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37th out of 1,393 books
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Fool
"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 "
Verily speaks Christ
...moreHardcover, 311 pages
Published
February 1st 2009
by William Morrow & Company
(first published 2009)
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It is little secret that I think that Christopher Moore is one of the funniest writers currently putting ink to page. Whether he's writing about playing stone the adulteress with Jesus, talking fruit bats or a schizophrenic former B-movie star who still believes that she's a warrior babe of the outlands, Moore almost never fails to leave you panting on the floor with tears in your eyes and lungs aching for air. Needless to say, I was all up ons Fool when I first heard of it.
A humor...more
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Christopher Moore's re-telling of Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear has great comic potential. It's just too bad that this novel doesn't come close to its potential.
Told from the point of view of Lear's court jester, there are some genuinely amusing moments in this book. However, as I read the book, I kept thinking this was like a Saturday Night Live skit that had been stretched beyond its initial humorous value and just kept going and going and going.
Told from the point of view of Lear's court jester, there are some genuinely amusing moments in this book. However, as I read the book, I kept thinking this was like a Saturday Night Live skit that had been stretched beyond its initial humorous value and just kept going and going and going.
I know 3 stars!?!?! (note I originally gave this 3 stars, see below for more information) I think I mainly gave this book 3 stars cause I really didn't get into it. My normal Christopher Moore reading experience is usually like this...open book, start reading, laugh, finish book...usually its a 1 sitting read for me. This one took me 3 days...I'm not sure if it was the subject matter - "retelling" of Willy Shakes' King Lear or what...don't get me wrong it had some great laugh out lo...more
Pocket is a diminutive Jester in the court of King Lear. Hijinks ensue. In this darkly comedic retelling, Moore has some fun with Willy the Shake and walks us through a maze of betrayal and downright cussedness in the Britain of a (thankfully) long-gone age. There are times when it is laugh-out-loud funny, particularly if (like me) you tend to guffaw at humor of a low sort. But while I am a fan of Moore, and have enjoyed A Dirty Job, You Suck and Lamb, I found that this one left me wanting. It w...more
It's really hard to describe a Christopher Moore book to anyone who has never read one. Or to anyone without a sense of humor. Or to a Republican. Mainly because when Moore says that "This is a bawdy tale," he certainly isn't lying. Couple that with his completely absurd sense of humor and you're guaranteed a read that will certainly never bore. This is delightfully raunchy stuff; gleefully vulgar; immensely readable. However, there's more to a Moore novel than just the humor. M...more
A shaggalious good time!
Christopher Moore nails it again with his twisted take on King Lear from the point of view of the Fool. Pocket, a sarcastic, manipulating, horny little court jester, takes us for a wild ride of shagging, fighting, shagging, warring, shagging, murdering, shagging.... you get the point.
Oh, and there's a ghost.
There's always a bloody ghost!
I have not read the original, (gasp), but I don't feel it's necessary. Moore takes court jeste...more
Christopher Moore nails it again with his twisted take on King Lear from the point of view of the Fool. Pocket, a sarcastic, manipulating, horny little court jester, takes us for a wild ride of shagging, fighting, shagging, warring, shagging, murdering, shagging.... you get the point.
Oh, and there's a ghost.
There's always a bloody ghost!
I have not read the original, (gasp), but I don't feel it's necessary. Moore takes court jeste...more
OK so, I don't wright many reviews, but I had to for this one because it is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Even if you hate Shakespeare or can't stand the sound of iambic pentameter, this book will make you laugh. If it doesn't, well then at least you know that you don't have a good sense of humor... and that's a good thing to know.
Fool is Christopher Moore's comic retelling of the Shakespeare tragedy King Lear. Not to mention numerous references to other Shakesperean plays. You've got your witches, your ghost, your regacide... But, in my mind, Moore displays his own comic genius best when he combines Shakespeare with Dr. Seuss and gives us a ditty called Green Eggs And Hamlet
Green eggs or not green eggs ?
Whether' tis nobler in the mind to eat them in a box with a fox--
Green eggs or not green eggs ?
Whether' tis nobler in the mind to eat them in a box with a fox--
Nothing like a good Moore-gasm to end the evening.
Fool is a comic retelling of King Lear from the fool's point of view. Pocket, the fool, is lechererous, duplicitous, and all round magnificent. He engineers the downfall of Lear's kingdom by pitting the king's daughters against each other, along with other nobles and their bastards.
There are references to Shakespeare, as well as a vanished race called the Mericans, ruled by the mad King George. For me, the biggest lau...more
Fool is a comic retelling of King Lear from the fool's point of view. Pocket, the fool, is lechererous, duplicitous, and all round magnificent. He engineers the downfall of Lear's kingdom by pitting the king's daughters against each other, along with other nobles and their bastards.
There are references to Shakespeare, as well as a vanished race called the Mericans, ruled by the mad King George. For me, the biggest lau...more
Ah, Christopher Moore rewrites King Lear (and steals from host of other Shakespeare's works in the process) and presents a delightful, bawdy comedic romp through soggy Britain.
Fool tells the tale of Pocket, King Lear's favorite Fool, and the events that unfold as King Lear is driven into madness and destruction, and the kingdom is divided amidst treachery, scheming, princesses, fuckery, washerwomen names Bubble and Squeak, and a bloody ghost (there is always a bloody ghost, of cour...more
Fool tells the tale of Pocket, King Lear's favorite Fool, and the events that unfold as King Lear is driven into madness and destruction, and the kingdom is divided amidst treachery, scheming, princesses, fuckery, washerwomen names Bubble and Squeak, and a bloody ghost (there is always a bloody ghost, of cour...more
I really wanted to enjoy this one as much as Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and You Suck, but I couldn't. The reader is warned that it's a "bawdy tale" but I'm no prude. The tribute that Moore is paying to British comedy is clear, but it did begin to pall about halfway through. (It's the same way that 40-Year-Old Virgin was about 45 minutes too long.) There were still some shining moments near the end, like when a character was described looking as if "...more
This is easily Moore's second best book. I will be hard pressed to list anything above Lamb, ever. The warning on the cover serves perfect justice as it announces This is a Bawdy tale... I didn't chuckle. I didn't giggle. I didn't laugh. I barked. I laughed so often, so loudly, and so suddenly, it was as though I was barking. I read it in one night and am already craving the next Christopher Moore book. Thanks Christopher!!
I dithered about whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. Some of the book was off-putting, inasmuch as even I can get tired of jokes about anatomy and bonking. You can't throw a cat in this book without hitting one. But, on the upside, I tore through the book to see how it all worked out. Moore is fluent in Lear and in a lot of other Shakespeare works--or at least their tropes. He masters the vocabulary quite nicely, with a festive smattering of anachronism that makes it, oddly, all the more pal...more
OMG! This is Moore's funniest book ever. (I may have said that after "You Suck", too) Chris Moore is the literary equivelant of a Mel Brooks movie times 10. We are driving to West Chester, PA next week to get his autograph on this one. (Doubt he'll come to Detroit - no one else is . . .)
France, Shakespeare, the Pope and Jesus all take their fare share of abuse from Moore as he recreates King Lear's story as told by his jester, Pocket, the Fool. As always, the "heinous f...more
France, Shakespeare, the Pope and Jesus all take their fare share of abuse from Moore as he recreates King Lear's story as told by his jester, Pocket, the Fool. As always, the "heinous f...more
This book begins with a warning that it is a bawdy tale, and the author isn't kidding1 If you have read anything else by Christopher Moore you probably know what to expect when it comes to "colorful language" and graphic descriptions (this book is not for kids). But if you can get through the gross out laughter moments this is a fun book. This is Moore's "retelling" of King Lear through the eyes of the court fool. If you are looking for a serious book on this subject, loo...more
Moore, Christopher. FOOL. (2009). **. Moore is a witty, skillful writer – usually. But this time, he gets too cute. “Fool,” is a reworking of the King Lear legend as told through the persona of the king’s fool, Pocket. Pocket is a short guy, who, as an orphan, was raised by the nuns at a convent. It seems he picked up all his skills at sex and intrigues there, as well as any incidental biblical knowledge. He is taken on as Lear’s fool, along with an assistant fool, Drool. He is loyal t...more
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Moore is at it again, this time taking on Shakespeare. It follows (relative term here) the plot and characters of King Lear (including the Ghost--there's ALWAYS a bloody ghost), though Moore freely admits to generously borrowing lines from several other Shakespearian plays (to confuse the critics, supposedly). I am no Shakespearian scholar, so I was worried that perhaps I wouldn't "get" this book--but it really didn't matter. The few things that need to be explained are explained a...more
Pretty funny (certainly not as funny as Lamb, but it had good moments). So, loosely summarized, this is Moore's version of King Lear, told in the genre of crude British comedy (is that redundant?) and from the point of view of the fool. One of my favorite moments that encapsulates what you have to look forward to:
"The sound of boots on stone echoed in the dungeon and I looked up to see the bastard Edmund walk into the torchlight. He kicked one of the unconscious guards and looked ...more
"The sound of boots on stone echoed in the dungeon and I looked up to see the bastard Edmund walk into the torchlight. He kicked one of the unconscious guards and looked ...more
A retelling of King Lear as narrated by Lear's Fool. I think it's brilliant, and that Moore's twisted imagination is a national treasure.
This book is much better than Shakespeare's version. it is funnier and includes witches, ghost shagging, and retards. All things that are quite loveable. Moore turns lear into a joke, and being that the play is relatively boring it is much better that way. In a postmodern way you stop caring particularly about the plot, perhaps because you already know it. and the book becomes more about tiny moments. Also he changes pieces of the plot to make them more interesting.
The thing I love about Christopher Moore is that he is one of the only comic novelists whose books sustain humor and momentum from beginning to end. Too often humorous novels are comprised of a one-joke punch that peters out before the ending -- not so with Chris Moore, and not so with his new book "Fool."
"Fool" is quintessential Moore; it is funny, irreverent, bawdy, silly, absurd, and somehow incredibly sweet. In this book, Moore tackles one of the most revered...more
"Fool" is quintessential Moore; it is funny, irreverent, bawdy, silly, absurd, and somehow incredibly sweet. In this book, Moore tackles one of the most revered...more
I think I'm giving up on this book halfway in. I tried, really I did. I suppose the saying "never judge a book by it's cover" really applies here. When I got it, it had a brown bag looking cover over it that attracted my attention by the short blurb it said about this book is a bawdy tale etc. Sure this is definitely true, I think the story could be really good but it's just too hard to read. Maybe it's me, maybe the book, but the words aren't flowing the right way to keep me intereste...more
I enjoyed this mish mash of Lear. It made me want to watch Slings and Arrows again. I'll have to read it again, because I think I missed some of the more subtle humor.
A delightfully ribald, bawdy, vulgar, and cheeky tale with echoes of Python. It's a wonder I didn't drive off the road when I burst out laughing while listening to it on CD. This is not your college professor's King Lear.
This book is about 90% as hilarious as it thinks it is, which is, really, pretty hilarious.
If you are a fan of Christopher Moore you will LOVE this. It is bawdy, irreverent and completely foul mouthed. I wanted to write down the obscene language for future reference. I laughed out loud the whole way through. Oh by the way, this is King Lear as told by the Fool. Here are some of the names of the towns...Dog Snogging, Bongwater Crash and my personal favorite, Bonking Ewe on Worm's Head. Have a rollicking good time.
Il sottotitolo potrebbe essere: Re Lear come non l’avete mai letto!
L’operazione non c’entra molto con quella relativa a Jane Austen e gli zombie, ma anche Moore sembra divertirsi parecchio a maneggiare un classico. Solo che lo fa alla Moore, quindi prendendosi tutte le libertà del caso.
Della tragedia di Shakspeare rimane qualcosa: padre travolto dall’ego spartisce il regno tra perfide figlie, perfide figlie che si comportano come tali, figlia buona scacciata, un po’ di ammazzamenti tra nobili ch...more
L’operazione non c’entra molto con quella relativa a Jane Austen e gli zombie, ma anche Moore sembra divertirsi parecchio a maneggiare un classico. Solo che lo fa alla Moore, quindi prendendosi tutte le libertà del caso.
Della tragedia di Shakspeare rimane qualcosa: padre travolto dall’ego spartisce il regno tra perfide figlie, perfide figlie che si comportano come tali, figlia buona scacciata, un po’ di ammazzamenti tra nobili ch...more
This was another good read from Christopher Moore, but a little more rough around the edges. There was a good disclaimer at the beginning (at least in the audiobook version) that whould definitely be heeded. If you can get past the crewdness, this really was a good story that will have you laughing from beginning to end.
Publisher's Summary
Christopher Moore, much beloved scrivener and peerless literary jester, now takes on no less than the legendary Bard himself (with the utmost humility and resp...more
Publisher's Summary
Christopher Moore, much beloved scrivener and peerless literary jester, now takes on no less than the legendary Bard himself (with the utmost humility and resp...more
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So, here's the thing - I've never actually read King Lear, and I've managed to avoid seeing it in any form, including the abortive Jason Robards movie a few years back. I know very little about it, except that Cordelia gets hosed over and Lear is hard to feel any sympathy for because he's a toolbox. Also, I think the Fool kills himself halfway through.
So...what did I think of this retelling from the point of view of the Fool - who (spoiler alert) doesn't kill himself halfway throug...more
So...what did I think of this retelling from the point of view of the Fool - who (spoiler alert) doesn't kill himself halfway throug...more
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Christopher Moore (born 1957 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.
Moore's novels typically involve confli...more
More about Christopher Moore...
Christopher Moore (born 1957 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.
Moore's novels typically involve confli...more
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