Fool

What do I do now? It started with Lamb and then I had to read every book Chistopher Moore has written in order, starting with Practical Demonkeeping and finishing with Fool. I really enjoyed Fool because, like Lamb, it was different from most of his other novels. But what wasn't different was that it was just as terrific as all the other novels. Now I don't know what to do while waiting for his next novel to come out. If you are looking for a Christopher Moore novel to read, this is a great one, but you can't go wrong with any of them!

Fool, Christopher Moore's most recent novel to hit the shelves, is a bawdy and perplexing tragic comedy based upon the Shakespearean play King Lear. If you are not a literary expert or Shakespeare enthusiast fear not, Moore will take even the most ignorant along for his crazed ride of "gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity." If you are familiar with King Lear, do not expect Moore to use this play as a brace, yet merely as an outline. While working through the pages of Fool, you will find a cornucopia of plots, characters, and underlying ideas from close to a dozen of other Shakespeare works thrown into a blender with a generous does of Moore's own wit, and enough Elizabethan wordplay that will have you quoting his writing for weeks. The story unfolds from the point of view of the King's fool, Pocket. He is a tauntingly contemptuous, straightforward bard, who is not afraid of offending every nobleman, shagging every wench, and encouraging every death threat that happens upon his path (not necessarily in that order of course). Pocket completely immerges himself in a twisted and ever unfolding plot after the elderly, senseless King Lear divides his kingdom between his two lying and deceitful daughters Goneril and the "shagnatious" Regan. Lear then banishes his formerly most favorite and loyal daughter, Cordelia, along with his trusted friend and advisor Kent for merely speaking the truth. With the help of his gigantically dim, yet always randy apprentice Drool; Pocket sets forth to set things right armed with nothing more than his throwing daggers, acute wit, and the occasional witch or wench. I highly recommend Fool to anyone who is need of a good laugh and doesn't mind an abundance of hilariously written bawdy humor that has become Moore's forte. I found myself the literally laughing out loud countless times throughout this novel. If you find yourself amused by this book, then I highly recommend Lamb, another equally sacrilegious and utterly irrelevant parody from the comical mind of Christopher Moore.

This is my first experience with Christopher Moore. It won't be my last. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the funniest book I have ever read. There are parts--mostly the incredibly creative insults--that are side-splittingly hilarious. The Bard himself would be proud of most of these insults. Twisted into the story of Lear are bits of his other plays--the witches from MacBeth, the ghost (there's always a bloody ghost), "Green Eggs and Hamlet," etc., etc. What an enjoyable read, but by no means for the faint of heart. Knowing a little about the characters in Lear is helpful, but not completely necessary for the pure enjoyment of the book. You'd probably miss a few of the inside jokes, though.

In the "spirit" of the book: Bawdy, audacious and wry Moore's Shakespeare is really quite fly With Lear's way cool fool and a sidekick named Drool You really should give it a try Ribald laughs galore and of course there's a wh*re If the Bard aint your bag, then Read for the shaggin' 'Cuz nobody does it like Moore* *You know, in writing. When Christopher Moore announced his next book would be Shakespearean, my first reaction was "Oh no!" Let's put it this way, I don't go out of my way to encounter Shakespeare. However, I am a huge fan of Moore's and I knew in his very capable hands, I would probably be OK. When I read the word "bung" on the second page, I knew that it would be more than OK! Unfortunately for me, I didn't know Lear's story at all so I did feel a bit at a disadvantage. The book totally works as a story in and of its own, but I would have enjoyed "getting" all the references. This book is extremely clever, and even without knowledge of Lear I surprised myself by recognizing many Shakespearean references. All in all, a VERY enjoyable romp through middle-ageish England.

Christopher Moore is at his best when he stretches himself. He can keep cranking out amusing books set in Pine Cove and San Francisco, and I will joyfully continue reading them. But it is the rarer and more challenging works (such as his prior novel LAMB) that I really look forward to with relish. Fool is Moore's take on Shakespeare in general and King Lear in particular. Once again, Moore has set himself the challenge of finding the comedy in an epic tragedy. In Fool, now that I think of it, he uses a device similar to the one he used in LAMB--a charming and ridiculous narrator. This is Lear told from the point of view of the court jester, Pocket, a character as endearing as any that Moore has written. Through Pocket's eyes we learn more about the goings on in Castle Lear than we have been privy to in the past. And, we learn the fool's own fascinating life story. It is possible that devotees of the Shakespearean original did not realize that the Lear household actually revolved around the fool? I don't know that there's much point in giving you a Cliff's Notes version of the plot. Lear was the elderly king of all Britain. As the play/novel opens, he has decided to divide his kingdom among his three adult daughters. The division will be determined by who loves him the most. (That's fair, right?) The two eldest, Goneril and Regan flatter him mightily. Only the youngest, Cordelia, speaks truthfully and modestly of her love for her father. But her sincerity is lost on Lear. He flies into a rage. He disinherits Cordelia and divides the kingdom between Goneril and Regan and their respective husbands. Lear's best friend Kent says, "Hey, this is crazy. What are you doing?" and gets banished for his trouble. And so it begins, eventually leading to murder, war, madness, and so forth. This ringing any bells? You may be asking, "Where's the fool?" That's just it. Pocket is everywhere. He's telling the story. He is the witness to it all. He knows the entire back story, has all the family secrets, knows how those three girls lost their virginity, etc. And you know that's going to come up, because this is a Christopher Moore novel, after all. Shakespeare may be hallowed ground to some, but Chris Moore isn't above throwing in a little bathroom humor, some gratuitous sex, and a joke or two that'll make you groan. Actually, I don't think Will Shakespeare was above any of those devices himself. Some of the humor is terribly erudite and sophisticated and some is well, idiotic. (Literally, as it happens.) Say what you will, this novel is laugh-out-loud funny! I'll be honest, there were times when the mixture of comedy and tragedy clashed a little uncomfortably for me. It's a freakin' depressing story, y'all! But Moore's twisted take on Shakespeare and his obvious love and respect for the Bard are all but brilliant. Bravo, Chris! Do keep stretching those literary and creative muscles. This is your best work in years.