Hornback's highly original approach works; he offers a balanced, thorough analysis of the ideological underpinnings of a heretofore lost tradition of early English satirical clowning that manages to restore the historical complexity that New Historicists' readings frequently simplified. Moreover, the wealth of close readings combined with his use of many colorful primary texts renders this richly complex yet ultimately accessible ... Read morework appropriate to scholar and student alike.
MEDIAEVISTIK
Persuasive, and most valuable to all interested in the antic, buffoonish, or satirical characters of the Renaissance stage.
SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY
An important study.
CHRONIQUE
This is a valuable and very welcome study on a sorely neglected subject. What it demonstrates with admirable clarity is how mobile and heterogeneous this staple of early modern comedy could be.
MEDIUM AEVUM
A fascinating book filled with important revelations. [It] is admirable in its breadth of vision and its specificity and [it] challenges some long-held assumptions.
COMPARATIVE DRAMA, November 2010
Provides an enlightening and thought-provoking account of the somewhat over-determined subject of the English stage clown. [...] It also sheds some significant light on the workings of the nascent professional theatre which clearly depended on a ludic repertoire in order to underpin and ensure both public and private patronage. Hornback's book shows, however, that clowning and the comic tradition was not only an outlet for social tensions, or comic relief [...] but also a source and arena for important political, religious, and ideological discourse.
NOTES AND QUERIES
[A] useful, clearly written book.
ENGLISH STUDIES
Offers a significant rethinking of early modern English clown traditions and how they interact and represent tensions within Renaissance culture.
CHOICE
Makes a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on early modern clowning, especially for its welcome focus on religion and race.
RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY
With fascinating detail on virtually every page of this book, [the author] has produced a kind of academic page-turner. The English Clown Tradition deserves to be held in very high regard.
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
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