The essays and reflections in this collection explore the seriousness of play and the mysteries of inanimate life - 'the unknown spaces, noises, dust, lost objects, and small animals that fill any house' - which have provoked many writers to take the side of these dead or non-human things.
The puppet can entertain or terrify, evoke the innocence of childhood, or become a magical entity, able to negotiate with ghosts and gods. This book takes us on a meditative journey through the world of puppet theater, exploring the mysterious fascination of these unsettling objects.
"Speculative and articulate, Gross's book sees Shylock as a breakthrough for Shakespeare, an early realization of the Bard's power to create dramatic voices that speak for unconscious, even inhuman impulses - characters larger than the plays that contain them. Shylock is a figure who gains strength from those who hate him. He supplies a mask for Shakespeare's own need, rage, vulnerability, generosity, and ambition, as well as his anxious bond with his audience, even as he is a character ready to escape the author's control. In envisioning Shylock as Shakespeare's covert double, Gross probes the character's peculiar isolation, ambivalence, opacity, and dark humor