I wish I was brainier because this book is complicated.
In a lengthy fake memoir that is supposed to be the “Introduction” to a fake Shakespeare play, Mr. Phillips pretends to be a fictional version of himself.
He has an intense love-hate relationship with his father. He feels his dad repeatedly abandoned him and his twin sister, Dana, during their childhood because he could not resist committing petty crimes that kept getting him sent to jail. At the same time young Arthur hungers after his absent father’s approval: he wants his Shakespeare-loving father to love and admire him.
In recounting the tale of his fiction, the author does a clever job of orchestrating well-known Shakespearian themes--contingency of reason and love, the difference between appearance and reality, and the ever popular problem of twins, doubles, and confused identities. He mixes tragic and comis elements into one novel.
Then comes the fake play--which has a dissatisfying plot, but was convincingly Renaissanse in tone to my most undiscerning ear. It is very clear from start to finish that the author had a blast constructing this sneaky novel that deftly showcases his own versatility and shiny literary panache.
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