Review of David Gontar’s Unreading Shakespeare in Midwest Book Review

Jack Mason writes at Mason’s Bookshelf on Midwest Book Review:

Synopsis: David P. Gontar has served as Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Southern University from 1975 to 1982. Thereafter he was engaged in the practice of law in New Orleans, Louisiana and southern California. He is currently Adjunct Professor of English and Philosophy at Inner Mongolia University in China. In 2010, he was the English editor of China’s application to UNESCO for World Heritage Status of the Xanadu site in Inner Mongolia, granted by UNESCO in June of 2012. David’s writings have appeared in Southwestern Journal of Philosophy, Tulane Studies in Philosophy, Plantation Society in the Americas, Loyola Law Review, and New English Review.

In “Unreading Shakespeare” Professor Gontar shakes the foundations of Renaissance studies, as he breaths new life into William Shakespeare’s Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff, Rosalind, and many other of his characters in what can be justifiably described as the definitive exposition of Shakespeare in the 21st century.

“Unreading Shakespeare” teaches us how to find the real wisdom of Shakespeare, shows the major philosophical influence on Shakespeare is not Montaigne but Plato, introduces Katherine of Aragon as Feminist Hero, uncovers the comic dimension of Shakespeare s Tragedies, presents the Socratic Apology of Falstaff, and rescues King Lear from modern oblivion.

Critique: An exceptionally well written and presented study, “Unreading Shakespeare” is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Shakespearean Studies Collections and supplemental curriculum lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that “Unreading Shakespeare” is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Jack Mason
Reviewer