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

I pitty the Fool!!!

I pitty the fool who does not buy this book. This is dry, sarcastic, witty humor.

After reading the Blood Sucking Vampire series and loving it, I did not know what to expect with this. I found I like it as well if not better then the vampire series. The fool is the only one in the kingdom with any brains. To be a small person and survive in this world of royalty and ruffians, you must have brains. If the fool's life is not threatened then it is a slow day. Almost everyday someone is threatening to hang him. Yet he lives on to shag all the queens, princess, and maids of England. He bad mouths the Kings, Princes, Queens, witches, etc with language I have never heard before in my life.

I was kept laughing through 75% of the book, toward the end it gets a little serious and less funny, but it is worth your credit and I can't wait to listen to my next CM book.

Narrator was excellent

Enjoy thoroughly at your own risk!

There is enough explicit description of sexual acts, some rather quite out of the ordinary, enough foul language (albeit mostly of British derivation) and enough religious satirical humor to offend many if not most on some level. However, if you enjoy that sort of humor, if you enjoy Monty Python-esc humor based on linguistic anachronisms I think you may react to this book the way I have: by laughing until you cry.

Enjoy!

Very funny

I really enjoyed listening to this book. If you like this book, you should also consider "A Dirty Job"

A Classic....Christopher Moore Style

As usual, Christopher Moore thumbs his nose at something sacred (ie. William Shakespeare) and makes it unbelievably bawdy and fun. I would like to think ole' Willie would have approved, but most likely not! I have never taken the time to read King Lear, but I know the story well enough. To say Moore walked the edge of the story line would not be right. It's more like he zig-zaged, danced around it, stomped on it a few times, cart-wheeled, and then landed badly in a split. I couldn't help but laugh. Only Moore could take a classic tragedy like King Lear and make it entertaining and funny. If you are a first time reader of Moore, I highly recommend Lamb. Talk about thumbing your nose at the sacred.....

Moore Makes Merry with Lear

Moore has a romp with Shakespeare's King Lear with the witches from MacBeth and Green Eggs and Hamlet and more tossed in.

He is his typical irreverent, bawdy self, but I I didn't enjoy as much as his other books I've read.

Euan Morton was great as the narrator, though.

Snappy, bawdy, and ends too soon.

Better than "A Dirty Job". A must listen, a classic.

Awesomely awesome

this book was a little hard to get into at first because of the way it tries to speak in old fashioned English language but once you get past that part you actually start to really appreciate all the old timey ways of speaking and it actually gets easier to understand later in the book it was super funny super silly complicated complex I love this author

Funny book, hysterical narration

Brilliantly narrated by Euan Morton, Fool is the perfect example of how a great audio book is far more than a good book well-read. When done right--and the wickedly comedic Morton assuredly does it right--it is an art form of its own. In this case, that means laugh-aloud funny.

The book itself is a delightfully pun-filled riff on King Lear, filled with twisted references to other Shakespeare plays. The writing is clever indeed, but this is in no way high brow humor: potty mouth would come closer to the mark. Think Monty Python, but in a less censored age. While some scenes are rip-roaringly funny, however, the book does get repetitious. Naughty words can only amuse for so long. I think had I merely read it, Fool would soon have begun to feel one-dimensional and flat.

Morton's reading, particularly the charm he gave to the fool, was what kept me addicted. Not only was he able to engage different voices, but he created characters with wholly different personalities. Pocket, the fool, came across as every bit as sweet as he was malicious--all with perfect comedic timing!

While this is not a book I would recommend to those who are offended by salty language and saltier behavior, to all the rest I would say: this is the funniest audio book I have ever listened to.

I don't usually give 5-stars; maybe it's the drugs

This is the closest I've come to filling the void created by the realisation that there will be no more of Terry Pratchett's Discworld to look forward to. Or maybe it's been enhanced by the Cyclobenzaprine since my car accident. Either way, I enjoyed it immensley and laughed out loud until my stomach hurt more than a few times. As I did reading "Lamb" by the same author, which I believe I gave 4-stars. But, as I said, that was before the medication. 🤕😜

Finally, I know it is more polite to review an artist in their own right than to compare them to another, but I can think of no higher compliment in this genre than to be favourably compared to Sir Terry.

Delightful!

Taking the bard to task!

I adored everything about this audio book. The narrator keeps the dizzy pace. The story is an utter mess of Shakespearian nonsense. And goodness! The tree shagging!