Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

SHAKESPEARE SHAPIRO HAS ALWAYS hated his name. His parents bestowed it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has never had a girlfriend, his younger brother is cooler than he is, and his best friend's favorite topic of conversation is his bowel movements.


But Shakespeare will have the last laugh. He is chronicling every mortifying detail in his memoir, the writing project each senior at Shakespeare's high school must complete. And he is doing it brilliantly. And, just maybe, a prize-winning memoir will bring him respect, admiration, and a girlfriend . . . or at least a prom date.


My Thoughts/Review:

Shakespeare is hilarious. Which is fortunate, because the original was kind of doom and gloom. He's very fresh, and easy to relate to. Because, I just have to ask, Who's family isn't screwed up? We're all screwed up, somehow. And Shakespeare embraces it. That's what makes him a great character. He's real, and he's not afraid to let it show.

There's really not a plot, but it doesn't kill the book at all, because I really wanted to know how things turned out for Shakespeare. Can I just say, (again) that Shakespeare is hilarious? I feel better now. Got it out of my system. It was really interesting how the author told little snippets about Shakespeare's life through Shakespeare's writing, because that way, you literally got to see it through Shakespeare's eyes. (And some of his experiences were truly horrifying.) Because Shakespeare is truly uncensored. Anyways, I loved it.

                                                                       ♠♠♠
                                                         Favorite Quote:
I didn't really want to talk about porno magazines with my father, because anything he said was bound to be disturbing.
"You know, I used to read magazines like that," he said. "But then I met your mother and she--"
"Okay, Dad, I don't need to hear that. Does Mom know what happened?"