—Dallas Morning News
Fool—the bawdy and outrageous New York Times bestseller from the unstoppable Christopher Moore—is a hilarious new take on William Shakespeare’s King Lear…as seen through the eyes of the foolish liege’s clownish jester, Pocket. A rousing tale of “gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity,” Fool joins Moore’s own Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, and You Suck!as modern masterworks of satiric wit and sublimely twisted genius, prompting Carl Hiassen to declare Christopher Moore “a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word.”
Goodreads ratings: 3.96 stars with over 45,000 reviews
Genre Listing: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
Goodreads Challenge: 11/30
2018 Book Challenge: #23 A book by an Author named Chris or Christopher (See the challenge here)
Book Review:
I've wanted to read one of Christopher Moore's books for a while now, and I'm glad I picked this one up. I'm going to preface my review with this is apparently based off of Shakespeare's King Lear. I've never read King Lear, so I have no idea how Fool stacks up. I will say that if you are someone who does not enjoy a ton of swearing or laughing at dark things that should not be laughed at, this book is most definitely not for you. I, on the other hand, am a filthy little heathen, so I enjoyed it quite a bit.
I think I mostly enjoyed this book for the sheer humor of it and creative cursing. I thought that Pocket was hilarious, and I enjoyed his witty banter. Beyond the humor, Pocket was just mainly a horny slut who slept with almost as many people as Drool, his apprentice did. Spoiler, Drool "had a laugh with" several people in the story, a ghost, a tree, and possibly an animal. Like I said if you are easily offended this is not the book for you. There's also a fair bit of incest and a dash of necrophilia.
I think I mostly enjoyed this book for the sheer humor of it and creative cursing. I thought that Pocket was hilarious, and I enjoyed his witty banter. Beyond the humor, Pocket was just mainly a horny slut who slept with almost as many people as Drool, his apprentice did. Spoiler, Drool "had a laugh with" several people in the story, a ghost, a tree, and possibly an animal. Like I said if you are easily offended this is not the book for you. There's also a fair bit of incest and a dash of necrophilia.
Plot-wise, the story was interesting but not great. I think without the humor it'd be a lot worse. It was pretty predictable. None of the characters had much depth, but given that it's a comedic take on a play I wasn't suspecting much at all. The story was pretty quickly paced, I didn't really ever feel bogged down by the story and ready for it to end.
Overall, it was a light comical read, and I spent most of my time reading it laughing. I enjoyed it, and I think if this is the type of humor is present in all of Moore's books I could definitely be a fan. If you're not easily offended, definitely check it out. Since I was reading this on the Kindle, I'm going to share some quotes that I enjoyed. This is your warning for Profanity. I'm also going to post some questions after the quotes and rating, so feel free to answer in the comments!
"Sorry. And a dozen other nobles, as well as the Earl of Kent, are here. Kent doesn't want to kill you, does he?" "Not that I know of. But it is only lunchtime." - Page 12
"Precisely. What good are princesses? Dragon food and ransom markers- spoiled brats to be bartered for real estate" - Page 13. This is probably my favorite line in the book.
"Heinous fuckery most foul, lad. Heinous fuckery most foul." - Page 18
"I am chief cheeky monkey to the King of Bloody Britain!" - Page 63
"The dull always seek to be clever at the fool's expense, to somehow repay him for his cutting wit, but never are they clever, and often are they cruel." - Page 101
"The fool's number is zero," she said, "but that's because he represents the infinite possibility of all things. He may become anything. See, he carries all of his possessions in a bundle on his back. He is ready for anything, to go anywhere, to become whatever he needs to be. Don't count out the fool, Pocket, simply because his number is zero." - Page 159
"Sarcasm will make your tits fall off," said I. - Page 255 (Good thing this isn't true. I'd be in trouble. 0_0)
"Sorry, Gloucester, old chap. Most excellent hat." "He's not wearing a hat," said Curan. "Well he's blind, isn't he? If you hadn't said anything he might have enjoyed his bloody hat, mightn't he?" - page 270
"It's not proper to dry-hump the deceased, love." - Page 348. I mean, good life advice, I suppose.
Discussion Questions
1.) If you've read both Fool and Shakespeare's King Lear how does Christopher Moore's comedic version compare to the original classic?
2.) What did you like the most or the least about this story?
3.) If you've read other books by Christopher Moore are there any others you would recommend?
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