J. P. Wearing
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From Santa Monica Press: The Shakespeare Diaries: A Fictional Autobiography



Blending fact with fiction and written in diary form, this unique biography of Shakespeare encapsulates his life like never before: from his views on daily events to vivid impressions of the Elizabethan era and his role within such a world. Delightfully whimsical, this distinctive life story provides answers to questions such as What was Shakespeare thinking while he wrote Hamlet? What did he and Ben Jonson talk about when they were having a drink together? Was there really a "Dark Lady"?  and What might Shakespeare have said to the formidable Elizabeth I?  Incorporating fragments of lines and phrases from The Bard’s plays and poems, this portrait will seize readers with its fresh, offbeat approach to the man and his work. Over fifty pages of fascinating endnotes provide further annotation and information for readers who want to know even more about Shakespeare's life, work, and times.

The Shakespeare Diaries is available at Amazon.com. In the U.K.  buy from Amazon.co.uk or  Waterstone's or your favorite local bookshop.



From the Broadview Press, Canada:

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray,
a critical and contextual edition.

The Second Mrs Tanqueray was the theatrical sensation of the London stage in 1893. It established Pinero as the leading English dramatist of serious, "problem" plays, and created a star out of Mrs. Patrick Campbell in the title role. The play recounts the marriage of a "woman with a past" and how it fails because of the double standard of morality applied unequally and hypocritically by Victorian society to men and women. This edition includes a thoroughly revised text based on the author's manuscript, prompt copy for the first production, and published first edition; it also incorporates pertinent stage directions from the first production. The critical introduction examines all facets of the play and its production, and the appendices make accessible a wide variety of hard-to-find contemporary contextual materials related to the play.

“Although I have known this play for many years, J.P. Wearing’s introduction sheds new light on many interesting aspects of the piece, which I look forward to teaching afresh with the benefit of this text. The footnotes and the supplementary material all help in understanding the play, placing it in the social and legal context of its day. Not that it is a mere period piece; Pinero's skill as a playwright is impressive, and one hopes that this edition will encourage new productions.”
Richard Foulkes, Professor, University of Leicester

“A century and more after the fact, A. W. Pinero’s most penetrating play, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, has now been given a full-dress evaluative and contextual editorial treatment that does complete justice to its subject. J. P. Wearing, editor of Pinero’s letters, has brought his finely honed scholarly skills and broad knowledge of English theatre and culture to the task of presenting the single most authoritative text of Pinero’s play in existence and surrounding it with several sets of informative critical, social, and cultural writing, along with a comprehensive introduction, chronology, and bibliography. An immense amount of research lies behind this enterprise, and a great range of potential readers, from undergraduate and graduate students to historians and critics, will be the beneficiaries.” Joseph Donohue, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts

ISBN: 9781551116877;1551116871
216pp. Paperback
$16.95 CDN / $12.95 US / £8.99 UK / $22.95 AUST

Buy The Second Mrs. Tanqueray at Amazon.com.


Bernard Shaw: Arms and the Man. London: Metheun Drama, 2008.

"This Shaw play must be one of the funniest written in the last 100 years. It has you running breathlessly to keep up with its logic" (The Guardian)
Arms and the Man has proved to one of Shaw's most popular plays, challenging notions of romance, bravery, cowardice, patriotism, and loyalty. This is a fresh, up to date and accessibly written critical edition for literature and drama students. An authoritative and academically rigorous edition, edited by leading Shaw scholar, J.P Wearing, under the guidance of the advisor to the Shaw Estate, Len Connolly. Students will find a wealth of information to guide their studies: an extended introduction exploring theatrical and historical context, critical reactions, background on the author and stage history. It also includes Shaw's original Preface, and the play itself contains numerous notes and explanations throughout to aid the student's understanding.

Buy Arms and the Man at Waterstones
or Amazon.

Forthcoming: Bernard Shaw: On War. London: Hesperus Press (publication scheduled for November 2008). Foreword by Philip Pullman.

In preparation: American and British Theatrical Biography (2nd edition). 




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