Fool

Starred review from October 20, 2008
Here's the Cliff Notes you wished you'd had for King Lear
—the mad royal, his devious daughters, rhyming ghosts and a castle full of hot intrigue—in a cheeky and ribald romp that both channels and chides the Bard and “all Fate's bastards.” It's 1288, and the king's fool, Pocket, and his dimwit apprentice, Drool, set out to clean up the mess Lear has made of his kingdom, his family and his fortune—only to discover the truth about their own heritage. There's more murder, mayhem, mistaken identities and scene changes than you can remember, but bestselling Moore (You Suck
) turns things on their head with an edgy 21st-century perspective that makes the story line as sharp, surly and slick as a game of Grand Theft Auto. Moore confesses he borrows from at least a dozen of the Bard's plays for this buffet of tragedy, comedy and medieval porn action. It's a manic, masterly mix—winning, wild and something today's groundlings will applaud.

December 15, 2008
Fans of Moore's ("You Suck"; "A Dirty Job") warped sense of humor will not be dis-appointed by his latest, a retelling of the King Lear story, with Lear's jester, Pocket, in the lead role. Heavily borrowing from Shakespeare's drama for plot and characterization, Moore weaves bits of the Bard's prose into this raunchy, clever tale. This laugh-out-loud book, enjoyable by both those familiar with the Shakespeare tragedy and those new to the story of a barmy old king, treacherous daughters, familial duty, and the difference between a jester and a fool, is recommended for all academic libraries and for public libraries (with the warning that it contains adult language and scenes). [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/15/08.]Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2008
Moore's 11th novel (You Suck, 2007, etc.) re-imagines Shakespeare's most austere tragic masterpiece with a transgressive brio that will have devoted bardolators howling for the miscreant author's blood.

It's the venerable tale of 13th-century British King Lear (who's sometimes Christian, sometimes pagan) and the authoritarian vanity that alienates him from his three daughters, his kingdom and eventually his wits. It's narrated by the eponymous King's Fool, known as Pocket (for his diminutive size), who waxes profanely about his upbringing among monks and nuns, his cordial relationship with Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia, carnal dalliances with her elder sisters Goneril and Regan and his quick-witted attempts to foment and manage civil war and thus keep Lear's embattled kingdom from fully self-destructing. Ghastly jokes and groan-worthy puns shamelessly abound, but there are inspired sequences: a splendidly tasteless revision of the play's opening scene, in which Lear unwisely solicits declarations of his daughters ' love for him; cameo appearances by a female ghost given to cryptic rhyming prophecies, as well as the three witches better known as agents of change in "Macbeth "; and a very funny impromptu arraignment at which Pocket is accused of shagging "innocent " Princess Regan. One does appreciate the characterization of Goneril's effete steward Oswald as a "rodent-faced muck-sucker. " And surely readers can be forgiven for lamenting a mere passing reference to the play "Green Eggs and Hamlet, " or saluting disguised hero Edgar's free translation of the Latin phrase "Carpe diem " as "Fish of the Day. "

Less may be more, but it isn't Moore. Wretched excess doth have power to charm, and there are great reeking oodles of it strewn throughout these irreverent pages.

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2008
In Moores randy alternate Britain, in which Lear is a thirteenth-century monarch rather than the fourth-century BCE figure he most probably was (if he was real, not legendary), the fool doesnt disappear in the third-act storm. Indeed, he sets the ball rolling that eventually crushes the king, his ingrate elder daughters, and most of the others that perish in Shakespeares most devastating tragedy. He and Cordelia survive, though, as well they might, since the fool loves Cordelia. Hows that for a new wrinkle? Others include a horny, dumbbell, giant apprentice fool, named Drool after his chronic propensity; all manner of hot-to-trot supernumeraries; and more or less wall-to-wall, farcical fornicating and fighting. While a jolly good time can be had, the horror and high pathos of the basic plot frequently douse the comic and sexual fires like so much ice water in the face, or lower. King Lear is one tough play to parody, at least at this length, and the book feels like something Moore had to get out of his system. His legion of fans will forgivingly enjoy it, while newcomersshould be quickly steered toward The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove (1999) or The Stupidest Angel (2004) for a giddy taste of Moore at his ludicrous best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)