Fool is Christopher Moore's newest piece of fiction. It is vulgar. Profane. Obscene. Downright dirty. And, if you like that sort of thing, it's hilarious.
The novel, which began as a musing discussion over lunch with his editor, is a bastardized version (that's really punny, you know) of Shakespeare's King Lear. In the style of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, the remake is bawdier, sillier, and much more entertaining than the original. Moore takes quite a few liberties with setting, language, and style, but then, so did Old Bill. To stymie critics, Fool contains quotes from at least a dozen of Shakespeare's plays and even includes the witches from MacBeth. Incidentally, Christopher Moore mentions at the book's end that it pays tribute to all of his favorite comedic British authors.
Told from the point of view of Lear's jester, Pocket of Dog Snogging, Fool takes the murder, madness, and intrigue of Lear and blows it out of the water. It is non-stop comedy of a sharp and rather perverted nature. The plot is twisty-turvy, the word play is savvy, and the characters are lovable and fun. I wouldn't go so far as to say you should brush up on Lear beforehand, but memory of the play couldn't hurt.
I can't say enough about Moore's latest. In the past, I have recommended Lamb to anyone looking for a fun read. If you've never read Christopher Moore's work, that's still a fabulous place to start. But if you enjoy him (picture a darker, wittier Dave Barry), and don't mind about 200 pages of sex jokes, you'll love Fool.