Fool

A Novel

By: Christopher Moore

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

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 respect) with a twisted and insanely funny tale of a moronic monarch and his deceitful daughters, as seen through the eyes of a man wearing a codpiece and bells on his head.

Pocket has been Lear's cherished fool for years. So naturally Pocket is at his brainless, elderly liege's side when Lear demands that his kids swear to him their undying love and devotion. Of course Goneril and Regan are only too happy to brownnose 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. And the only person who can possibly make things right . . . is Pocket. Now he's going to have do some very fancy maneuvering: cast some spells, 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, 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.

©2009 Christopher Moore (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

As always

Love Moore. Always funny. Always quirky. Add in Shakespeare and I'm hooked. He kept it just close enough I was reminded of the bard, but made it enough his own to keep it unpredictable.

Smashing Great Entertainment

Absolute brilliance. Highly recommended entertainment, fantastic narration, amazing story. I will forever have the phrase "f**k stockings" in my repertoire from now on.

So much fun!

Not knowing much Shakespeare, I was afraid to read this for fear of being lost. But, having read all the rest of Christopher Moore's books and desperate for more "heinous fuckery" I took the plunge. This is very different from all the others but still hilarious. And I found I need not have been intimidated by my lack of Bardiosity. On to the next with Pocket as the hero!

Much fun

Loved this book! Laughed out loud several times. Makes me want to read or see more Shakespeare. I would have loved to tell friends about some of the funniest parts, but it's one of those "you had to be there". All I can do is recommend the book!

A Fool or a Friend

Fool is a very witty take on Shakespeare's King Lear. What a take it is. We get a perverted version of King Lear told through the point of view of his Fool, in this reality a guy named Pocket. Pocket was an orphan who escaped an Abby. Pocket finds himself in the service of King Lear after making his youngest daughter Cordelia laugh, and his job is to be the fool, but ultimately it's to service Cordelia and make her happy. Moore weaves a tale of deceit, shagging, picking on the French, murder, ghosts, and more shagging. This book was a whole lot of fun. If you're a fan of the great bard, humor, and a great narrator, I can't recommend this enough.

clever and engaging

we listened on a trip and hated arriving before it finished

sat in the van an extra 7 minutes after a 7 hour drive just to hear the end

Where has Moore's wit gone?

Every time Mr. Moore publishes a new book, I anxiously buy it only to be disappointed. None compare to: A Dirty Job and The Stupidest Angel, both of which I have both read and heard. Once again that elusive element of greatness is missing. It is like that he finds it formula and then looses it. I hardly laughed with Fool, and the shagging business got old very fast. The outrageous humor and situations of his other books were just not there; and I can honestly say the profanity is not the problem, as it was its use. Even as a Shakespeare parody it fails to raise the mark and it is fairly predictable. The sad true is that is really missing the magic ingredient of originality, freshness and sheer craziness some of this others books have.

Witty, naughty and human

Picked this up on a whim and must say I was glad I did. "Fool" is funny and clever, in a very midevil way. A good story, packaged with a great narrator, makes for a terrific listen. Pocket is a wonderful protagonist, who manages to poke fun at himself as often as the other characters. Am looking forward to listening to more of Mr. Moore to see if the magic is just with this book/narrator or if he is to become a new favorite.

! Amazing and well read !!!!!!!!! Yay supreme the words of pocket!!

Fantastic writing and phenomenal Reading!!!!
Thanks
And some other words of pocket. May he rein supreme

Good for a laugh or sixty...

If you could sum up Fool in three words, what would they be?

Naughty, Hilarious, "Fool"ish

Who was your favorite character and why?

Oh, come on, what kind of question is that? The fool of course! Pocket is naughty and derisive, yet his wits pull you into the character. You can't wait to find out who he will insult next.

Which character – as performed by Euan Morton – was your favorite?

Same as above. Pocket. I have to take a moment here to convey the best part about this audiobook. The narrator does an amazing job. Pocket's character is complex and almost always sarcastic. The narrator reads the lines purposefully to capture the essence of what Pocket is saying each and every time. Sometimes he's serious, and it can be unexpected, yet the narrator lets us know at the beginning of EVERY dialogue how we should take the words being read to us (as well as in the narration). Comedy books can be the hardest of all types of books to narrate, but this narrator nails it perfectly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I'd have to say no... Only becasue humor is usually more throughouly enjoyed in smaller courses. Or maybe I'm just making this up as I go...

Any additional comments?

This book was hilarious...but very naughty. How else can I explain the human found within? It's funny, sure, but raunchy as all get-out... I only mention this so that the readers of this review know what to expect from the book. There is swearing aplenty, and quite a bit of inappropriate sexual content.

As a matter of fact it got to be too much at points. Normally, I try to avoid such "base" stories, but Moore is such a master of character that I had to "read" it. Esepcially, when it was a blatant spoof on Shakespeare's King Lear.

I do have to mention one other little negative that may bother some readers (including myself). The book pokes fun at the Catholic church quite a bit. At times it goes beyond poking fun and turns into Making fun of Christianity as a whole. As believer, this did bother me more than it should have, but I tried not to let that slant my review in anyway. If you can take this stuff as a joke and understand it wasn't meant seriously, then you can ignore it without too much trouble.

If you're in the mood to laugh at some "inappropriate" humor, this is the book for you.