Booknotes 5.6

The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, published 1596, play, 82 pages. I first read this twenty-five years ago but apparently retained almost none of it. Aside from the antisemitism, I generally liked it. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard, published 2011, history, 368 pages. Loved it! The history — the assassination, the undiagnosed mental illness, the medical malpractice — is tragic and awful, of course, but the b...