Shakespeare for Squirrels

Another humorous, raunchy, irreverent retelling and reimagining of Shakespeare from Moore. This time, the fool Pocket finds himself solving a mystery in the world of A Midsummer Night's Dream. While you needn't have seen or read the original Shakespeare to enjoy this one, it probably wouldn't hurt to check it out first so that you have a good point of reference. Also, this is the third book in Moore's Fool series - after <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/3684856.Fool" title="Fool by Christopher Moore" rel="noopener">Fool</a> (King Lear) and <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/18089900.The_Serpent_of_Venice" title="The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore" rel="noopener">The Serpent of Venice</a> (The Merchant of Venice).<br /><br />I always get a kick out of the way Moore writes. It is clever with a lot of wordplay. Sometimes things get wacky to the point of being hard to follow, but for me that has never been a problem as I am enjoying the ride. And, every Moore I have read has had the same feel. So, if you have read and enjoyed his books before, you know what you will be finding here.<br /><br />I highly recommend this book and series to fans of:<br /><br />- Shakespeare<br />- Raunchy (and it does get pretty extreme at points) humor<br />- Wordplay/puns<br />- Monty Python-esque humor<br />- Any Moore fans you have yet to give this a try<br /><br />If these all fit you and you don't find yourself laughing so hard at this book that people around you wonder if you are okay, I would be surprised!

Yes! another Christopher Moore book. I have read all of this stuff but one of his short story collections I can't find. I adore the raunchy and randy fun that all of Christophers books have. They always have me laughing my head off. This book was one of his better ones. It's Christopher Moore and Shakespeare and not just any Shakespeare, but my favorite - a Midsummer Night's Dream.<br /><br />One of my favorite series he has going is Fool where Christopher re-imagines famous Shakespeare works with the Moore brand. They are brilliant. This is the best of the lot. This might be my favorite book of his since Lamb, which is the best. <br /><br />One of my favorite other characters of Moore's is Abby from his vampires series. I love and adore her. I felt like Pocket had some lines used from Abby. (going to be f-bombs ahead.) Pocket would say something french like Moi? and then he would say "I said in perfect fucking french." That line tickles me pink for whatever reason. Another repeating line I fawn over is "Heinous fuckery most foul" - that is simply such perfection. The phrase I use in my head after someone is an asshole is I call them a 'heinous anus'. It makes me feel better.<br /><br />This is probably high school humor, but it just brings me so much joy. I love the bawdy, raunchy, randy language. I just adore reading a Christopher book. I think the best comparison is the literary form of Austin Powers. It's that type of humor. <br /><br />Moore gives his spine on Puck, fairies, especially Cobweb, Oberon and Titania. He takes on Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius. Pocket is the center of them all and there is hat shagging and squirrel shagging and stage shagging, simply shagging all around. It is a delight if you have a more twisted sense of humor and love this sort of thing.<br /><br />There is a mystery in the middle of this and lovers gone awry. There are still surprises to be had and it's a new version of this classic story<br /><br />This story made my reading year.

Moore has outdone himself. With the exception of Lamb, this may be my favorite book of his yet. After the brutal misstep of Noir, I thought he'd lost his edge. Fear not, Pocket and Drool are back for their third Shakespearean jaunt and this time it's Midsummer Night's Dream, my favorite play. There were several parts in this book where I laughed until my side hurt or my eyes teared up. The fairies are absolutely brilliant, the frequently quoted line is the goblins (which I won't ruin, but they say it constantly) cracked me up, and the play at the end is perfection. Moore manages to create a different concluding play by the craftsmen while keeping their inherent characteristics that made them such unique characters. That's the best part--the bones of MSND are all here. It's still the same basic story, just bastardized in a way only Moore can do. And with squirrels. So many sodding squirrels.

“If it be horrid, we shall take sport in their mistakes and find amusement in their lowly skills.”<br /><br />I have to say that SHAKESPEARE FOR SQUIRRELS was better for me than the last couple of Christopher Moore books I have read. It was much better than its immediate predecessor in the “Fool” series. This text is the third (to date) in the series that follows the adventures of Pocket, a professional jester, who Moore sticks into plot mashups of some of Shakespeare’s works.<br /><br />The set up for this book is that Pocket is set adrift by pirates (see end of THE SEPENT OF VENICE, this novel’s predecessor) and lands in the Athens of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. This text maintains many of the characters from that play, but from there Mr. Moore creates new characterizations, backstory and motives, occasionally keeping a plot device from Shakespeare.<br /><br />Like some earlier Christopher Moore, it is the voice of certain characters that is the main appeal of the read. Especially enjoyable to me was his characterization of Cobweb, one of the fairies serving Titania in the forest surrounding Athens.<br /><br />Some quotes:<br />• “I am slain and I grieve for a barren, broken world deprived of my delight.”<br />• “Lay on, thou piss-haired spunk whistle.”<br />• “I am not afraid. It affords me some license.”<br />• “I am sad and my knob is huge.”<br />• “I heard her smile more than I could see it.”<br />• “The powerful hold nothing but contempt for those who toady to them, all but the toadies know this.”<br />• “…and he is a puff toad of great self-importance.”<br />• “You are a disaster, a calamity, and an abject failure all rolled into one.”<br /><br />Unfortunately a lot of the humor is repetitive, and the novel runs out of steam in the last 30 or so pages. In a book only 271 pages long that is disappointing.<br /><br />All in all SHAKESPEARE FOR SQUIRRELS features some clever and witty dialogue, an occasional chuckle, and a plethora of Shakespeare allusions. It makes for an enjoyable, though not outstanding, read.

Like throwing any Monty python movie in a room with Beevis &amp; Butt-head.<br />It's funny for sure, but a bit repetitive in the jokes.<br />This is only my second Moore book (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com" rel="nofollow noopener">Lamb</a> being my first) and I look forward to reading more of his work!

I really enjoyed this book. It was thought provocing and a lot of fun to read.

<b>"It would be just fitting that the only man who would deign to talk to me is a hat-shagging monkey. She leaned in closely. You, sir, have the look of a hat shagger."</b><br /><br />Oh, f**kastockings! He’s back! It’s Pocket! Pocket is back with a new mysterious tale with his merry little band of a**holes. <br /><br />Here we have quite an odd mysterious tale of murder, hat shagging, and a gaggle of fools with a Midsummer Night’s Dream thrown in for good measure. <br /><br />Moore takes us on a uproariously and murderous journey that you’ll never forget. It’s lewd, crude, and downright filthy and it’s exactly what I need in my life. This wasn’t exactly my favorite book that Pocket has lead but I still loved this one. <br /><br />Shakespeare for Squirrels was amazing. I laughed and cringed and it’s exactly how I want to feel reading something of this magnitude. Moore never disappoints and if you’re looking for something off the wall and crazy, he’s your man. No disappointments ever. <br /><br />Who knew that Shakespeare could be so entertaining and crude?

A bit of humor, but not that good overall. 4 of 10 stars

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. <br /><br />Let me start by saying that I love Christopher Moore's novels, but he set the bar really high for me with Lamb and nothing has been that good since. With that said, this humorous retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream was absurd in all the right kind of ways. The ridiculousness that Pocket involves himself in never ceases to amaze and entertain me and I will continue to read about him as long as Moore keeps writing about him. <br /><br />If you need a good laugh at some wonderfully lewd humor I would suggest this.

I work in a bookstore. Every month we receive ARCs from publishers, and when Shakespeare for Squirrels came in, I thought it sounded like something Terry Pratchett would have written, and that it would be funny.<br /><br />It was not.