Archive for October, 2008

Of MacMavericks and Kings

Last week Stephen Colbert waxed poetic about the presidential candidates’ similarities to Shakespearean characters, inviting noted Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt to illuminate what would happen if McCain and Obama’s dramatis personae became dramatis presidentae.

It’s always nice to see classic literature highlighted in new ways. Bonus points to Greenblatt for being such a good sport—and they say public intellectualism is dead!

Check out the segment below. Whether you’re a liberal or conservative, you’ve got to admit that when it comes to Shakespearean verse, Colbert can seriously throw down.

More Fun with Banned Books

Censorship

Thanks to one of DailyLit’s friends on Twitter (hi, acaciaO!), you can test your knowledge of banned books with a fun quiz from The Guardian. It’s short–only 13 questions–and worth doing if for nothing else but the snarky/funny commentary on your score (even if you get 12/13 right–take it from me).

Bonus: If you’ve been wondering about the banning of The Call of the Wild mentioned in my post yesterday, the quiz reveals what earned that book its ticket out of Yugoslavia.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

If it goes, um, not so well, don’t worry: you can reaffirm your commitment to free speech by reading one of our banned books.