I checked this book out from the library based on a glowing recommendation from theaterdiva.

Smith delves deep into his troubled childhood, painting a vivid picture of his past. He intersperses his memories with vignettes of his current calling, which is teaching Shakespeare at senior centers. Bob had to cope with a distant father, a disturbed mother, and a severely retarded sister. However, he found solace and escape in the world of Shakespeare, thanks to a kind librarian and the Shakespeare Festival program in his hometown of Stratford, Connecticut.

Smith's recollections, although heartbreaking at times, are told with a touch of wistful good humour. He never wallows in self-pity, but rather presents his story in an engaging and relatable way. He expertly ties in quotes from the plays and sonnets, adding depth and meaning to his narrative. This book would make a wonderful audiobook, as the words are meant to be read aloud, just like the works of the great Bard himself. If you're in search of a memoir about an unsung hero, then this book is definitely worth picking up.

Selected Quotes

"When I talk about the plays, I unfold myself to myself, and sometimes, hidden in the folds are forgotten events that can, for a moment, make the standing a little harder." -- Preface

"That summer when I turned seventeen I didn't always know the difference between the characters and the people who played them." -- Chapter 3

"It's amazing how much anxiety was handed over to children, how guilt was expected to drive faith. And it did!" -- Chapter 8

"To Sister Elizabeth Joseph, God the Father was cranky Louis B. Mayer." -- Chapter 8

"It hurt to be hurt for being hurt already." -- Chapter 8

"It [the library] was a kind of stage set for the act of reading." -- Chapter 12

"I think the more confused you are inside, the more you need to trust a thing outside yourself." -- Chapter 12

"My mother was terrified to be in a car when the roads were icy. My mother was terrified to be in a car. My mother was terrified." -- Chapter 13

"Too much watching can make you passive and afraid. Ask Hamlet." -- Chapter 14

There were certain parts of this book that I simply devoured, unable to put it down.

On the other hand, there were other sections that I had to force myself to plow through.

When Bob was at the senior centers reading Shakespeare and the parts related to his sister Carolyn, those were the segments that I truly enjoyed.

Shakespeare had truly made Bob's life whole, and this happened at a relatively young age.

He managed to secure a job at the Shakespeare festival in his hometown of Stratford, CT, where he became Hamlet's dresser.

He was completely enthralled with the inner workings of the drama and would watch every single performance.

At home, he seemed to be Carolyn's only ally. However, when she was sent to a home, he abandoned her. That part was extremely hard to read.

Bob met many famous people during his time with the Shakespeare plays. It is always a great pleasure to read a good Katherine Hepburn story.

Shakespeare not only transformed Bob's life but also the lives of the people he shared the plays with in the senior center. That, by far, is the most rewarding part of the book.

I have a deep fondness for reading memoirs. The reason is that what truly lies beneath people's smiles and words intrigues me to the greatest extent. This is the second memoir I have delved into this year, penned by authors whose childhoods were significantly influenced by Shakespeare. Surprisingly, I am not even a huge Shakespeare enthusiast myself; it was just a matter of chance that I came across these books.

The other book was Arthur Phillip’s The Tragedy Of Arthur.

What makes this particular memoir truly stand out is Bob Smith’s unique connection with literature. He found himself unable to establish a connection with those closest to him. He was the older brother of a severely retarded sister, and during that era, immediately institutionalizing the handicapped was regarded as the only viable option. However, his parents did not take that route throughout her entire childhood.

As a Christian myself who teaches children, the confusing messages that The Church sent him were extremely interesting and thought-provoking. Just like all excellent reads, this memoir is realistic. It is filled with great sadness, yet told in a poetical manner, and ultimately, it leaves the reader with a glimmer of hope.

Powerful, interesting, and moving story!

It is a narrative that is unutterably sad, yet triumphant in the power of words.

The story delves deep into the pain and suffering of a damaged soul.

We witness the protagonist's journey through the darkest of times.

However, it is the power of words that becomes the protagonist's salvation.

Words have the ability to heal, to transport, and to bring hope.

They offer a refuge, a place of solace, and a means of escape.

As we follow the story, we are drawn in by the emotions and the struggles.

We feel the pain, the sadness, and the longing.

But we also see the glimmer of hope, the strength that emerges, and the triumph over adversity.

This story is a testament to the power of words and their ability to touch our hearts and souls.

It reminds us that even in the face of great sadness, there is always the possibility of healing and transformation.

While it is truly beautiful that literature, especially Shakespeare, has saved the author's life and provided him with much-needed solace from a difficult life, the memoir does have its drawbacks.

For one thing, it was a bit on the long side and didn't always manage to get straight to the point. This made the reading experience a bit cumbersome at times.

On the other hand, some people might love the Shakespeare quotes that are scattered throughout the memoir. And although I myself have an appreciation for Shakespeare, it was rather frustrating when I was in the middle of a good reading rhythm and then suddenly had to stop and try to understand the meaning of a Shakespeare quote.

While it was a nice touch to show how Shakespeare is related to so many aspects of life, it did disrupt the flow of the narrative a little bit.

Overall, for me, the memoir was just okay. It had its strengths, such as the author's personal story and his connection to Shakespeare, but it also had some areas that could have been improved upon.

Rewritten and expanded:

This memoir is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful, delving deep into how literature has the power to shape our lives. On the surface, the plot may seem fairy simple. The author, burdened with a family life that is far from perfect, stumbles upon Shakespeare and has a lifelong passion for his works ignited. However, this book is much more than that. It is a profound examination of the significance of hope, love, and words in each and every one of our lives. The author's journey through the world of Shakespeare is filled with both joy and sorrow, as they discover new meanings and interpretations within the plays. It is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever found solace or inspiration in literature. I, for one, found it profoundly moving. But I also understand that it's not going to be for everyone. Some may find the subject matter too niche or the writing style too dense. However, for those who are willing to take the time to explore this memoir, it has the potential to be a life-changing experience.

Of what do we write when we write of love? In Bob Smith's case, it is Shakespeare's poems and plays.

Hamlet's Dresser braids two strands of his life into a modest, heartbreaking, and soaringly affirmative memoir. As a bookish and lonely child, his crush on the Bard's work transformed into love when, as an alienated teenager, he joined the American Shakespeare Theatre as Hamlet's dresser.

In time, he would dress other characters, perform in small roles, become a coach and a watcher, and eventually lead senior citizens' groups in Shakespeare-appreciation courses. However, this ecstatic marriage was haunted by his sad and contorted childhood: an increasingly dysfunctional mother, a distant father, and Caroline, his profoundly retarded sister.

"Art," he writes, "can be a brutal thing, not just some decoration placed over the truth, but the truth itself." Smith's prose is bluntly ineffable. A rundown theatre looks like "Miss Havisham's bride cake," and the first teacher who didn't like him was "Miss Shumaker. It was right after I stopped pleasing everybody."

The book is thick with short passages from Shakespeare. Placed in perfect context, they leap from the pages, abrupt as panoramic pop-ups. --H. O'Billovich

While I truly appreciated the way Smith embellished this memoir with a plethora of extensive quotes from Shakespeare, and it is indeed difficult to find fault with his well-lived life, in the final analysis, it simply didn't strike me as something that merited a full-blown memoir.

And, to be completely honest, I didn't have the impression that the writing managed to rise to the occasion to the extent that it potentially could have.

There were moments when the use of Shakespearean quotes added a certain charm and depth, but perhaps the overall narrative lacked that extra spark or uniqueness to truly justify a comprehensive memoir.

It felt as though there was more potential within the story that wasn't fully realized through the writing.

Nevertheless, Smith's life experiences are undoubtedly interesting, and it's possible that with a different approach to the writing or a more focused exploration of certain aspects, the memoir could have been more engaging and impactful.

The name Hamlet caught my attention during a rather rushed trawl through a bookshop.

At first, I didn't realize that I was buying a memoir and not a novel. However, it turned out to be an extraordinary and truly memorable read.

I have long been in awe of Shakespeare's remarkable ability to articulate every single aspect of the human condition, just as Pope identified it as “What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed”.

I was deeply moved by Smith's talent for blending quotations with his often tragic, yet sometimes humorous, experiences.

Without indulging in self-pity, he relates an unbearably unhappy childhood, his profound love for his severely handicapped sister, and his life-enhancing sharing of Shakespeare with the elderly.

A wonderful bonus was the backstage insights he provided from his work as a dresser at the Stratford Connecticut Theatre, especially his memorable encounters with Katherine Hepburn.

“Never a mother, she suddenly acted like one.” Smith has chosen an unusual, but extremely appropriate, structure to tell his story, with the past and the present intermingling in a seamless way.

This unique approach adds depth and interest to his narrative, making it a truly engaging and thought-provoking read.

Cute - not sentimental - I know nothing about him.

It was given to me by a friend. I liked his stories about the older people he worked with the most.

These stories were truly fascinating. They gave me a glimpse into a world that I had never known before.

The way he described the older people and their experiences made me feel as if I was right there with them.

However, the book could have probably done with another few edits to make it really come together.

There were some parts that felt a bit disjointed and could have been smoothed out.

But all together, it was an enjoyable read.

I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for a light and interesting book to read.

It's the kind of book that you can pick up and put down easily, and yet still feel satisfied when you've finished it.

Overall, I'm glad that my friend gave it to me.

I came across Smith's work and was truly amazed by the intensity of his emotion and the profound sense of loss that seemed to seep through every word. It was so powerful that it completely distracted me from everything else. In fact, reading this during January was perhaps not the wisest decision on my part.

The writing was excellent, with a clarity and precision that made it easy to follow and understand. However, the sadness that was palpable throughout the piece was almost overwhelming at times.

Despite this, I couldn't help but be drawn in by Smith's words and the story he was telling. It was a reminder that even in the midst of sadness and loss, there is still beauty and hope to be found.

Overall, I would highly recommend this work to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and emotional read.

Hamlet's Dresser is yet another memoir that delves into the profound impact Shakespeare had on someone's life. Fortunately, I didn't have to abandon this one mid-read.

Bob Smith, a troubled child, was deeply affected by his unstable mother, absent father, and mentally retarded sister. He turned to the words of Shakespeare for comfort and found solace within them. His life was tumultuous until he embraced his calling as a Shakespeare scholar. With this memoir, he attempts to heal the wounds of his past.

Unlike Ghostlight, which had a slow and linear narrative that got bogged down in the details of his early childhood trauma, Hamlet's Dresser jumps around in time. It moves from his childhood to adulthood and various points in between. While this keeps the story from becoming stagnant, it can sometimes feel a bit random. Smith will finish telling a story and then suddenly plop you back in the middle of it a page or so later, which can be disorienting if you're concerned about chronology.

One aspect I thoroughly enjoyed was his entry points to Shakespeare. He would often share a personal story and then conclude it with a quote from Shakespeare. When juxtaposed, these elements would illuminate each other, allowing you to sense the universal nature of the personal tale while also realizing that Shakespeare truly understood the human experience.

He also did an excellent job of portraying the effects of growing up in a Catholic family in the 1960s. The thoughtless things adults and parents say can leave lasting dents and scratches, and even burdens that last a lifetime. At a young age, when the world is still a mystery, we soak up information like a sponge, and something said in jest can echo in our minds for years.

Reviewing memoirs is a challenging task for me. It's not like fiction or a work of art that can be objectively analyzed. It's a person's life, laid bare and told from their perspective.

Nevertheless, I felt that he spent an excessive amount of time on his sister and mother. His sister became a heavy burden, and although he loved her, he was constantly haunted by her presence, often comparing her to the mad Ophelia. His mother, who would likely be diagnosed as manic depressive or bipolar today, used him as a crutch rather than a son. Several stories illustrate this dynamic, but they persist for half the book. Even with the jumping around, you don't reach the point where he starts working for a theater and becomes the titular Hamlet's dresser until about three-fourths of the way through.

However, this is an outstanding book for exploring the impact that high art can have on personal stories, not just Bob Smith's but those of the people he loves. Nevertheless, the pain in his story can often leave you feeling exhausted and affected by his depression.