DARK RENAISSANCE The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival

Many listeners will recall Edoardo Ballerini's lucid narration of Stephen Greenblatt's 2013 audiobook, THE SWERVE. It was an inspired match between one of today's finest Renaissance scholars and one of the very finest audiobook narrators. Author and narrator match again in this insightful biography of Shakespeare's predecessor and early model, playwright Christopher Marlowe. In a brief span of years, Marlowe transformed English literature with a single innovation--blank verse, unrhymed 10-syllable iambic pentameter, his and Shakespeare's "mighty line." Little is known for certain about Marlowe's life, or more mysteriously, his murder at age 29. His sparse biography is fleshed out and enriched by a marvelous evocation of Elizabethan theater before and during his brief career--and his impact on a string of his contemporaries, particularly Shakespeare. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2025]