Inventing Shakespeare

According to the French philosopher, Voltaire, “if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him,” the idea being that we must have a center around which all of reality organizes itself. Literally, this statement is nothing but wishful thinking — to the extent even that if the universe is not to our liking, we will rewrite it.

But then, that is precisely the point of writing, a magical art in which we create worlds…