My Name is Will is not really a science fiction or mystery book, but I’ve seemed to be a lot of reading about Shakespeare pastiches or plays lately. So you could say I’ve had Shakespeare on my mind. The author, Jess Winfield, is a member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company and is well versed in the details of Shakespeare’s plays and life. This book does a good job at tying Shakespeare’s life to present day and deals with his introduction to the theater in an interesting manner. So, how does he do this?

The full title of the book is My Name Is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare and Winfield doesn’t shy away from sex, drugs or Shakespeare in the novel. William Shakespeare is working at teaching Latin and helping out at what’s left of the family business. His family used to be Catholic, but now is nominally Protestant (yet hoping Mary comes back to the throne and brings Catholicism back). He’s asked to bring a package to an old teacher who’s disappeared (and possibly arrested for practicing Catholicism). Meanwhile in the present day, William Shakespeare Greenberg is a graduate student who’s taking his whole thesis writing fairly slowly while enjoying living off his father’s stipends. When an argument cuts off his money, he agrees to deliver a huge psychedelic mushroom to a Renaissance Fair leader to earn some money.

Both Shakespeare’s dabble in drugs (modern day more than olden times) and sex (olden day more than modern day) and have to decide what they want to do with their lives. The package delivery ties the two story lines together, with olden day Shakespeare dealing with religious issues and present day Greenberg dealing with Grad School issues. The writing is quick and lively and it’s very apparent that not only is Winfield fluent in Shakespeare, he knows how to make it fun and easy for others as well. The book is fairly lightweight and a quick read. Outside of the main characters, there isn’t a lot of character development. Women easily throw themselves at both characters and the drug hallucinations are not really dealt with that much. The endings for both characters are well designed and apparent from the story. And the main characters are enjoyable to follow around.

Overall it’s a fun read and a good book. But don’t go in expecting anything as deep as a Shakespeare play. Recommended.