Sonnets

Lennard J. Davis is Professor and Head of the English Department, as well as Professor of Disability Studies and Human Development, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His works include Factual Fictions: The Origins of the English Novel and My Sense of Silence: Memoir of a Childhood with Deafness.

• 1. THE ONLY BEGETTER2. DENY THAT THOU BEAR'ST LOVE TO ANY3. IF I COULD WRITE THE BEAUTY OF YOUR EYES4. TAKE ALL MY LOVES, MY LOVE, YEA, TAKE THEM ALL5. MY MISTRESS' EYES ARE NOTHING LIKE THE SUN6. MINE EYE AND HEART ARE AT MORTAL WAR7. WHEN IN DISGRACE WITH FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES8. THE EXPENSE OF SPIRIT IN A WASTE OF SHAME9. O, HOW I FAINT WHEN I OF YOU DO WRITE10. SHE PRICK'D THEE OUT FOR WOMEN'S PLEASURES11. IN ME THOU SEE'ST THE TWILIGHT OF SUCH DAY12. THE VACANT LEAVES THY MIND'S IMPRINT WILL BEAR13. MAD SLANDERERS BY MAD EARS BELIEVED BE14. LET NOT MY LOVE BE CALL'D IDOLATRY15. 'TIS BETTER TO BE VILE THAN VILE ESTEEM'D16. THOU ART ALL MY ART17. TELL MY THOU LOV'ST ELSEWHERE18. THE LITTLE LOVE-GOD LYING ONCE ASLEEP

"Davis puts his insider knowledge of academic imbroglios to entertaining (if occasionally shameless) use in this campus novel…Academics will nudge each other with scandalous pleasure at this unusual ivory tower love story." — Publishers Weekly"A fascinating and disquieting look into deepest postmodern academia, through the lenses of Shakespeare's sonnets, deconstructivist dark ladies, fair young men, and much more besides in this riveting page-turner of a narrative. Little did we know that beneath the mild-mannered appearance of Lennard Davis the scholar and department head beat the heart of an in-your-face novelist!" — Gerald Graff, author of Beyond the Culture Wars"Lyric reverie, philosophical reflection, and savage satiric portraiture are linked seamlessly in an academic novel that transcends the genre. Constantly compelling, lucid, and brilliant—one of the best reading experiences I've had in some time." — Frank Lentricchia, author of The Music of the Inferno"Davis writes beautifully, has a keen ear and eye for textual detail, and rings some new changes on the standard mid-life crisis." — Michelle A. Massé, author of In the Name of Love: Women, Masochism, and the Gothic