Chris Moore--a freakin' genius

Absolutely brilliant,I can see where "Fool" could be quite a daunting reading experience depending on whether or not you have read Shakespeare's "King Lear." I am fond of the Shakespearean tragedies and Lear is right up at the top of my list of favorites. (Oh yes, esp Kurosawa's RAN)

Moore names Lear's fool, Pocket. He is much more than the observer from Shakespeare; in Moore's version our truthteller is the instigator--hmm kinda like my Padgett! Who else to manipulate silly royals? In fact I am kinda having a moment of frustration because Cornwell has a new book out titled Agincourt and now this jester as protagonist (okay my Padgett isn't the main character..but still...I really should be editing Fealty instead of blogging and playing scrabble on Facebook!

Anyway, I found this to be a lovely, smutty, funny and enagaging read. I read it in less than 24 hours--most of which I should have been sleeping--but the end game is fantastic. I reveled in the hodgepodge of the tragic and comic--the footnotes were charming (as opposed to D.F. Wallace's all encompassing footnotes--or the post modern footnotes Dumbledore/Rowling has in Tales) I enjoyed watching the plotline of Shakespeare's play unfold with this new interpretation. Poor Edgar for god's sake! And Gloucester eyeball...EWWWW

... once I got to the wrap up when we see who Pocket's parents are I really couldn't stop-- the book as a comic novel is wonderfully done, but the empathy for this character (who totally wins in the end!) is what kept me up till 3 am.

I loved it.