Stuff I've Read: Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore
- Franklyn Thomas
- Oct 29, 2020
- 3 min read
It’s time for another Shakespearian mash-up! When Pocket, the fool from Dog Snogging, England, washes ashore in the Greek Isles, he and his cohorts Drool (the apprentice), Jeff (the monkey), and Jones (the puppet) run afoul of the Fae Folk, the local law enforcement and an acting troupe. They soon find themselves embroiled in a supernatural lover’s quarrel between Titania, Queen of the Fae, and Oberon, the Night King. It’s a midsummer nightmare for Pocket and his crew in Christopher Moore’s latest, Shakespeare for Squirrels!
After his last adventure in A Serpent in Venice, Pocket finds himself adrift in the Aegean Sea with nothing but the clothes on his back and his three closest friends: Drool, Jeff, and the puppet Jones. Not long after their lifeboat crashes near Athens, Pocket finds himself separated from his beloved monkey and drafted into an abysmal theater troupe. He is then “slain” by the King’s men, having been mistaken for another fool, and Drool is arrested. Pocket is brought to the King of Athens, who is days away from marrying the Queen of the Amazons. Since Pocket isn’t this other fool, Robin Goodfellow, Pocket’s tasked with discerning his fate, as the King asked a favor of him. The problem is that Robin Goodfellow is better known as the notorious Fae trickster, Puck. If Pocket could find Puck or find out if he made good on the favor, then Pocket and Drool would be free to go; if not, Drool would suffer the executioner’s ax. As Pocket delves into the world of the Fae, he befriends Cobweb, a squirrel by day and a sex-crazed fairy at night. Together, they find a mystical murder mystery rooted in the enslavement of the Fae, a spat between Puck’s parents, Oberon and Titania, involving an illegitimate Fae child.
Over the last 14 years, Christopher Moore has become my favorite author, and everything he releases is appointment reading for me. His novels have ranged from highbrow, thoughtful humor to slapstick comedies of errors. Shakespeare for Squirrels falls into the latter category. A Midsummer Night’s Dream reimagined as a murder mystery featuring a bawdy conman as its lead detective, Squirrels continues Moore’s takedown of The Bard’s most beloved works. And it’s a damned entertaining read.
Pocket is a character who’s grown more refined as he’s moved farther from his original conceit. Fool, released in 2009, was a retelling of King Lear from Pocket’s perspective. In the intervening years, he’s lost two loves, been forcibly removed from every home he’s made, and his only friends are a puppet, a pet monkey, and a giant, voice-mimicking simpleton. He has had several brushes with the supernatural, from ghosts to monsters, and now finds himself running afoul of Shakespeare’s most famous forest dwellers. And you need not be overly familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream to enjoy this. I never read it, personally, and I still had a great time with Shakespeare for Squirrels.
The downside is that Pocket can be an irritating voice sometimes. The Fool series is my least favorite of Moore’s offerings, and it’s partly because I didn’t love Shakespeare in high school and because Pocket, as a narrator, can be a bit of a turn-off. It’s a credit to Moore’s writing that my least favorite books of his are endlessly readable. After three books of Pocket and his flair for potty-humor, I might have had enough. There’s a limit to how many things you can quantify in factors of animal sex, and it takes a dog-fuckingly large amount of patience to get through. The surrounding story, however, is charming and funny enough that you can overlook this, as I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions.
Christopher Moore’s reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on-brand for him: bitingly funny with well-drawn characters you (mostly) like in spite of themselves. And while I may have personally developed a bit of “Pocket fatigue,” it’s still a fast and amazingly fun read.
Pros: Fast, fun read that’s laugh-out-loud funny in parts
Cons: Main character/narrator can be a little grating.
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars.
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