, and in an effort to look chic and professional I wore equestrian boots with heels that were much too high, and I was terrified I would trip and fall down. I visited Maxine Hong Kingston at her home in Berkeley, and she was kind and thoughtful, and she gave me some CDs of her musician son. I had a quick cup of tea with Rory Kinnear outside the National Theatre, and a more talented and unassuming actor you could never meet. I spent many precious hours with the very great and the very gentle James Earl Jones on the phone talking about his decades-long love of Othello, and he kindly invited me backstage to a couple of his Broadway performances.

The book itself is full of insights and experiences from these (and many other) great Shakespeareans. It's timeless but contemporary, erudite but entertaining, about them but also about all of us and about Shakespeare's enduring appeal.

I'd be delighted to sign and personalize a copy - please send a note on the order page with the name of the dedication and any information you think I might like to know.