Publication
Black Swan (1999), 256 p.
Collections
Awards
Description
First published in 1941, No Bed for Bacon is a comic classic. Out of print since 1985, but much-discussed in the press following the release of the Oscar-showered film Shakespeare in Love, the novel fizzes with wit, warmth and the occasional custard pie. It is a festive celebration of 'The Great Bard' par excellence. Bess is stirring in her four-poster and is feeling neither happy nor glorious. Down at the Globe, Will Shakespeare is chewing the end of his quill: something's amiss with Love's Labours Wunne. And Walter Raleigh, boiling his new potato in the depths of the regal kitchens, is getting very hot under the collar of his latest cloak - will his spud achieve the perfect fluffiness for The Royal Tasting? Heads are sure to roll before the day is out. which will delight all scholars of Shakespeare, history and gleeful frivolity alike.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Cariola
No Bed for Bacon, written in 1941, is believed by some to be the inspiration for the film 'Shakespeare in Love,' but aside from the appearance of a young woman named Viola who disguises as a boy player and falls for Will Shakespeare and the continuing struggle of the company to survive, there's not
It's all in good fun, and I did indeed get some laughs out of it, but I have to admit that, as a Shakespearean, I found myself gritting my teeth at some of the anachronisms. The story takes place in 1594, but Sir Philip Sidney, who appears in several scenes, was killed at Zutphen in 1586--two years before the Armada. The timing of Love's Labour's Lost is right on, but Twelfth Night wasn't written for another six or seven years. And Bacon was not appointed Attorney General until 1613--ten years after Elizabeth's death. I apologize if all that sounds rather pedantic. But as a teacher, what bothers me is not the anachronisms--this is, after all, fiction--but rather that so many readers, especially students, take historical fiction more as historical fact than fiction. But I guess I should take solace in the fact that few of them will be reading a book written in 1941!
Overall, a fun piece of fluff for those who love the Elizabethan period and who are able to separate fact from fiction.
Show More
a lot of similarity. Nevertheless, the novel is a lot of fun. The title character, Elizabeth's taciturn Attorney General, longs to be given a bed in which the queen has slept--apparently a great honor. (Brahms & Simon suggest that he was the model Malvolio.) In between, London is preparing for a celebration marking the sixth anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Henslowe and Burbage are scheming to destroy one another's theatres, Sir Walter Raleigh is about to introduce the potato, and the Earl of Essex has big plans of his own. While Shakespeare strives to fulfill a commission to write a play for the celebration, what he is really absorbed with is a new play entitled 'Love's Labour's Wonne.'It's all in good fun, and I did indeed get some laughs out of it, but I have to admit that, as a Shakespearean, I found myself gritting my teeth at some of the anachronisms. The story takes place in 1594, but Sir Philip Sidney, who appears in several scenes, was killed at Zutphen in 1586--two years before the Armada. The timing of Love's Labour's Lost is right on, but Twelfth Night wasn't written for another six or seven years. And Bacon was not appointed Attorney General until 1613--ten years after Elizabeth's death. I apologize if all that sounds rather pedantic. But as a teacher, what bothers me is not the anachronisms--this is, after all, fiction--but rather that so many readers, especially students, take historical fiction more as historical fact than fiction. But I guess I should take solace in the fact that few of them will be reading a book written in 1941!
Overall, a fun piece of fluff for those who love the Elizabethan period and who are able to separate fact from fiction.
Show Less
LibraryThing member annbury
A comic historical novel about Elizabethan England (well, sort of about Elizabethan England) written from a very 20th century point of view. The plot concerns a writers' block suffered by one W. Shakespeare, his entanglement with a lovely young lady named Viola, and a series of cameo appearances by
Show More
a gallery of Elizabethan notables, from (of course) Francis Bacon to (of course) Gloriana. An amusing book, though I don't think it is as funny as the authors' "Don't Mr. Disraeli". English majors, however, will revel in both. Show Less
LibraryThing member kingpellinor
What a surprise! Picked this up off the bookswap shelf in the Common Room. Only ever heard of it before in connection with Stoppard's 'Shakespeare in Love', but it's not really the source for the film at all. Ned Sherrin's intro says Stoppard read through it to check he wasn't incorporating the
Show More
same jokes. He wasn't; and it's a really wittily written, beautifully constructed and very skillful little tome. Greatly enjoying reading it, and am just a little curious as to whether it predates Anthony Burgess's books on the Shakespearean theme, Nothing Like the Sun and Enderby's Dark Lady. Something about the way scenes change ... Show Less
LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
It is time for the Queen's Revels and Elizabeth is on a tear. It seems as if she will not be pleased with anything and anyone.
Shakespeare has been commissioned to write a play but can't make up his mind. The two theatres are major competitors and are out to destroy each other while being polite and
Oh, and Bacon and the bed? Seems there is quite a cachet to owning a bed that the queen has slept in. Quite a status symbol and Bacon is out to get the next one this time.
It is the lunatic asylum out on the streets and in court with all that is going on. Humourous and entertaining with an Elizabethan flourish.
Shakespeare has been commissioned to write a play but can't make up his mind. The two theatres are major competitors and are out to destroy each other while being polite and
Show More
courteous to each other's faces. Essex is rebelling and Raleigh is worried how his new discovery will be liked or not liked. He has just brought a new delicacy - the potato - to England and it is to be tasted for the first time during the events. Drake just goes on and on about his old battles. Oh, and Bacon and the bed? Seems there is quite a cachet to owning a bed that the queen has slept in. Quite a status symbol and Bacon is out to get the next one this time.
It is the lunatic asylum out on the streets and in court with all that is going on. Humourous and entertaining with an Elizabethan flourish.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Take some odd accounting entries by Philip Henslowe, some of the plot lines from "Twelfth Night", a few quotes from Francis Bacon, and a mass of lore from Elizabethan Drama Scholars, old sailors reminiscing about the Armada...and you will spend at least a quarter of an hour howling with laughter.
Show More
Into the bargain, you will learn a good deal about how hard it was to write Shakespeare's plays, considering the nutcases he had to deal with. . I read it fifty-six years ago, and can still recall the punchlines. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780552998550
Physical description
256 p.; 7.8 inches
Pages
256