FOOL

Christopher Moore's FOOL

I just finished reading Christopher Moore’s latest novel, Fool.

Fool is based on Shakespeare’s play King Lear. So I guess you could say Moore lifted much of the story from the Bard, although the Bard lifted much of his story from someone else. Apparently, Shakespeare stole most of his ideas. Kind of like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

Then again, can anyone really “steal” a blues song? Because they all sound the same. Actually, there is that one song—no, no, wait, that’s right, it sounds just like all the others… Rock and roll was born because the blues got boring. Chuck Berry wanted to be a blues singer, but Chess Records thought his “uptempo” stuff might sell better. And Chuck thought he’d get more girls if he could keep them awake.

Still, the blues can be great for about 20 minutes. After that, well, you might want to put on a little Death Metal. There’s nothing like the sweet sound of the Cookie Monster singing along to the roar of a kitchen blender.

Look, I love the blues. I love the Cookie Monster guy. I have nothing but tidings of great joy for everyone, blah, blah.

By the way, Fool is a great book in the Shakespeare/ Moore tradition. This means it’s full of sex, drugs, and violence. Of course, I’m counting the various spells and poisons as “drugs”—I mean, nobody is snorting cocaine. At least not right away.

Seriously, Fool tells the story of a razor-witted court jester trying to hook up with a lover lost at the hands of a cruel king (sort of—sorry, Chris, that’s the best I could do.) It’s funny, and it’s got a lot of heart. You will laugh, even if you have no idea which friggin’ lord or nobelman or princess is related to which duke or earl or whatever. So check it out.