In Taking What I Like Linda Bamber reinvents some classic texts, mostly Shakespearean. Like Shakespeare himself, she sometimes showcases the brilliance of her models and sometimes plunders the past to make something new. As entertaining and contemporary as these stories are, they also revel in the plays they take apart. Alternating between admiration and attitude, Bamber layers her stories with commentary, history, and politics, pausing as they build for fascinating excursions into our present concerns as well as those of the past. Issues of racism (Othello), gender and sexuality (As You Like It), political power (Henry IV), and the decline of empire (Antony and Cleopatra) put the Bard in a decidedly 21st century framework.

Othello is the only minority member of the Department, so Desdemona, currently serving as Department Chair, is running an affirmative action search. A likely candidate reminds her of Othello in the old days, before he smothered her with a pillow; against her will, she develops a crush on the new guy. Iago gets into the act, stirring up mischief as before. Will it all end in tears once again? Read "Casting Call," one of eight stories in Linda Bamber's new collection, to find out. You'll find yourself caught between laughter and suspense as you encounter these and other familiar characters from Antony and Cleopatra to Henry IV, from Jane Eyre to real-life American artist Thomas Eakins.