People who know about my background as a Shakespeare scholar often ask me how I can also be so interested in writing about such nonfiction topics as crime, body-building, gambling, and debutante culture. For me the answer is simple: they all involve exploring human motivation, the most fascinating topic imaginable and arguably the most crucial element of good story-telling. The first question a Shakespearean actor asks is what motivates a character to commit certain actions. The question that drives my nonfiction is, similarly, “why?” Why do women bodybuilders ingest steroids to the point of transgendering? Why do contemporary women (and men) still participate in debutante society? Why do husbands who could divorce their wives resort to murdering them instead? Whether the question is what motivates an athlete to accomplish a stunning feat or why Shakespeare’s Lord Capulet berates Juliet to the point of abuse, the question “why?” prompts the stories that animate most of my writing projects, including the three book projects I’m currently pursuing: “Purposes Mistook,” “Essays on Shakespeare and Modern Culture,” and “Silenced.”
