ABOVE: Dee-lovely. John Dee is now a footnote among Elizabethan aficionados. Newton greatly admired him. Shakespeare and Marlowe both partially modeled characters on him, (Prospero and Faustus, respectively.) In these latter times, the astrologer/alchemist/spy inspires a meta-metaphysical novel by Peter Ackroyd and a full fledged opera by Blur's Damon Albarn, whose ambitions balloon with every project. Any Britpop fan uninformed enough to expect a 'return to form' (there's a few of those!) is bound to get as violent as Charlie Bronson.  Puccini fans might be a tad upset too. This is its own odd British concoction. Esoteric operas not for you?  Surely you've heard of Blur's 21-CD box set! Get THAT!



As for Peter Ackroyd's "The House of Doctor Dee," it's mostly a post-modern joke that ties the real life Elizabethan Doctor Dee with what may be a homunculus of his creation living in today's London. Alternating between past and present and colliding in an authorial intrusion, Ackroyd's novel is probably an infuriating place to start with his work. Try "Hawksmoor" instead.