Give me a side of Shakespeare

Book 2/50

Book: Fool by Christopher Moore
Given to me as a gift this Christmas by a cousin who remember that I "liked Shakespeare a lot." This is a hilarious understatement as I have made a lifelong hobby of Shakespeare. So the fact that I had not really heard of this book is deeply embarrassing.

This is Moore's comedic send-up of King Lear, as told from the prospective of his Fool named Pocket. It references nearly a dozen other Shakespeare plays from geography (scenes in Birnam Wood) to wicked lines (he's a turd in the milk of human kindness). It follows the basic Lear plot but it's irreverent, bawdy and a lot funnier. The main characters are given a really satisfying back story that answers some of the problems within the play, but without suggesting that the play is worse off without them.

I enjoyed the hell out of this. It's fast, funny and a loving homage to the fact that Shakespeare was both a genius and probably a human man who liked boobs. You would probably need to be at least familiar with the King Lear plot to fully enjoy it, and additional knowledge of Macbeth and Hamlet wouldn't hurt. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has Shakespeare living in their lives but would like something light and naughty.

One of my favorite passages: "And fuckery? Will there be fuckery Pocket?...Heinous fuckery most foul, lad. And possibly the fucking French."