Tom Stoppard: A Life

It should come as no surprise that the only book I have pre-ordered so far in 2021 is Hermione Lee’s new biography TOM STOPPARD: A LIFE. While Stoppard has always been one of my favorite playwrights, I didn’t know how fascinating his upbringing was! As a child, he fled from Czechoslovaki to Singapore, to India, and finally to England. He never went to college and wrote his first huge hit play, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, at age 29. He didn’t know his ancestors were Jewish until he reached middle-age, which led him down the rabbit hole that became his recent play LEOPOLDSTADT. And on top of that, he also ghost wrote all of INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE?! No wonder the book is 872 pages! (I wish I were joking but I really think it’s worth it anyway.) 

—Julia Hammer, Creative Executive