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Spanking Shakespeare

by Jake Wizner, Richard Ewing (Illustrator)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 1,961 ratings · 465 reviews

SHAKESPEARE SHAPIRO HAS ALWAYS hated his name. His parents bestowed it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has never had a girlfriend, his younger brother is cooler than he is, and his best friend's favorite topic of conver...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published October 28th 2008 by Ember (first published September 25th 2007)

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May 16, 2013 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, meh

When I saw the title of this book, I immediately let loose with one of those Beavis and Butthead snort-laughs. Then I saw the words "lewd," "hilarious," and "vulgar" on the front and back cover and knew it had to be mine. If only I had ended my relationship with this book there because the funniest thing about the novel is the title.

The novel was, as promised, crude. However, it failed to deliver on the hilarious part. When one is dealing with bathroom/sexual humor, there's a fine line between...more

13 likes · like · see review

Oct 20, 2011 Mitch Koehler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book "Spanking Shakespeare" was one of the funniest books that I have ever read! The author, Jake Wizner, wrote this story to entertain a reader who loves humor and comedy. I think Wizner wrote this book for teenage boys and for adults who love comedies to remind them of what their high school years were like.

The theme of this book is a senior boy in high school who is struggling with girls, his parents, and life in general. The main character of this book, Shakespeare Shapiro, has been em...more The book "Spanking Shakespeare" was one of the funniest books that I have ever read! The author, Jake Wizner, wrote this story to entertain a reader who loves humor and comedy. I think Wizner wrote this book for teenage boys and for adults who love comedies to remind them of what their high school years were like.

The theme of this book is a senior boy in high school who is struggling with girls, his parents, and life in general. The main character of this book, Shakespeare Shapiro, has been embarrassed ever since he was born. Shakespeare's parents named him that as a joke and his birthday was on Adolf Hitler's birthday. His best friends, Katie and Neil, help Shakespeare through his tough times. Shakespeare struggles with his "social" life, such as girls and at times feels very awkward. Shakespeare likes a couple of girls, but does not know how to approach or how to speak to them. At Hemingway High School the senior class has to write a monologue about their life. Mr. Parke, Shakespeare's teacher, loves Shakespeare's monologue and so does his class which could possibly change his popularity. The overall theme of the book is what it is like to be a boy who is having the most embarrassing moments of his life in his high school years.

"Spanking Shakespeare" is a narration style book. This book is a story that is told month by month as Shakespeare's senior year goes by. Shakespeare also tells stories about his childhood in between each of the chapters. Those stories were told as he was growing up from his younger days to his teenage days. The stories told the reader about his life as he has grown up to be who he is today.

I personally loved this book because Jake Wizner added some of the funniest lines that I have ever read. I thought all of the stories that Shakespeare told in the middle of the book were absolutely hysterical. There was not one thing in this book that I did not like because it was so funny. I would not change anything. To be honest, I have never read a book like this one, and would rate this book 10 out of 10!(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Mar 06, 2008 Glenn Miller rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teens

Shelves: young-adult

Eh. It was okay. I didn't find the humor very humorous. Shapiro is a sad sack with a decent heart who has a weird name and experiences all sorts of embarrassing situations. The writing is fine.

The problem I had with the book is that the characters feel like stereotypes. Shakespeare himself seems to crave pity for being a victim. He's dorky, a writer, and awkward around girls. It just felt like I'd read about this kid before.

I admire Wizner's attempt to stuff an entire school year into a short...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2009 Miz Lizzie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: older teens

Shelves: friendship, romance, memoir, realistic-fiction, young-adult, high-school, sex, writing

Seventeen-year-old Shakespeare Shapiro writes about his typical teenage boy obsession with sex and chronic embarrasement over his parents' behavior in his memoir, a required senior project. He pushes the boundaries and exaggerates the circumstances for some edgy humorous material that many teens will read with relief to know that someone else actually feels like that too. In between excerpts from his on-going memoir, Shakespeare deals with his changing relationship with his two best friends and...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 21, 2010 Jonathan Stotter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

review 1

I am reading this book for a while and it is very long. It is also though funny and interesting. It has some weird scenes but it's still very good. It talks about a boy who is named Shake Spear and these stories about him in this one year.
I learned from this book that you should be proud of your name. You should like it even though people tease you about it. I think that people who like funny books and that not like reading should read this book.

review 2

I just finished this book an...more

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Mar 10, 2009 Peachy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, family, humour, epistolary, young-adult

Think coming-of-age story for the 21st century. Think Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the mature teen. Think self-deprecating humour by a misfit, that has developed a cult following. Add these all up and you’ve got this hilarious, laugh-out-loud, quick witted novel, Spanking Shakespeare.

Shakespeare has the terrible misfortune of having a father who drinks too much, a nagging mother who is constantly pushing him towards a therapist’s couch, and a brother named Gandhi with a propensity to be malicious. S...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2008 stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to stephanie by: four stars from a.

Shelves: 2008, young-adult, would-rec

i liked the beginning of the book much better than the end, though i suppose all the posturing of the dry sarcasm had to have some point. i also like that the main character (shakespeare) doesn't really change all that much - except, i guess, in his idea of what the point of senior year is.

i liked the secondary characters almost the best: wicked brother ghandi, mr. parke and his left testicle, combat!katie, bowel-movement!neil, and most of all charlotte. charlotte is awesome.

i did not like cel...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2011 Chocolateme3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book, but I don't recommend this book to anyone who does not feel comfortable reading about anything that has to do with how 17 year old boys think, cause you'll find the lines that are crossed pretty disturbing. The part I like about the book is that he balances all this satire humour with a serious social issue. It makes you think.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 05, 2007 Anita added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone and everyone

Shelves: 2007-2008

This is a book about a 17 yr old boy's life. He's a senior in high school and has to write a memoir. This book tells of his horrible experiences in life. The format of this book is special because it alternates between the author writing and the protagonist's writing (his memoir). The protagonist has lived a hard life and he reveals it through writing his memoir. This is an interesting book to read because of its format and that the protagonist is around our age. When reading this book, the read...more

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Feb 17, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-reads

I picked this book up because I have a real thing for (in terms of loving to) reading books with male protagonists who are written by guys. I bought this book on Saturday afternoon and read it cover to cover in about two hours.

The characters are all funny, and I found myself laughing out loud at a couple of points (especially when Shakespeare gets stoned, not something that I generally love to read about, but he's so funny and Shakespeare decides against ever doing it again because of what happe...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Deborah Takahashi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-humor

Shakespeare Shapiro has endured years of his humiliation starting with his name. His parents are crazy, they drink too much, and are in denial about a lot of things. For Shakespeare, not only is younger brother, Gandhi, cooler than he is, Shakespeare has yet to go on a date with a girl, let alone try to kiss her and than have sex with her. While writing his final project (his memoir), Shakespeare is finally coming to terms with his crush on Celeste and actually works up the nerve to ask her out....more

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Mar 04, 2013 Jon Hagmann added it · review of another edition

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner is a hilariously awesome story of the misfit Shakespeare Shapiro. Wizner does an excellent job in writing this book, with the intentions to entertain young, teenage readers. It is obvious that Wizner is aiming to entertain readers purely because of the hilarity in his “impossible to set down” novel Spanking Shakespeare. In my opinion Wizner does a perfect job entertaining simply because I could not set his book down from the moment I picked it up!

The theme of...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Passang rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is about a high schooler named Shakespeare Shapiro who writes in a journal about stuff that has happened or occurred during school once a month. Shakespeare hates his name and he thinks his parents named him after a prestigious author just to make fun of him...I mean his brother's name was Gandhi! The funny fact is that he is also a very good writer! It's Shakespeare's senior year and all he wants to do is to be the kind of person he never was during his previous years of high school....more

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Mar 01, 2012 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Spanking Shakespeare was an amazing book. This was a fantastic story of a high school boy with a melodramatic look on his life. What I loved most about this book, was that it sounded like a high school boy. No editing and that made this book edgy. It was well-written too! It made sense throughout the whole story on what he was feelings he had. Shakespeare had some pretty tough times in this book. So unless the author has a crazy imagination, then he must have had a friend or him go through simil...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Alexa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012-advisory

Shakespeare is a senior in high school. He isn’t that popular, and doesn’t have that many friends. In one of his classes, his assignment is to write a memoir. Shakespeare writes all these stories that happened to him, and they all seem terrible. While he writes them, he is always saying that he is like a nerd, meaning that everyone always picks on him, even his own parents. He says that his parents named him Shakespeare so he can be miserable and have all the other kids make fun of his name. Bes...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Shweta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-contemporary

I would never have read this book if it wasn't for that cover. I am sure some literary types might find it offensive but it made me pick the book .

When I saw the blurb I thought it might be the teen version of Namesake but this was a total laugh riot. Humor ranged from simply funny to crude to cringe worthy. Now , don't judge , that is actually a good thing for this one. Made it believable as if some real person had written down the account and not a fictional creation.

Reading books from male pe...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh, this is a delightfully perverse book. Classified as YA and featuring cynical high school senior Shakespeare Shapiro as its protagonist, this book is definitely meant for older teens (if not adults – I’m pretty sure that if this story were a sitcom, it would be on HBO). If I had read this book as a teenager, I would have received fantastic insight into teenage boys (but been so scarred as to put off dating until my late twenties), because Shakespeare is both an incredibly smart and an incredi...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Dillon Skinner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book Spanking Shakespeare was the funniest book that I have ever read! I really enjoyed reading this book because it was very funny. This was one of the only books I have ever wanted to keep reading. I was not boring, and I was laughing a lot in the middle of class when it was quite. I recommend this book to somone who likes to laugh and jokes around.

I think that the reason Jake Wizner wrote this book is because his high school life was very similar to Shakespears high shool life. Jake's s...more The book Spanking Shakespeare was the funniest book that I have ever read! I really enjoyed reading this book because it was very funny. This was one of the only books I have ever wanted to keep reading. I was not boring, and I was laughing a lot in the middle of class when it was quite. I recommend this book to somone who likes to laugh and jokes around.

I think that the reason Jake Wizner wrote this book is because his high school life was very similar to Shakespears high shool life. Jake's style of writing is to be funny at times while making a point and he also writes seriously at times to. I also think he wrote this book to make boys and girls in highschool laugh and read a story with a meaning.

The theme of this book was to show that no matter how bad life is, you can always make it better. Shakespear Shapiro is a highschool boy who is strugling to get reconized by everyone in school, espically the girls. He lives with his mother who is very conscious on what other people think. So when her kids get into trouble in public, she freaks out. His dad is a laid back person who understands most of his sons life. Most of the time he laughs at Shakespears misfortune. His brother is a Sophmore who is much more popular than his Senior brother. Gandhi (Shakespears brother) has a girl friend and is very popular. Shakespear often finds himself asking his younger brother for advice on girls. The style of this book was a narration because it explained the events in order that they happened. Instead of having chapters, it had months. Like a journal.

My opinion of this book was that it is good for somone who likes to read funny books and likes to hear of other peoples akward sitiuations. The thing that I liked the most about this book was that he just has one bad thing happening after another, and it almost was always a bad outcome. Thing thing that I disliked about this book was that it was almost 300 pages. I like books in the 150-200 page range. If I could change one thing about this book I would change the size of Shakespears family, from 4 to 6 to create more tention. Him and his brother would often fight with words or physicaly. This book isnt similar to any other books that I have read.(less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Jayson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 12th-grade-summer-reading

This was a captivating book, one that was recommended to me, and one that all of my peers can greatly relate to. This speaks of not fitting in, women, men, and senior year in high school! This novel encompasses everything that a teenager goes through regardless of status in class, or cliques, it speaks of things that all of my peers and I are familiar with therefore a great read.

This story is told through the eyes of a high school senior by the name of Shakespeare Shapiro. This is a memoir that...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Cydney Lawson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love it when a book is insightful, hilarious, raw, and unflinching. Oh, this was one of them, by the way. Twas most excellent. The only reason I gave it 4.4 stars out of 5 was that I finished it feeling not completely fulfilled with a few unanswered questions. Other than that this book was amazing and I would reccommend it to anyone who is in a reading slump. It's easy to read, fast to read, and funny to read.

Shakespeare Shapiro is one messed up senior. His friends are messed up. His family is...more

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May 31, 2011 Noel Diggs rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Spanking Shakespeare is one of the funniest books I've ever read. It was side splitting funny. The first time I read it, it was during a silent period in the library. I found it hard for me to not laugh out loud. Luckily, I was able to semi control myself. For those who haven't read the book, Spanking Shakespeare is about a boy's struggle through highschool dealing with; the problems of his own name, Shakespeare, living in the shadow of his younger brother, Ghandi, and ultimately trying to find...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Brandon Wong rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. It is one of those books where you can read and you can't put it down. The book was a little innapporiate here and there but it was funny in it's own little way. I wouldn't give this to any little kid and say "Hey man read this book it so funny". The content isn't as good as you think. It is very funny the book reminds you and relates to what you do so if it reminds you of someone it is kind of funny.

The book starts off with a very insecure boy that hates the name he...more

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Nov 30, 2009 Valerie Chang added it

Shelves: english-12

Spanking Shakespeare is a funny book following the life of a not so popular teenage boy who is consequently named Shakespeare. It is a memoir of his life as in the novel, he enters a competition writing exactly that. It shows how dysfunctional his family is, to say the least, and though he is considered to be somewhat of an outcast himself, he is the normal one in the family. Shakespeare makes a joke out of everything, and his humour actually quite refreshing, as it is more sarcastic and witty t...more

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Jul 19, 2009 Kermit added it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

From ALA's Best YA Books of 2008
I'm not giving this any stars since I didn't finish it. I read about 60 pages.
Shakespeare Shapiro is a high school senior. He's not happy with the name that his parents gave him. He goes to some kind of posh high school in NYC that focuses on writing. Shakepeare thinks and writes alot about sex. Yes, he's funny and clever, and I think this book is supposed to part of the body of books where teenagers are socially inept but inside they're brilliant and funny. But a...more

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Dec 29, 2011 KatherineBook added it · review of another edition

This book is hilarious. It makes me snort laugh. I think it's great for 15/16 year olds and I know a bunch of them who would love it. (I would've)

What makes it hard as a bookseller is that unless I know the parents really well (rarely the case), I can't handsell this to a kid. There's just so much frank speak about drugs, drinking, sex and masturbation... Which is of course what makes it perfect for those kids. I'd never keep it from them and never discourage anyone from buying it, but it's not...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Lnrd rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh how Jake Wizner has succeeded in thoroughly irritating me. When I say this I am not completely stating that this book itself irritated me to such an extreme but i am referring to the fact that when I first opened up "Spanking Shakespear" I secretly contemplated on how exactly I could tear it to pieces through my harsh criticisms of it over good reads. I am making no effort to sugar coat that the first couple of pages upset me profoundly. The vibe that i got from the first chapter or so of Wiz...more Oh how Jake Wizner has succeeded in thoroughly irritating me. When I say this I am not completely stating that this book itself irritated me to such an extreme but i am referring to the fact that when I first opened up "Spanking Shakespear" I secretly contemplated on how exactly I could tear it to pieces through my harsh criticisms of it over good reads. I am making no effort to sugar coat that the first couple of pages upset me profoundly. The vibe that i got from the first chapter or so of Wizner's fictional story of your classic teenage nobody was that he had little respect for the knowledge of those who he anticipated would enjoy his dialogue and character development. I say this because Wizner seems to be under the impression, that if you follow the basic story line of a high school outkast who appears to be in a sad but yet slightly comedic series of situations and plot twists then the reader will be hooked from the first chapter and therefore the author can throw in all sorts of vulgarity and unnecessary teenage stereotypes so that he may call his novel a "Raunchy" and "Out of the box" type of book. This, was what offended me to such high levels. Does Wizner really think that he is bold and entertaining just because he informs the reader within the first couple of pages, that shakespeare jacks off a-lot? I'm all for sick bathroom humor just as much as the next guy, but what I observed from that section was just a pathetic attempt for Wizner to connect with his vast teenage audience early on in the book. However, I wouldn't be a very good critic if I focused all of my concentration on just an early section of the book so I would like to now bring my own critiques to the character developement. This was another aspect of the book that I didn't enjoy. As i read along, I felt as if Wizner was well under the impression that he was ripping off of every "American pie" based novel, of a horny highschool boy having to deal with his own social awkwardness, and in order for him to make his novel stand out and be something unique, he decided to adapt a large group of unbelievably strange characters to which no book would ever have brought forth to the story. I myself could not deal with these characters in the slightest. For example, Shakespear's best friend is a repulsive and unpleasant to be around pig, who spends all of his time talking about his own feces. Why does he talk about his feces exactly? I suppose its because Wizner knew that no other author was stupid enough to have brought such unnecessary development forth. There's also Shakespear's father who, for very odd reasons enjoys informing his son of his kinky sexual activity with his wife. Once again this was just another aspect of the book that felt unbelievably forced to me and as I read on I couldn't even force a grin. For those of you are reading my review, you must be wondering how I can speak so harshly of a book that I gave three stars to and my response to that is that Wizner's writing is quite enthralling. I'm not saying that I loved the actual events that took place, but Wizner's descriptions and tones within the text are the true sources of comedy within the book. His writing is full of irony and sarcasm that are both carried out fantastically I must say, and as much as i hated the story, plot twists, and characters, I finished the book within three days because I could not put it down. (less)

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Oct 06, 2010 Zach added it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 26, 2010 Kathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya_and_ya-lit, romance_or_relationships

Combination of the character's narration of his life and the memoir he's writing for his 12th grade project. I found a lot of it entertaining, although some of it was a little lame (like that Shakespeare has always been traumatized by his first name, but Wizner has given other characters names like Galaxy and Gandhi). There's also a lot of profanity and talk about sex and drugs, which just makes it more realistic in terms of high school life, I think (in Brooklyn, anyway). Shakespeare definitely...more

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Nov 14, 2009 Carm rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009, school-book-challenges, young-adult-juvenile

Spanking Shakespeare was another book challenge by a student at school. Brittney loved this book and was suggesting it for a book club pick. I'm glad I read it first. While it was immensely entertaining, I'm not sure it would have been as good for discussing and the sexual content and the way it dealt with drinking and drugs left a bit to be desired from the books as role models perspective. I will have to buy a copy for my collection but it's not one I'm going to recommend to everyone.

The Chic...more

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Jul 20, 2009 Arlene rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2009, young-adult

Spanking Shakespeare, by Jake Wizner, is a cringe worthy story that will have you laughing and shaking your head at the antics and mental babble of a seventeen year old guy. Much to my chagrin, I have to admit I enjoyed the story, but it's not for the prim and proper, as some of the content can be crude and down right foul. However, it is told in a way that has you laughing the whole way through.

Shakespeare Shapiro is a teenage boy who is plagued with a name he loathes, one that he is convinced...more

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About Jake Wizner

I was supposed to be born on Hitler’s birthday. To my mother’s great relief, I arrived late and was born on Freud’s birthday instead. My parents wanted to name me Max, but my grandfather, a Holocaust refugee, strenuously objected, saying the name sounded too German. My original birth certificate read Baby Boy Wizner.

My mother was a college dean, and I spent the first ten years of my life living in...more

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Quotes from Spanking Shakespeare

“There once was a man who was sore
'Cuz his wife wouldn't open the door.
Celibacy
is just not for me
Let me in, you cock-teasing whore.” — 5 people liked it

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