Fool by Christopher Moore

Creative? Yes. Entertaining. Yep. Funny? Much of the time. Bawdy? Well, yes, to put it lightly.

Christopher Moore's most recent novel, Fool, is a re-telling of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. It might seem a strange choice for a renowned comic like Moore, but he does a remarkably good job of turning the most tragic of Shakespeare's scenes to comic effect.

The story is told from the point-of-view of Lear's fool, who is called Pocket. Pocket's position as court jester allows him unique access to all the members of Lear's entourage, from the guards on the castle wall to the King himself. He is particularly favored by Lear's daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. It is his favor with so many of the castle's inhabitants that allows him to become a key player in the future of the kingdom.

Without any particular malice, Pocket finds himself pitted against Lear and his two elder daughters as they fight for control of old "Blighty" (a.k.a. Britain). Through his well-forged connections , the prophecies of a mysterious and libidinous ghost woman, and the instructions of three ubiquitous witches (of Macbeth fame), Pocket finds he has the tools and access to the right parties to sway the fate of the entire kingdom--heady stuff for a mere jester. But this is a comedy, and Pocket uses his influence to achieve a happy ending, at least for all who deserve it.

Pocket's story is truly entertaining. The more you learn about his past, the more you become sympathetic to him. In addition, Moore endows him with a sense of wit that draws more than a few chuckles. I did find myself laughing out loud on several occassions.

Moore's humor and his creative revision of this famous story make Fool a fun read. But, as I've alluded to above, be prepared for some bawdy scenes. In fact, you can't go more than two or three pages without coming across a description of some sort of sexual encounter. While these descriptions are always pretty light-hearted and tinged with more than a bit of humor, they are still quite lewd. The novel would have been funnier if Moore had invested his rapacious wit in a greater variety of subject matters, limiting sexual references to a few well-placed scenes.

I won't mark Moore off my list of future reads, but I will be sure to skim for lewdness next time, and will place him back on the shelf if he can't limit his sexual exploits to a few pages at most.