A faux folio at the heart of the tragedy of arthur. Arthur phillips, the narrator and a fictional version of the author with whom he shares certain characteristics including the same birthday as shakespeare, comes into possession of a 1597 quarto of a lost shakespeare play. The tragedy of arthur lacks familiar quotations, since it was allegedly lost for centuries. In fact, reading the play is entirely optional to an appreciation of a novel that. This introduction is a false memoir, drawing from elements of phillips real life, but also inventing a complicated family saga where phillips con man fatheralso an arthur phillips, and the source of the playbonds with the narrators twin sister, dana, over their shared love of shakespeare, a love phillips is then left outside. The tragedy of arthur, king of britain by arthur phillips. But phillips knows the play supposedly found in a safety deposit box in america is a fake. The narrator of the tragedy of arthur, also named arthur phillips, has assigned himself the task of writing an introduction to the first published edition of a lost shakespeare play called the tragedy of arthur. Shakespeare, is premiering in a production so dazzling it should make jordan reeves the hottest director in town the erudite author, arthur phillips, has written a work so thoughtprovoking psychologists will be. For the tragedy of arthur, his first book set partly in his native minnesota, phillips has once again mastered and mocked a realm of scholarship. The tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips goodreads. The tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips random house canada 368 pp.
Arthur phillips new novel is a witty take on a play the bard may or may not have written. Almost immediately after starting into arthur phillips magnificent new novel, the tragedy of arthur, i began smiling. The last 111 pages of arthur phillipss new novel, the tragedy of arthur, consist of a fiveact play, for the most part in blank verse and replete with elizabethan diction and syntax. The tragedy of arthur audiobook by arthur phillips.
Imprisoned for decades and nearing the end of his life, arthurs father reveals a treasure hes kept secret for half a century. The tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips librarything. For phillips persona, the introduction is a chance to write a memoir, in which he explains that his father was a conman and a shakespeare fanatic, and that the tragedy of arthur is. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers.
Arthur conan doyle and read the tragedy of the korosko 1896 novel by. In the tragedy of arthur, phillips tells the mostly true story of being asked to write the introduction to a lost shakespeare play entitled the most excellent and tragical historie of arthur, king of britain. I eagerly read each new arthur phillips wildly different books pretty much as soon as they. The tragedy of arthur arthur phillips, 2011 random house 400 pp. He opens with a pitchperfect editors introduction to a purportedly new. Arthur phillips monumental work, the tragedy of king arthur by w. I have been reading a newly discovered shakespeare play, the tragedy of arthur, thats going to cause a stir in the coming year. Part pseudomemoir, part elizabethan drama, the tragedy of arthur tells the story of arthur phillips, a novelist whose con artist father has discovered a lost work of shakespeare.
The tragedy of arthur is a 2011 novel by the american author arthur phillips. The narrative concerns the publication of a recently discovered arthurian play. The tragedy of arthur is a novel about the discovery of what is reputed to be a lost shakespeare play, and with it arthur phillips has found the perfect vehicle for his cerebral talents. Pdf the tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips download pdf. The tragedy of arthur, by arthur phillips the globe and mail. Click to read more about the tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips. Stephen greenblatt, author of will in the world, in the new york times book. Arthur phillips the tragedy of arthur is a clever, genrebending novel that is quite readable without being wholly successful. But the greatest part of the book is made up of a lengthy introduction by novelist arthur phillips, who explains that he has shepherded the play.
The tragedy of arthur is a novel about the discovery of what is reputed to be a lost shakespeare play, and with it arthur phillips has found the. Its doomed hero is arthur phillips, a young man struggling with a largerthanlife father, a con artist who works wonders of deception but is a most unreliable parent. It was published by random house the book takes the form of an edition of the play the tragedy of arthur, along. Arthur phillips tragedy of arthur a novel world of digitals. The tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips, paperback. The tragedy of arthur is an emotional and elaborately constr. Arthur phillips may be mired in selfdoubt, but as any 16yearold knows, a tragiccomic novel with an appealing protagonist is much more compelling than a patchedtogether thirdtier play in. Arthur phillipss splendidly devious novel consists of a shakespearean play of his own virtuosic creation and an introduction that devastatingly.
Its doomed hero is arthur phillips, a young novelist struggling with a con artist father who works wonders of deception. The tragedy of arthur, the new novel by arthur phillips, tells the story of a con man, his son and an undiscovered work by william shakespeare. Author interview arthur phillips, author of the tragedy. He grew up with a conartist father who regularly involved arthur and his twin sister. Phillips, who has made a name for himself at least in critical circles for being both a brilliantly inventive novelist and an even more brilliant mimic, comes into his own in the tragedy of arthur, a novel that blends the genres of memoir and fiction even as it generates a reasonable imitation of a. Download read the tragedy of arthur 2011 by arthur.
Imprisoned for decades and nearing the end of his life, arthur s father reveals a treasure hes kept secret for half a. A longlost shakespeare play surfaces in phillipss wily fifth novel, a sublime faux memoir framed as the introduction to the plays first printinga modern library edition, of course. Download or read the tragedy of arthur 2011 in pdf, epub formats. Read the convoluted introduction, and youll find its phillipss fifth novel, masquerading as autobiography. By turns hilarious and haunting, this virtuosic novel, which includes shakespeares. The tragedy of arthur is much more than a showcase for phillips uncanny impersonation of shakespeare, however. Buy tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips from waterstones today. The plea fails, and the last hundred pages of the book contain the text of the tragedy of arthur by william shakespeare, complete with summary and scholarly footnotes. The last 111 pages of arthur phillips s new novel, the tragedy of arthur, consist of a fiveact play, for the most part in blank verse and replete with elizabethan diction and syntax. Arthur phillips fifth novel, the tragedy of arthur, is built around a fulllength, five. The narrative concerns the publication of a recently discovered arthurian play attributed to william shakespeare, which the main narrator, arthur phillips, believes to be a forgery produced by his father. Said to have been first published as a quarto edition in 1597, arthur predates loves labours lost, and has been cleverly unearthed by the american novelist arthur phillips. In the tragedy of arthur, arthur phillips writes of a man, arthur phillips, who discovers whats purported to be a previously unknown play by william shakespeare. Philip womack is wonderstruck by the tragedy of arthur by arthur phillips, a clever novel about a lost shakespeare play.