Pun Salad

Another book ticked off in my attempt to catch up to the output of the funny, filthy, Christopher Moore.

It's the Shakespearean tragedy of King Lear, as told by one of the plays' minor characters, the Fool, named Pocket. Pocket is a wise fool who is in Lear's good graces, and can get away with R-rated insults to the nobles that frequent the King's castle. He can also get away with X-rated hijinks with the ladies, too.

Along the way there's a lot of wordplay, violence, anachronism, and theft from other plays: dialog mostly, and the Macbeth witches show up to play an important part in the plot. At one point, Pocket tells a sad lady of how St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland; in return, he's told the "most wondrous miracle of how St. Cinnamon drove the Mazdas out of Swinden."

But since this is a Shakespearean tragedy, we already know pretty much how things are going to end: with nearly everyone dead. (Moore doesn't feel constrained by the Bard's story; there's at least one significant difference.)

And amidst the humor, bloodshed, and smut, there's (surprisingly) a very serious core, having to do with Pocket's origin story. No spoilers here however.