About the Author

Scott Newstok is professor of English and founding director of the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment at Rhodes College. A parent and an award-winning teacher, he is the author of Quoting Death in Early Modern England and the editor of several other books. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

Reviews

"Scott Newstok's latest book, How to Think Like Shakespeare, could be just the game changer the teacher (and administrator should have) ordered. . . . I couldn't help but be won over by his earnest enthusiasm for the subject and ended up wanting to hear still more."---Robert M. LoAlbo, PlayShakespeare.com
"An engaging, witty, wide-ranging critique of contemporary pedagogical fads and a spirited provocation to return to classical and Renaissance models. . . . A book of heavy import, lightly tossed, it is at once instructive and amusing, elucidating why and how Shakespeare is good to think with."---Louis J Kern, The Key Reporter
"Scott Newstok's How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education really is a feel good book. A thick lather of the author's enthusiasm, a comprehensive coverage of his subject matter, and the common sense inherent in his value judgments, work together to whip up a likeminded enthusiasm in his readers . . . I found the experience of reading Newstok nothing short of exhilarating"---Ian Lipke, Queensland Reviewers Collective
"[How to Think Like Shakespeare] is a playful, quote filled romp into the mind of Shakespeare." * Fourteen Lines blog *
"How to Think Like Shakespeare is not the work of an activist militating for his cause but a thinker reveling in his work. Newstok reminds us that this work is, above all, fun, and the calling on display is infectious."---Karl Schuettler, A Patient Cycle
"A lively and evocative new volume . . . a beautifully written, succinct description of educational principles derived from the best features of a renaissance education. The book is 'deliberately short,' but packed with quotations from the Bard and scores of great authors, all combined to make us think - and, with a little luck, to think more like 'our myriad-minded Shakespeare.' I highly recommend Newstok's book for its pith, clarity, and insight - and the sheer breadth of its bibliography, including delightful footnotes, a bibliographic essay, and an index of Shakespearean cornucopia."---Rob Jackson, Institute for Classical Education
"One of the Times Literary Supplement's Books of the Year 2020"
"A clever new book . . . [How to Think Like Shakespeare is] an incisive commentary on the pitfalls of contemporary American education . . . a smart and valuable new book."---Daniel Blank, Los Angeles Review of Books
"As a concise history of Western pedagogical development, How to Think Like Shakespeare succeeds beautifully. . . . By the end of How To Think Like Shakespeare, [Newstok] has us thoroughly convinced. To think and create effectively requires one to train and practice. By apprenticing ourselves to the past, we can ourselves become links in the glorious chain of human intellectual achievement."---Fernanda Moore, Chapter 16