Sunday, March 22, 2009

Fool by Christipher Moore


From the jacket: A man of infinite jest, Pocket has been Lear's cherished fool for years, from the time the king's grown daughters—selfish, scheming Goneril, sadistic (but erotic-fantasy-grade-hot) Regan, and sweet, loyal Cordelia—were mere girls. So naturally Pocket is at his brainless, elderly Liege's side when Lear—at the insidious urging of Edmund, the bastard (in every way imaginable) son of the Earl of Gloucester—demands that his kids swear their undying love and devotion before a collection of assembled guests. Of course Goneril and Regan are only too happy to brown nose Dad. But Cordelia believes that her father's request is kind of . . . well . . . stupid, and her blunt honesty ends up costing her her rightful share of the kingdom and earns her a banishment to boot.
Well, now the bangers and mash have really hit the fan. The whole damn country's about to go to hell in a handbasket because of a stubborn old fart's wounded pride. And the only person who can possibly make things right . . . is Pocket, a small and slight clown with a biting sense of humor. He's already managed to sidestep catastrophe (and the vengeful blades of many an offended nobleman) on numerous occasions, using his razor-sharp mind, rapier wit . . . and the equally well-honed daggers he keeps conveniently hidden behind his back. Now he's going to have to do some very fancy maneuvering—cast some spells, incite a few assassinations, start a war or two (the usual stuff)—to get Cordelia back into Daddy Lear's good graces, to derail the fiendish power plays of Cordelia's twisted sisters, to rescue his gigantic, gigantically dim, and always randy friend and apprentice fool, Drool, from repeated beatings . . . and to shag every lusciously shaggable wench who's amenable to shagging along the way.
Pocket may be a fool . . . but he's definitely not an idiot.

My thoughts: Moore said: "This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as nontraditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank...If that's the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened upon the perfect story!" Well, it is that and more. It is liberally sprinkled with the "f" word and illusions to the "f" word. I think a few of them could have been edited out. Part of me was thinking "I can't believe I'm reading this", and part of me was laughing out loud. I read it in two days and was thoroughly amused, as well as aghast, most of the time. This was a loose rewriting of King Lear from Pocket the Fool's point of view with snippets pulled from other Shakespeare plays thrown in. I had to laugh every time the ghost showed up. Each time someone said "There's always a bloody ghost." I have read several Moore books and have enjoyed them, so expected to like this one as well. I'd have to be careful with a recommendation though. I enjoyed it, it made me laugh. I LOVE a funny book and seek them out. However, if you are offended by the kind of thing described above, don't get it. I'll have to say that the sex, even though abundant, wasn't nearly as explicit as, say, a scene from a Sandra Brown novel.

Video: Moore talks about Fool.

Moore's website.

Read an article about Fool.


1 comment:

Teddyree said...

I've never heard of the book "Fool" and it probably wouldnt be one that would jump off a shelf or out of a catalogue but thanks to your review... I'd actually love to read it. Great review!