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    Fool
    Fool
    Fool
    Audiobook8 hours

    Fool

    Written by Christopher Moore

    Narrated by Euan Morton

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “Hilarious, always inventive, this is a book for all, especially uptight English teachers, bardolaters, and ministerial students.”
    —Dallas Morning News

    Fool—the bawdy and outrageous New York Times bestseller from the unstoppable Christopher Moore—is a hilarious new take on William Shakespeare’s King Lear…as seen through the eyes of the foolish liege’s clownish jester, Pocket. A rousing tale of “gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity,” Fool joins Moore’s own Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, and You Suck! as modern masterworks of satiric wit and sublimely twisted genius, prompting Carl Hiassen to declare Christopher Moore “a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 10, 2009
    ISBN9780061768682
    Fool
    Author

    Christopher Moore

    Christopher Moore is the author of seventeen previous novels, including Shakespeare for Squirrels, Noir, Secondhand Souls, Sacré Bleu, Fool, and Lamb. He lives in San Francisco, California.

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    Reviews for Fool

    4.5/5

    185 ratings97 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      My least favorite Moore book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What an absolutely fantastic story. I can't wait to start The Serpent of Venice now!!
    • 5/5
      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. Moore's take on Shakespeare and King Lear pays homage to the Bard's own randy sense of comedy as he retells the tragedy through the eyes of Pocket, fool to King Lear, shagger of his daughters, and instigator of wars. This may be my favorite Moore so far.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved this book. I hate Shakespear and everything he wrote(just can't get into it), so having a new rendition helps. I love Christopher Moore's books. He adds so much humor and smartass-ness that I can't help but call him one of my all time favorite authors. If you think crude sexual humor is hilarious and witty come backs are the best way to have a conversation then you should definatly start reading not only this book but all of this authors books. Pocket (the books hero) is fantastic and his side kick Drool half-way makes me want to walk over to special-ed class to find a friend half as good he is. I don't like writing about what the book is about cause you should just read it sooooo Sally forth and get to it!
    • 2/5
      I did not finish reading this book. I'm just so bored and don't want to waste any more time forcing myself to read it. Parts of it have been really funny, it's just not holding my interest and there are a lot of other books I'd rather be reading.
    • 3/5
      I had hoped to like it more. But it was funny, and the description is quite accurate.
    • 5/5
      Uncensored and uncut could be a leader for this book. It would attract the less socially conforming reader. Not a fair leader, but it attracts attention.This book is just fun. If you like cynicism, sarcasm, plays on words, and double entendre, this is a great reading choice for you. The action is fast paced although you will want to slow down a bit to fully appreciate some of the humor.After reading it, be sure to look at the authors comments. Moore reveals how he took historical events and moved them around a bit. He also mentions that some of his word formations come from different historical periods. And finally, he discourages those who want to reread (or even consistent language use. This is his creation; enjoy it for the originality that is Christopher Moore.If you are offended by language that is a bit profane or vulgar, don’t even try to read this. This carries vulgarity to new, absurd heights. I found myself laughing while reading some of the overstretched vulgar pronouncements of the characters. Political correctness is notably absent. But it is funny.For those who have read King Lear there will be familiar characters and overall plot lines. It just seems to me this was fun to write; I know it was fun to read. For those easily offended by perceived social slights, don’t read the book. That is two warnings in one review. Usually, I do not read the attached samplers for the next or additional work. With this book, I did and the sample proved to be equally intriguing and entertaining. I will read more by this writer.
    • 5/5
      Another Christopher Moore classic. I found this to be a very quick and enjoyable read. I had no real familiarity with King Lear besides a quick summary I read on wikipedia before starting the book to help me follow some of the plot lines. I wish I would have written down some of the classic one-liners and put downs that "Fool" uses throughout the story. How C Moore comes up with these must be story within itself. Highly recommended - I found this to be on par with Lamb, A Dirty Job, and Bloodsucking Fiends as some of his best...
    • 5/5
      A great, bawdy read. A better ending than Lear's. :-)
    • 3/5
      Fool is Christopher Moore’s reworking of Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, through the eyes of the King’s fool, Pocket. Pocket is your usual Moore narrator — more than slightly absurd and utterly charming. The story itself is chocked full of his trademark vulgarity and bawdy humor, with a bit of an antiquated twist. I thought it was a pretty decent listen, one of Moore’s better stories, and some of his phrases have made it into our real-life conversations. If there’s one thing you can always count on Moore for, it’s a hearty laugh.
    • 5/5
      What a fun read! Rollicking bollocks of a good read, that is. There's bonking and smacking and dispatching and sniveling and weeping and many many many bollocks (some of which may be in a stew). There are royals who are tossers and buggers and nuncles and, certainly, some are very fit. The gits are fools and the fools are the kings and dukes and when the fool rules, the nitwits get what they deserve. All with a lot of sex, of course.
    • 5/5
      Are you a fan of an offbeat sense of humor? Of the completely warped? Of witty but completely irreverent re-writings? Of hilarious bawdiness? Have you made the reading acquaintance of Christopher Moore yet? I stumbled on his writing completely by accident but I should be upfront and honest and say that I have been in love ever since. This man has never yet failed to truly make me laugh out loud when I am reading one of his books. For him, I will even read vampire novels (and that's really going some). So it was inevitable that I would start reading Fool just about six nanoseconds after I walked in my door with it in my hot little hands. (I would have started earlier but reading and driving at the same time are too much of a challenge for this can't walk and chew gum at the same time kind of girl.) So, a re-write of King Lear from his fool's perspective. Could be a tricky undertaking, at the very least one that will have Shakespeare scholars with their knickers in a knot. While a re-telling, Moore isn't overly concerned with absolute fidelity to the original, cleverly bringing in the witches from Macbeth and his own warped and delightfully nefarious twists. Pocket, Lear's fool, narrates the events of the novel and he's wildly entertaining, as befits a fool. He's also obsessed with sex and intrigue and naughty language (well, naughty anything really). He plays Regan and Goneril like harps, engineering much of the action familiar to Lear readers. Moore is truly a wordsmith and he has crafted a sly and witty book (mostly) within the confines of Shakespeare's original. He has created some of the most wonderful insults in print today (a true talent given the difficulty of developing entirely new insults that are both effective and memorable) and throughout the novel, you can't help but have the sense that Moore, like Shakespeare has a real and appreciable love for language, its uses and the ways in which to manipulate with it and create things anew. I could rave about this one nigh on forever but I'll spare you the gushing. If you aren't easily offended by potty humor, like British slang (despite Moore's Americanness, his British narrator is believable and authentic sounding--although not terribly Shakespearean), appreciate likable characters, and are amenable to re-writings of the Bard's famous works, this might just be for you. But only if you have a wonderful sense of humor and don't mind perfect strangers looking at you oddly as you guffaw in public should you be so foolhardy as to read this anywhere but the privacy of your own home. And once you've read this (and have come back here and duly thanked me), go on out and try the rest of Moore's entertaining oeuvre.
    • 3/5
      This is a humorous book loosely based on the fool from Shakespeare's King Lear. I am not very familiar with King Lear so I can no comment on how close it follows the play but there are author's notes at the end of the book for that. Taken as an adult fiction book, it is a fun read.
    • 3/5
      Christopher Moore takes on Shakespeare by translating the tragedy, King Lear, into a comedy.
    • 4/5
      Christopher Moore's latest book is a spoof on Shakespeare's King Lear, as well as Shakespeare's writing itself, a few elements from other plays are imported into the story as well, Macbeth's witches, for example. This is quite different from Moore's other books, he's written in a British style, using British slang and some of Shakespeare's original words, using footnotes for definitions of words possibly unknown to Americans.Another difference from his other books is that while Moore, who always has a certain humour that you either find hilarious or offensive, (and for some reason Moore hits my funny bone and I've never found his humour offensive) at first, I found this book really goes overboard with the language and s*xual imagery and it was quite a bit of a shock but I soon settled down into it and it didn't bother me after a couple of chapters. If you've read Shakespeare you will know that he often used bawdy imagery and often his characters ranted at name-calling. It is quite interesting to see that imagery and name-calling in a modern format. I could even possibly imagine that were Shakespeare a 21st century writer, this is how he may have written.I'm quite glad I chose to read a modern English version of the original play, King Lear, before reading Fool as I don't think I would have enjoyed this book as much if I didn't already know who the characters were and understand the original plot. Moore keeps all the key plot points of Shakespeare's work but he does not become stuck to the original plot. He soon sways from the original creating his own unique story with extra characters, very different results and ending. King Lear is only a minor character in this book, while his Fool (a minor character in the play) is the narrator and main character of the book.I really enjoyed the book after getting over the initial language/s*x shock. It was a bit of a slow start but from the middle onwards I couldn't put it down. While fans will find this different than Moore's other work I'm pretty sure his devotees will enjoy this book. As to others who have not read Moore perhaps the warning on the back of the book "If that sort of thing bothers you, then gentle reader pass by." should be taken to heart. Not Moore's best book, (that spot is reserved for A Dirty Job, imho) but certainly up to par with his other work. A winner!
    • 4/5
      I don't care much for Shakespeare, but I really dig Christopher Moore!
    • 4/5
      Brief Overview: King Lear as told from the Fool’s point of view. The book is imbued with Moore’s trademark smartassedness, wit, and often lowbrow sense of humor (as well as liberal use of the F word that rhymes with “ducking.”)My Thoughts: Although not my favorite Christopher Moore book (that would be Lamb), it was nowhere near as abominable as Jill at Fizzy Thoughts made it out to be. My real gripe was that it felt too repetitive and sophmoric. After all, there are only so many jokes about heaving bosoms and shagging that a girl can stand! I’ll say this though: It was tons better than the Shakespeare play, which I also tried to read but couldn’t get through. I know that is probably blasphemous and makes me look bad but it was the truth.
    • 4/5
      Shakespeare purists be warned: this is not your grandparents’ Bard! Humorist Moore hilariously re-envisions Shakespeare’s King Lear, taking as his protagonist Lear’s most humble Fool. Pocket, the fool, is a foul-mouthed, impudent, over-sexed young man of diminutive height and vertiginous intellect. His only loyalties are to his King, Lear, and to Lear’s youngest daughter, Cordelia. When Lear disowns Cordelia for being disloyal and sends her off to France, Pocket, along with his dim-witted apprentice Drool, undertake to get back at the King for his idiocy and return things in the realm to the way Pocket believes they should be. This necessitates, of course, much treachery, witchery, and buggery, though not necessarily in that order. Raucous, raunchy, fast-paced, manic, and wild, Fool is a treat for anyone not scared off by a version of the Bard that includes toilet humor, foul language, and masturbation jokes side by side with biting social commentary.
    • 5/5
      The last two books I've read by Christopher Moore ("Sacré Bleu" and "Fool" -- actually, make that three, I have it on reasonable authority that I read "Lamb" prior to those two and that was another fantastic book) have blown me away.He's been going so deep on his books, immersing you into the world in which it takes place so efficiently that you hold these fictional versions of historical periods dearer than the originals. Or are they the same as the original? He's done such a fun job of realizing the world that you don't really much care, though you feel, if you were the sort, that you could go research and verify all the incidents in the story more or less.
    • 3/5
      This is really more 3.5 stars (but I don't know how to do that - maybe have to be a paying member?). I really enjoyed the book although I got a bit bored in the fourth fifth. I love Pocket, King Lear's fool and the narrator of the book. There are wonderful gags, puns, anachronistic allusions, bawdy sex, etc. I mean, it is a spoof on the Bard himself, so what else to expect? One thing I love about this book is that it transcends potty humor. I'm not generally very appreciative of potty humor and while this book is full of sexual innuendo, references to intimate bodily functions, and crass comments on women's bodies, I was not once offended. Christopher Moore is an intelligent, brave, and clever author. Well done.
    • 4/5
      This book made me smile a lot, and even a few chuckles, though it wasn't as funny to me as some other books I've read by Moore. As a disclaimer, I read most of the book while on airplanes, and that does tend to make me a bit cranky. I liked the book more after reading the author's note at the end, though, and as a writer, I was impressed with the level of Shakespeare/Lear study that went into the book. I love Shakespeare, and this was a very interesting re-imagining of not only Lear, but other plays as well. I liked the anachronistic language and the down and dirty style of the narrator, though there were some parts where the narration seemed to get a little wandering and the jokes a little tired. Overall, though, a silly, sexy romp of a good read.
    • 3/5
      I think I should have read King Lear first. It was kind of hard to keep up with the characters and locations too. But true to Moore's style, laugh out loud funny!
    • 4/5
      ...heinous fuckery
    • 4/5
      Christopher Moore bravely attempts to retell the Bard's 'King Lear' as a black comedy . . . And mostly succeeds. The book is funny (though not in the laugh-out-loud sense usually found in Moore's books), and the humor, at least to my unrefined senses, is of the type Shakespeare might have appreciated: bawdy, raunchy, and dirty. The sheer creativity and variety of the Fool's swears and insults is rather impressive.

      The Fool, Pocket is a likeable-enough character, though you do feel occasionally guilty for liking himas much as you do. The other characters tend to be a bit two-dimensional, mostly existing as foils for Pocket's razor wit.

      In all the story, while obviously familiar, is well told and enjoyable to wend through. The humor is black and very very raunchy, so be warned. This is not a book for the faint of heart or delicate of sensibility. However, for the twisted and immature at heart, who let's face it, already tend to like Christopher Moore's books, this is an excellent way to spend an afternoon.
    • 5/5
      Christopher Moore takes Shakespeare's play, King Lear specifically and tidbits from about a handful of other plays, and shows us what was really going on behind the velvet curtains of court through the eyes of the jester--the Fool-- named Pocket. Funny and witty -- this romp through the European countryside was well worth it. No need to have read Shakespeare's plays to appreciate the story. Definitely for a mature audience--gratuitous wanking throughout, and lots of sex -- but told in the olde English way to make it seem more intelligent. Aren't the English just smarter anyway? hahaha!I highly recommend this tale.
    • 4/5
      Quite the bawdy tale, Christopher Moore does it again with his unique & hilarious style. An interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear with perfect f***ing french! Make sure not to miss the map in the beginning!
    • 4/5
      Ah yes - a Christopher Moore Book. You never know quite what to get with this - Always funny (mostly), as long as it doesn't go over the top.Luckily, this is a book that is funny. This is the story of King Lear from the Fools point of view - the kings faithful companion. And - its good. Really really good, as long as you can get past the casual sex and the casual profanity, which, actually makes this book feel authentic, even with all the anachronisms, modern language etc. Most other books set in a similar time period feel - to clean, sanitized.The Fool is more than just a food. Pocket is his name, and being lucky enough to be dropped off at a convent shortly after being born, means he got a full upbringing in reading, classics, and writing. He is smart, quick witted, and wants to protect the people he loves (namely, a few friends, the Natural Fool, and Cordelia, the youngest of three sisters). He has his faults - namely, he's devious, and will shag any woman that will let him. Where the story really shines is how the author manages to balance deviousness with fate - Pocket brings about the downfall of the king and his daughters. He sets up things, but ultimately, its everyone else who decides to backstab the others. He does feel a bit guilty, but this is a world where dog eats dog.As for Cordelia, the kings youngest daughter - Moore manages to write a feminist story in a world of rape and pillaging. Cordelia even becomes the warrior queen, Even the king's oldest two daughters have power. These are not meek women. And, for those who are not kings and princesses, well, they are at the mercy of the king, regardless of sex.
    • 4/5
      This was not only my first outing with Mr. Moore's novels, but with the storyline of King Lear as well, and I must say, I'm damned impressed. The writing is brilliant and tricky, and keeps you from knowing just what he'll throw out next. The wordplay is wonderful, and I found myself often nearly bursting out in laughter (but as I was at work while reading it, I held it back somehow).I loved Pocket - he was an interesting character that, while you might have felt for him due to his past, you couldn't truly feel pity for him. He was strong willed and devious in all the best ways. This was, I think, a wonderful introduction to the way Christopher Moore writes, and I am looking forward to picking up another of his novels soon.
    • 4/5
      This is, more or less, the story of King Lear from the point of view of the fool. I say more or less because a whole bunch of assorted anachronisms, changes, and even characters from other plays show up. It's extremely offensive, full of sex and violence, and very, very funny. Not for the faint of heart, but I got a kick out of it.
    • 5/5
      I am a huge fan of Christopher Moore and have been looking forward to the release of "Fool: A Novel" for quite some time. I am also a huge fan of Shakespeare so was thrilled when I heard that "Fool" was a retelling of "King Lear." This would have been somewhat familiar territory for Moore as he has already done another retelling of a famous story when he wrote "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" which many Moore fans would argue is his best work. At the same time, this would be completely new territory for Moore as it took the setting out of contemporary USA to Medieval England. Needless to say, as soon as I got my hands on it I devoured it and I'm happy to report that I absolutely loved it. "Fool" has all of the trashy, raunchy humor one has come to expect from Moore. The language is harsh but you can't help but laugh at it. My only complaint is that I thought it was a bit over-the-top when it came to the sex stuff. Moore's previous novels haven't been this heavy or this explicit when it comes to that topic so I thought it was a wee bit overdone. Still, it wasn't enough to detract me from my overall enjoyment of the story. Moore does a pretty good job sticking with the basic plot and outline of King Lear. He even leaves some of dialogue from some of the more memorable scenes. He does, however, make some changes that could irk some purists. One of them is the crossover with Macbeth which involves the witches in Bernum wood (I personally loved this addition). Another has to do with the way the story ended. I won't go into further details as I don't want to ruin it for anyone. Moore provides his explanation for this change in the Author's notes at the end and I found I was perfectly fine with it. He made it work and that's all that mattered to me. The footnotes were a new feature which I thoroughly enjoyed. It gave Moore an opportunity to expand on the humor in the narrative. It almost put me in mind of a Terry Pratchett novel with all those little extras. All in all, "Fool" is a delightful romp through Shakespeare's "King Lear" told through the eyes of Pocket, Lear’s fool. With Pocket, Moore gives us a hilarious leading character and all sorts of crazy shenanigans taking place behind the scenes of a much-loved theatrical tragedy. I laughed out loud on several occasions (often in public which earned me a few stares, but I didn't care) and felt the urge to pick it up and start again as soon as I was finished. I think "Fool" was better than some of Moore's other novels such as "Fluke" and "You Suck" but it's not one I would recommend someone pick up if this was their first time reading his stuff. Great read!!!!