Thank you MacMillan for Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. This audiobook is such a delight, and I recommend this format over the physical book so you can hear Judi Dench talk about her roles and just enjoy the interview style storysharing. This is one to listen to and enjoy.

Stand outs, other than this being a most welcome change from my usual audiobooks:
1. Humor, the stories are funny, joyful, and I felt a lot of respect for the stories, the opportunity that the interviews offered.
2. History and insights into Judi Dench's long career with Shakespeare, her behind the scenes stories and rich detail are captivating
3. Her recall of lines, passages from Shakespeare, what a gift to listen to her perform

Highly recommend. If I taught Shakespeare I would assign this to my students!

This was a delightful book about Dame Judy Denche’s relationship to Shakespear. It was immensely funny and well written. I loved the banter between Judy and Brendan. You can tell that they are good friends and very comfortable with each other.
I had read many of Shakespeare’s plays, and seen my fare share or them as movies. I did not know that Judy had played in so many of his plays. Her dry wit and hilarious humor truly shined in this book. This is a great book for anybody who loved Shakespear. Even if you don’t know much about his plays, you will enjoy this book.
The audio version of this book was excellent. Even though the reader wasn’t Judy Dench, but Barbara Flynn, she did an excellent job of reading Judy’s parts. Brendan was great. We also got a cool extra with the actual voice of Judy and Brendan at the end of the audiobook that was narrated by them. I loved every part of the audio version and can’t recommend it enough.

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent is a compilation of interviews between Brendan O'Hea and Dame Judi Dench. Their humorous conversations take a look into the actress' life experiences performing Shakespeare's work. There are chapters dedicated to each of the plays that Judi has performed in from Romeo & Juliet, to Hamlet, to her least favourite of them all - The Merchant of Venice.

I was given a rare opportunity to be given the audio and digital ARC around the same time. I decided to do a read along, and it was the best decision!

The audiobook is narrated by Brendan O'Hea and the talented Barbara Flynn. Listeners also get the opportunity to hear Judi Dench recite some of Shakespeare's most famous lines at the start of some chapters. These lines are not included in the digital copy. It is also easier to pick up more of the jest and camaraderie between the Brendan and Judi that didn't come out as clearly in the digital copy.

In the digital book, having the ability to read along with the narrators as they perform their lines in Shakespeare's iambic pentameter really helps pull you into the book. Readers are also privy to some of Judi's recent illustrations which are scattered throughout the book as she sketches some of the characters she has portrayed and Shakespeare himself.

Overall, this is a fantastic book! The audio/digital book combo complimented each other immensely. Regardless of which version you choose, you're in for a treat. Judi Dench is hilarious and her expertise in portraying Shakespeare's leading ladies is unmatched.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press (digital ARC) and Macmillan Audio (audio ARC) for the opportunity to read this title in advance of its publishing date. Opinions are my own.

There are no words to describe how fabulous this listening experience was. And I must say I can’t imagine reading this with my eyes instead of listening. To hear Dame Judi Dench perform Shakespeare and chat about it is an incredible treat. The stories and asides are both fascinating, informative, and hilarious. She holds nothing back when it comes to her opinions on each play and character they discuss. Plus Judi and Brendan have a great rapport; they bounce off each other the entire time.
At the end we get a kind of podcast section that was also fantastic. I can get over just how funny she is.
It did help to be familiar with the plays to better understand the breakdown we got. However, there were several I’d never read, and still didn’t feel lost as they discussed. Plus as Judi emphasized at one point, she’s really talking about how one performs these plays, and not necessarily as a thematic study.
Anyway, I highly recommend the audio for this. It was just a next level enjoyable experience!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.