Fool
April 27, 2009
Before I get into my thoughts on Christopher Moore’s Fool, let me tell you how I got a copy. What feels like a long, long time ago on a LibraryThing not so very far away I requested and was told I’d receive an Early Reviewers copy of Fool. My response was something along the lines of, “OMG! Squee!!! OMG!” And then I waited. And waited. And waited. It got close to the release day and still I waited. The book was released and still I waited. I went onto the LibraryThing ER board and other people hadn’t gotten theirs either. Then it was two weeks after it was released. Then three. I whined about it on Twitter. Someone from Harper Collins Canada saw my whine and sent me a message saying, “Hey, want me to send it to you?” What more could I say than “Holy heck yes!” Harper Collins Canada is my hero.
Fool reached me when I was in a reading slump. While I’d love to say that Fool knocked me out of it, it didn’t. When I picked it up and read it I loved it. But then I’d put it down and forget about it for a couple of days. This is highly unusual for me and a Christopher Moore book and says volumes about how much of a slump I was in.
Fool is a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear from the point of view of the court jester Pocket. If I had to describe it in a single word that word would be “bawdy”. Fool is not for everyone, particularly anyone that would describe themselves as a prude. There is, of course, a ghost, spoiled princesses, knockers, witches, war, treason and oh yeah, lots of heinous f- …erm, never mind.
Recommended for fans of Moore and fans of Shakespeare who really appreciate bawdy tales. It’s also the standard from which I will measure all retellings. I read this before I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I can’t help but wonder what Christopher Moore would have done with it…
April 27th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I WANT MY COPY OF FOOL! GAH!!
*ahem*
I am jealous of your acquisition. Hey, maybe I can borrow it from you when next we meet? (Goodness only knows when though.)
Oh, wait! I am a self-described prude! Do you think I’ll like it?
kit-cat’s last blog post..5 Questions: author Michelle Harrison (The 13 Treasures)
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April 27th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Cat, you’ve liked Moore’s other books so I don’t think you’ll be bothered by this on at all.
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