De Vere as Shakespeare: An Oxfordian Reading of the Canon.

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Author: Fair, Shana C.1

LITERATURE

Farina, William.
De Vere as Shakespeare:
An Oxfordian Reading of the Canon.
McFarland. Apr. 2006. 280p. bibliog. index.
ISBN 0-7864-2383-8. pap. $35. LIT

This is a compilation of current studies positing that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, is the real author of the Shakespeare canon rather than Will Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon. Yet Farina, a Shakespeare hobbyist and executive in a national real estate consulting firm, presents no new evidence to support his thesis. A short chapter is devoted to each play and sonnet in which Farina analyzes the work and identifies internal evidence that he believes supports the de Vere authorship theory. Although Farina provides ample footnotes, many reference secondary rather than primary resources; some references do not advance his argument. For example, he backs up his statement, "Much has been written about Shakespeare's fascination with…northern Italy…" by citing the Cole Porter song "We Open in Venice" from Kiss Me Kate. His bibliography is limited and does not include many of the standard studies of Shakespeare. Not recommended.

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By Shana C. Fair, Ohio Univ. Lib., Zanesville