“Awickedlyentertaining“(TheNewYorkTimes)detectivestorythatchroniclesoneMississippiman’srelentlesssearchforanauthenticportraitofWilliamShakespeare.Followinghisdivorce,down-and-outwriterandMississippiexileLeeDurkeeholedhimselfupinaVermontfishingshackandfellpreytoadecades-longobsessionwithShakespearianportraiture.Itbeganwithasimplepremise:despitetheprevalenceofpopularportraits,noonereallyknowswhatShakespearelookedlike.ThattheBardofAvonhasgottenprogressivelyhandsomerinmoderndepictionsseemsonlytoreinforcethispoint.“Intenselyreadable...withbust-outlaughingmoments“(Garden&Gun),StalkingShakespeareisDurkee’sfascinatingmemoiraboutahobbygoneawry,the400-year-oldmyriadportraitsattachedtothefamousplaywright,andDurkee’sownunrelentingsearchforalostpictureoftheBardpaintedfromreallife.AsDurkeebecomesbetteratbeguilingcuratorsintotestingtheirpaintingswithX-rayandinfraredtechnologies,wegetafront-rowseattothecaptivatingmysteries--andunsolvedmurders--surroundingthevariousportraitsrumoredtodepictShakespeare.WhiskingusbackwardintimethroughlayersofpaintandintothepagesofobscurebooksontheElizabethans,DurkeetravelsfromVermonttoTokyotoMississippitoDCandultimatelytoLondontoconfrontthestuffycuratorsforeverprotectingtheBard’simage.Forhispart,Durkeeistheadversarytheydidn’tknowtheyhad--aself-describeddilettantewithnothingtolose,the“DanBrownofElizabethanportraiture.“Abizarreandsurprisinglymovingblendofbiography,arthistory,andmadness,StalkingShakespeareisa“gripping,poignant,andenjoyable“(TheWashingtonPost)journeythatwillforeverchangethewayyoulookatoneofhistory’sgreatestculturalandliteraryicons.
