Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

I would not have enjoyed this nearly as much eighteen months ago, but last fall I took an acting class that focused on a sampling of well-known scenes from Shakespeare plays that showed romantic relationships at pivotal moments. To my great surprise, in this conversational nonfiction work Judi Dench (as voiced by Barbara Flynn, in narration so spot-on I thought it was Dench) and her friend and fellow actor Brendan O'Hea discussed nearly every single one of them—and so I was familiar with the material and ready to hear from Dame Judi about her astounding seven decades in the theater, a span in which Shakespearean performances have featured prominently. Audio felt perfect for this work because it is in fact a series of conversations; the print book is a transcription of those talks. Judi and Brendan are warm and funny and wise: I found them to be good company, interesting and soothing, when I was road tripping alone this fall.