Investigative Journalist

NYS Writers Institute, September 28, 2006
4:15 p.m. Seminar | Assembly Hall, Campus Center
8:00 p.m. Reading | Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center

PROFILE
Investigative journalist Ron Rosenbaum's newest book, The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups (Sept. 2006) focuses on the controversies surrounding Shakespeare's work and the man himself.

"On theater-versus-film Rosenbaum is startling; on Shylock he is fierce; on Harold Bloom he is pugnacious. And on the contemporary power of Shakespeare's own voice he is electrifying. A spectacular book." - Cynthia Ozick

"Just when you thought nothing more could be said on the subject, Ron Rosenbaum comes up with a wholly fresh approach-a thrilling personal confrontation with the inexhaustibility of the work, the frightening bottomlessness of Shakespeare's genius. The Shakespeare Wars comes to us in waves of new revelations." - Poet Billy Collins

"one of the most original journalist and writers of our time." - David Remnick, editor New Yorker

"one of the few distinctive voices of modern American literary journalism." - Thomas Powers, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian

"a masterly concoction, a blend of boy reporter, Ancient Mariner, lounge lizard and grandpa by the fireside." - Luc Sante, New York Times Book Review

Rosenbaum is also the author of the bestseller Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil (1998).

"Fascinating...A provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart...Mr. Rosenbaum has made important contributions to our understanding not just of Hitler, but of the cultural processes by which we try to come to terms with history as well...He has written an exciting, lucid book informed by old-fashioned moral rigor and common sense." - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

Rosenbaum is also the editor of the essay anthology, Those Who Forget the Past: The Question of Anti-Semitism (2004). Publishers Weekly said, "Rosenbaum's outstanding compilation of nearly 50 sharp essays has the advantage of not only displaying a wide range of views but juxtaposing pieces in debate with one another."

As a journalist, Rosenbaum is particularly admired for his brilliant, multi-layered investigations of conspiracy theories and their cultural contexts. His essays have appeared in Harpers, Esquire, The New Republic, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, and New York Times Magazine. He currently writes a column, "The Edgy Enthusiast," for the New York Observer. Various pieces have been collected in three volumes including The Secret Parts of Fortune: Three Decades of Intense Investigations and Edgy Enthusiasms (2000), Travels with Dr. Death and Other Unusual Investigations (1991), and Manhattan Passions: True Tales of Power, Wealth, and Excess (1987).

Additional Links:
Hunter Thompson, Wm Kennedy, America's Cup, and Ron Rosenbaum
Sunday Times Union Article

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.