Fool

Great Shakespeare fun

A story that kept a grin on my face from beginning to end, this story has great humor and a grand amount of shag to boot. If you’d like to try Christopher Moore’s stories, this is a great first read

Moore tackled Shakespeare's King Lear right into the mud and gave it a 'right good sodding'. Moore is irreverent and brilliant and crude and erudite all on the same page. Full of hilarious anachronism, bawdy humor, and quick-witted word play The Bard himself would be proud of, he somehow manages to squeeze in some actual ideas about power and the things it does to people. Fool is a bit like what one could expect if the creators of Monty Python, and Black Adder met up with Eddie Izzard and they all got drunk together and decided to rewrite Shakespeare without the iambic pentameter. Or maybe what Shakespeare would write today for an HBO / BBC production. Lots of nudity, gratuitous sex, violence, and twisted plots all set in a beautiful, albeit historically inaccurate time period. This book is for twisted people who want to laugh at the world, themselves, and love language. Or at least love foul language mashed in with all the inappropriate witty remarks. Moore takes liberties with the plot of King Lear but really, it wasn't like Shakespeare created it of whole cloth.... The book reminded me of just how crude the Bard could be (and Moore has some wonderful expletives of his own) and how history was malleable to him. It is rare a book that can make me laugh out loud and leave me with line after line running through my head. I gave up highlighting passages I liked because by the third chapter it was looking like a textbook from a freshman who had no clue how to highlight only the important points because everything seemed important - everything here was funny. Now, I say all this with caution. This book, this humor is not for everyone. Like, "fundamentalists" of any ilk. Or people who don't get Shakespeare (you missed the humor in Hamlet????). Or people who can't laugh at the true absurdities of life. Or people who who keep a cuss jar. Or anyone who believes in censorship.... or can't laugh about sex.... or well, you get my drift. No? (I typed in bloody perfect f****** French.)

Excellent book. From beginning to end, Pocket ( the lovable fool ) keeps you on your toes. From witty quips to long winded jests and quite a few twists and turns, you are a Fool if you don't read this book.

Moore is able to jump from Shakespearian verse to the lingo of the Renaissance painters without missing a beat. What is even more remarkable is that he is able to make every story funny while using the language of that era to do it. Moore is a talented writer with a twisted mind (forgive me if that was redundant). My only complaint with Moore is the long time between novels. It is completely understandable given the complex research that goes into each effort, but that doesn't make the waiting any easier. The only disappointment was Griff. I hope it was a one time experiment because waiting patiently for a new Moore novel and then getting the "action novel" or whatever the term for these comic books was extremely disappointing.

If you like raunchy humor and aren't easily offended, do yourself a favor and indulge! It helps to know some Shakespeare, he uses the language a bit; very "British Humor"; absolutely funny as hell!

First! Okay now that that's out of the way...this book was wonderful! A bit different than his usual stuff but hilarious and a fun read as always. Once you get past the language it's tough to put down. 5 stars :)