Shakespeare's life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard - from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died Bill Bryson has written a short biography of William Shakespeare for the Eminent Lives series - which seeks to pair great subjects with writers known for their strong sensibilities and sharp, lively points of view