Shakespeare's Literary Authorship

'Patrick Cheney's new monograph greatly enriches our sense of Shakespeare's authorial status in his own time. Cheney's incisive readings of plays of all genres, from early to late, suggest a playwright who reflected on literary authorship while functioning successfully within an intensely collaborative theatrical environment - a Shakespeare, in short, who could write both to the moment and for all time.' Lukas Erne, University of Geneva
'… great value in Cheney's book. The approach yields many fine insights into Shakespeare as an artist … The argument is coherent, significant, and richly productive of careful reading.' David Bevington, University of Chicago
'Cheney has given us a fresh, elegant perspective on the plays that illuminates Shakespeare's engagement with other writers.' Early Modern Literary Studies
'There is no doubt that Cheney's two volumes mark a significant step in the road to a more accurate and less restricted revaluation of Shakespeare's place in the history of English poetry, including lyric, verse narrative as well as drama, in a continuous line that has every claim to the title 'works'. It is in every sense a laureate achievement that hardly needs the qualification 'counter'.' Archiv
'Cheney's argument about the elusive form of authorship he describes is convincing because of the sustained readings of specific details the book offers - his method of seeking authorship in intertextual traces is both suggestive and effective.' Edward Gieskes, University of South Carolina