Of Human Kindness

"Straightforward, persuasive and eminently sympathetic....[C]onveys the pure thrill of close reading: the almost dizzying effect of peeling away layers on a great work of art to find further strata beneath—the intense pleasure of getting it."—Melissa Holbrook Pierson, Wall Street Journal

“A study of Shakespeare's genius for arousing empathy - even in unexpected contexts”—The Tablet

“A warm and committed book, firmly rooted in long experience of the classroom. Its teaching majors in personal reflection on issues well pitched towards young people at university.”—Emma Smith, Times Literary Supplement
 

“Of Human Kindness is a dazzling book, tight in its prose, expansive in wisdom. From teaching Shakespeare, Paula Marantz Cohen learned the Bard's amazing ability to reach us in our humanity.”—David Blight, Yale University

“Cohen has captured a deep truth about Shakespeare’s work that has not been explored before—his insight into the human heart that reveals our ‘better angels.’ This is a subtle and smart work that adds substantially to our understanding of the greatest writer the world has known.”—Carmen Khan, Artistic Director, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater

"Thoughtful, astute, invitingly readable—and uncommonly timely. Especially now that so many younger readers are casting suspicious glances at Shakespeare, Of Human Kindness shows with mind-changing clarity why his work has never been more relevant to our common problems."—Terry Teachout, drama critic, The Wall Street Journal

"Paula Marantz Cohen approaches Shakespeare as a passionately close reader, concentrating less on the dramatic spectacle of the plays than their poetic richness and depth. The result is a marvellously perceptive and stimulating primer on the essential humanity, and humaneness, of this supreme literary artist."—John Banville, author of The Sea

"By tracing the evolution of character and complexity throughout his plays, this book ingeniously shows how Shakespeare, by enlarging his own compass of empathy, also created a more well-rounded and empathetic character for all humanity."—Devorah Baum, author of Feeling Jewish