Spanking Shakespeare

Spanking Shakespeare
by Jake Wizner
YA fiction. 287 pp.
Random House. 2007.

When I read books like this, I worry that I'm starting to get old and conservative. It's unfortunate, really. The writing is enjoyable. The protagonist's voice—particularly his sense of humor—is enjoyable. But, in the end, the book just seems overly sexualized, what with the Shakespeare's obsession with getting it on.

Oh. The plot.

Basically, Shakespear Shapiro is a senior in high school. Part of the graduation requirements at his school is to write a memoir. So you get the basic narrative of his senior year interspersed with snippets from his memoir. And the snippets truly are entertaining.

Even so. I was put off by the overly sexualized initial chapters.