I got halfway through and realized that, although he is a clearly gifted author, I was just not enjoying it. I know the story of King Lear and it is a tragic one. I don't really need it spelled out for me... I have enjoyed C.M.'s books in the past but this one didn't do it for me. ( )

I am obsessed with Christoper Moore's writing and Pocket the Fool. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and am hoping for more. Moore has yet to disappoint me. ( )

This book delights me in a similar way to Pratchett, which I am very pleased about ( )

My least favorite Moore book. ( )

The last time I read King Lear was more than two decades ago as an English Literature student. I can't say I remember much about the nuances of the plot, so I had no problem going along with Moore's interpretation. I settled in for a bawdy, fun romp, expecting to laugh and enjoy the ride. But I turned the last page wishing I'd liked this book more than I had and wondering what went wrong.

For me, the humour felt forced and often fell flat. It was as though Moore was trying really, really hard to make a fairy straightforward tragedy feel fresh and hilarious -- and in the end, it was neither. I smiled a few times, but I also cringed a lot, and the ending seemed too pat and convenient to be in the least believable. I will not be continuing with this series, and it'll be a while before I pick up something else by Moore. ( )

Fool is Christopher Moore's comic retelling of the Shakespeare tragedy King Lear. Not to mention numerous references to other Shakesperean plays. You've got your witches, your ghost, your regacide... But, in my mind, Moore displays his own comic genius best when he combines Shakespeare with Dr. Seuss and gives us a ditty called Green Eggs And Hamlet
Green eggs or not green eggs ?
Whether' tis nobler in the mind to eat them in a box with a fox-- ( )

This book was fun, mostly. It was funny, and I laughed out loud more than I typically do with books. The word play, for most of the book, was entertaining and clever. It's also cool that it plays out alongside the plot of King Lear.

Then it starts to get old. It seems like he starts to get lazy, and just uses the same words and phrases over and over again toward the end. The first half of the book was much funnier than the second half.

And I have to say, I'm sorry but there's no way every single woman this guy encounters has "smashing knockers" and wants to have sex with him. I know some of it is his own "misguided" belief that every woman wants to have sex with him, but over the course of the book, most of them actually do, including all three of King Lear's daughters, and I find that kind of unbelievable. Pocket kind of reminds me of one of those abhorrent PUA types who purposely forget your name and put you down and then supposedly you just can't resist their rakish charms. I don't know. Maybe he's just devastatingly handsome. Maybe I'm just a bitch.

Finally I think I kind of went into this thinking he'd be like Terry Pratchett, and he isn't. I much prefer Pratchett, although I don't laugh out loud quite as much from his books. So I'll be sticking to Discworld when I want something light and amusing. ( )

Bawdy and rather fun, though I'm not quite sure why this guy is in the science fiction section. ( )

I tried to read this novel on paper, and just couldn't get into it. I am a huge fan of his vampire/death books. So I gave this a go on audiobooks and have looked forward to long drives. Definitely a fun ride of King Lear, which is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, just makes me wonder how this would be in play form. ( )

I listened to the audiobook version on a road trip, and am SO glad I listened, rather than read, it! The narrator did such a wonderful job! Eric and I cracked up the entire time; I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! I couldn't believe the insults Moore came up with, and just how hilariously vulgar the story could be. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to read more of Moore's work. ( )

Another good find at the Capital Area District Library. I'd already read Lamb, so I snagged this one when I saw it on the "New Releases" shelf. I was not disappointed.

I giggled throughout the whole thing. I had so much difficulty in putting it down that I got several chilly looks from my wife. It's raunchy, political, pointed, and hilarious. King Lear's fool tells all. :) I think I'll be reading this one again sometime in the future. ( )

2.5 stars. I gave up on this halfway through as I just wasn’t in the mood. Knowing the plot really just made it an endless progression of lewd jokes. ( )

I just finished listening to "Fool" cleverly written by Christopher Moore and perfectly narrated by Euan Morton. This book is the court fool's view of William Shakespear's King Lear--with the Christopher Moore twists. I don't know much about the play and I enjoyed the story. The author says that it isn't necessary and that he took a lot of liberties. It was brilliant. I laughed. I cringed. I was horrified. I enjoyed it so much I am going to pick up another Christopher Moore book to read. ( )

Lear's fool tells the tale

The author explains in an afterword that he became a little obsessed by King Lear and watched and read many versions. Finally he got completely fed up with the behavior of the title character. This is his re-telling, wrenching the story out of the abusive royal hands and plopping it into the randy lap of the Fool. I liked the first half better than the last. ( )

i loved this when i read it the first time in high school and i loved it when i re-read it now. i would still die for pocket and i feel like i will at some point tbh. ( )

Moore basically takes what he did with the Bible in [b:Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal|28881|Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal|Christopher Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167957757s/28881.jpg|3346728], but applies it to King Lear. It is of course quite entertaining and very funny, but he just pulls it off better in Lamb. Maybe that's because I know the Bible better than I know Lear.

Still entertaining, and very much worth a read. ( )

Adult fiction. ( )

Love it - a tragicomedy with all the elements of Shakespeare's great plays and a heavy dose of ridiculousness thrown in, plus a level of bawdiness that I'm pretty sure wasn't from the Bard. Lots of fun. I've never actually read/seen King Lear (which I should remedy) but the story felt pleasantly familiar despite that. ( )

Enter Fool, stage left. Lear is one of my less liked Shakespeare plays, but by substituting the most whiny old man protagonist in existence for the frankly ridiculous Fool (Pocket, of Dog Snogging) we get a far more entertaining story. Lear still gets into all kinds of trouble with his trio of wayward daughters, but with Pocket providing some much-needed realism to the truth of courtly life we are instantly ingratiated into their schemes, personalities, and strange history behind the English throne. Pocket himself does no shortage of scheming, as he machinates himself into the position to shag not one, but two of the princesses royal (as well as a bevy of other castle personages), starts a civil war, helps further strip Lear of his stranglehold of power, and place himself perfectly to ally himself with the warlike youngest princess, Cordelia. In typical Moore-ian (and Shakespearean fashion, when you think about it), the entire story is rambling, ridiculous, and rather random as a whole, and yet somehow it works. Don't ask what the point is, though, as that way surely madness lies. ( )

Listened via audio and it was completely worth it. The narrator is amazing!!! He takes any already conical look at King Lear and makes it better. Loved every minute. ( )

Billed as a "bawdy tale" in the introduction this porn parody version of King Lear (and other Shakespeare works) told from the point of view of King Lear's fool (or at least a super horny action hero version of King Lear's fool) tries too hard and goes to far without much payoff. This book tries to substitute shock (he didn't just say that did he?!?) for humor to such a great extent that it drowns out its actual fun, clever, shocking, or funny bits. I also found these versions of the King Lear characters unlikable or uninteresting which combined with the virtual avalanche of dick jokes and boob references that you have to wade through made this book feel like it went on for too long.
( )

3.25 stars

This is a comedic retelling of King Lear, told from the point of view of Lear's fool, Pocket. Of course, there were lots of extras thrown in, that weren't part of Shakespeare's play (for instance, the three witches from Macbeth showed up a few times!).

I noticed right away (and thought it was cute) that it was “set up” like a play (divided into five acts, Cast of Characters, The Stage, an Intermission), but it is written as a novel. Although they were humourous, I don't like footnotes; when I notice the notation, I do look down to read the footnote, but I find it interrupts the flow of what I'm reading; sometimes, I don't even notice the notation, so I'm reading the footnote “out of order”. Luckily, there weren't a lot of those.

For the story itself, I did like Pocket's background story, but wasn't as interested in the “current”-day interactions, so my mind did wander a bit in those parts. It was also sometimes tricky to tell what time frame we were suddenly reading about. Overall, it was o.k. I did like the ending, and found the author's note at the end interesting. ( )

A comedic take on [King Lear] from the perspective of the Fool.

A bawdy, sweary, and thoroughly irreverent send up of King Lear that I think Shakespeare would have enjoyed thoroughly. Moore's expansion of the Fool into the character of Pocket is crude but thoroughly funny and while there are definite liberties taken with the original plot of the play, it's an enjoyable ride. Not for the faint of heart but enjoyable if it falls into the realm of what you find funny. ( )

in all ways highly entertaining, but didn't move me like Lamb. ( )