Shakespeare Saved My Life: An Uplifting Memoir for Anyone Who Has Been Changed by a Book

Shakespeare Saved My Life: An Uplifting Memoir for Anyone Who Has Been Changed by a Book

<p>"A powerful testament to how Shakespeare continues to speak to contemporary readers in all sorts of circumstances."—<em>Booklist</em></p><p><strong>While He Was Breaking Out of Prison, She Was Trying to Break In.</strong></p><p>Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura Bates thought she had seen it all. That is, until she decided to teach Shakespeare in a place the bard had never been before — supermax solitary confinement. In this unwelcoming place, surrounded by inmates known as the worst of the worst, is Larry Newton. A convicted murderer with several escape attempts under his belt and a brilliantly agile mind on his shoulders, Larry was trying to break out of prison at the same time Laura was fighting to get her program started behind bars. </p><p>Thus begins the most unlikely of friendships, one bonded by Shakespeare and lasting years—a friendship that, in the end, would save more than one life.</p><p>"The work that Laura Bates has been doing for years with prison inmates and Shakespeare is of extraordinary importance. It has a kind of beauty and symmetry all its own."—David Bevington, Shakespeare scholar, University of Chicago</p><p>"An eye-opening study reiterating the perennial power of books, self-discipline, and the Bard of Avon."—<em>Kirkus</em></p>