A review by pbobrit
The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It is a very clever piece of writing. The core is the first publication of a previously undiscovered Shakespeare play 'The Tragedy of Arthur', which is given to us in glorious footnoted detail in the later stages of the book (I kind of wish someone would put the play on). the preceding two-thirds of the book is an 'Introduction' written by the discoverers son, the author Arthur Phillips. The Introduction takes the form of a "memoir" where the author not only details his life up to the point of the publication of the play but more importantly focuses his relationship with his dad who has an occupation that would lead one to doubt the authenticity of the play. This is a clever book, where every aspect of it has some meaning in telling the story. It does have a bit of a slow start, but it is well worth pushing through, as by about page 50 you'll probably be hooked.