Overheard from a freshman study session: "Shakespeare would be OK, if there weren't so many words." Fallon (English emeritus, LaSalle U.) comes to the rescue by explaining Shakespearean language, themes, narrative, character, and even staging for those with little or no previous exposure. Fallon covers a wide range of plays and a lot of ground in relatively few words, and manages to make much of what motivates characters understandable in the Elizabethan world view by applying the basic emotions to modern concerns about such issues as love, war, death, and memory. This supplement would be particularly helpful to those who have a basic understanding of theater, but who have become phobic about Shakespeare's works through unfortunate experience. The separate indices by theme and other topics are particularly helpful. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)