All the World's a Grave: A New Play by William Shakespeare

This is equal parts collage-art genius and Shakespeare refresher course. I can't tell you how strange and fun it is to see familiar lines re-cast in new scenes and in the mouths of new characters -- you really do have to experience this for yourself. Its proof that ripping apart the canon and reconstituting it into something new is an entirely worthwhile endeavor, one that can yield surprising results. I also saw an actors' reading from this and would recommend it to theater groups looking for a new way to do Shakespeare.

John Reed achieves something extraordinary in "All The World's A Grave". It's an ambitious piece of work, but he manages to pull it off. The writing is darkly addictive, humorous, and blunt. I read every word with admiration and pleasure.

The last time anyone at a party could say, "Have you read the new Shakespeare?" was before the piano was invented. And now we're seeing just that on our Kindle's over four hundred years later. I'm more of a person who knows people who love Shakespeare. What I liked about ATWAG was that it was accessible for me too. I'm not Shakespeare scholar and didn't feel I needed to be to enjoy it. I loved the witty plot and got the humor. And it was fun knowing that this book was crafted in the tradition and structure of Shakespeare's other works and yet not exactly written by him. All together it was a great experience and a highly recommended read (Reed). And of course, it's a perfect gift for all my wonderful Shakespeare nerd friends.

I liked watching All the World's a Grave performed as a play, at the Marble Cemetery . I began to see the Shakespeare lines as new words with complex definitions.Then, even the plot created by these combinations added layers. And the multilateral assault of life's problems on Hamlet awarded a dark satisfaction.

Ripping yarn, ripe with tragic turns and poetic polish. A nice follow up to Snowball: cruel, unusual, and Shakespeare all over again. The spelling is updated, and the language is somehow Elizabethan, but easier.