New York Times Bestseller!
Shakespeare meets Dashiell Hammett in this wildly entertaining murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore—an uproarious, hardboiled take on the Bard’s most performed play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Pocket, the hero of Fool and The Serpent of Venice, along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff.Set adrift by his pirate … along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff.
Set adrift by his pirate crew, Pocket of Dog Snogging—last seen in The Serpent of Venice—washes up on the sun-bleached shores of Greece, where he hopes to dazzle the Duke with his comedic brilliance and become his trusted fool.
But the island is in turmoil. Egeus, the Duke’s minister, is furious that his daughter Hermia is determined to marry Demetrius, instead of Lysander, the man he has chosen for her. The Duke decrees that if, by the time of the wedding, Hermia still refuses to marry Lysander, she shall be executed . . . or consigned to a nunnery. Pocket, being Pocket, cannot help but point out that this decree is complete bollocks, and that the Duke is an egregious weasel for having even suggested it. Irritated by the fool’s impudence, the Duke orders his death. With the Duke’s guards in pursuit, Pocket makes a daring escape.
He soon stumbles into the wooded realm of the fairy king Oberon, who, as luck would have it, IS short a fool. His jester Robin Goodfellow—the mischievous sprite better known as Puck—was found dead. Murdered. Oberon makes Pocket an offer he can’t refuse: he will make Pocket his fool and have his death sentence lifted if Pocket finds out who killed Robin Goodfellow. But as anyone who is even vaguely aware of the Bard’s most performed play ever will know, nearly every character has a motive for wanting the mischievous sprite dead.
With too many suspects and too little time, Pocket must work his own kind of magic to find the truth, save his neck, and ensure that all ends well.
A rollicking tale of love, magic, madness, and murder, Shakespeare for Squirrels is a Midsummer Night’s noir—a wicked and brilliantly funny good time conjured by the singular imagination of Christopher Moore.
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Preamble
It is a rare occasion that I actually pre-order anything these days. In earlier years, I ill-spent a good deal of pocket change at the video games shops on such hopeful endeavours, praying that the game I was pre-purchasing would be worth the full price that I laid out.
I was frequently burned.
That said, I did not say that it was a ‘never’ occasion, just that it is currently rare for me to pre-order anything, as measured wisdom has come clamping down around my wild and foolish heart (some of the time). But I did pre-order Shakespeare for Squirrels without batting an eye. And am I ever glad I did.
The book was released today. I read and finished it today. I can count on one (maybe two hands) in which I have done something like this. But damn, if it was not worth all of the fevered delight with which I slammed my thumb over and over on the Kindle, turning page after page until the zany tale drew to its hilarious conclusion.
Review – 5/5
Shakespeare for Squirrels is the third book in the Pocket saga, which starts with Fool and is preceded by The Serpent of Venice. I gave both of those books full marks, so perhaps it makes sense that I was champing at the bit like a transmogrified donkey man to get this book into my eye holes. Where the first tale was focused on King Lear, the second on the Merchant of Venice and Othello, this one is a peculiarly perverted retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Like the other stories in the book, this is a bawdy tale, which means there is shagging, shagging, and more shagging. Also a bit of murder and other less salacious adult themes. Unlike the familiar mantra about comedy (which thankfully died with the advent of the Internet), dirty humour is not some kind of skill-free cheap shot which is employed by hacks of all stripes. It is an art form, one that smashes propriety to bits in the name of a good old donkey (see that word again) laugh. It is not witless – in fact, I would say that this particular example is the height of wit.
I laughed out loud – a lot – as I read Shakespeare for Squirrels. The only other example I had of this was Fool, which I read on a plane back in the pre-COVID days as I headed down to warmer climes for a vacation with my ex. She elbowed me a few times for said donkey laughs as I ripped through that book in a day as well.
The fact is, Moore’s writing is not simply some hackneyed shouting of ‘cock and balls’ into the void that is the reader’s mind (although change-ups like that happen a couple of times throughout the book and are welcome). It is a layer-cake of single entendres, double entendres, self-referential bits (there’s always a bloody ghost) and absolutely ridiculous situations that are arranged against the backdrop of an intriguing tale. Storycraft is an art and Moore is at the height of his game. He teases the reader with a mystery – albeit a mystery that is set in a world of goblins and fairies and monkey with a penchant for fucking hats. The story has legs, ones that carry it through to an appropriately fourth-wall breaking mind fuck that leaves one wondering if the damn monkey missed their hat and had a go at the old grey matter through an ear.
I can’t tell you how many lines I highlighted as I read the book – actually, scratch that, I can (thank you, Kindle software). 20 different bits of hilarity that I saved for later. Moore’s writing is a perfectly taut blend of perverted filth and lyrical prose – I mean, where else are you going to get a line like ‘And there you are, sobbing like you’ve been dirked in the dick by grief’s dark dagger.’?
The story that inspired the book, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, actually holds a pretty dear place in my heart. It was one of the first plays I acted in as a child in school, a nascent career which was rodgered down the old foul quitter shitter by the stank winds of fate (in actuality, I am a terrible actor and it was never a dream of mine, but, you know, grade school). Decent hand at the part of Oberon or no (definitely no), this experience seeded (hehehe) a love of Shakespeare that I carry with me to this day. And Moore does a fantastic job of honouring the Bard with this filthy caper-esque reimagining of the tale.
If Shakespeare were alive today, I have a feeling that he would be rather pleased that his legacy has led to stories of oversexed squirrels and masturbating cretins, a jism-soaked explosion of colour and laughter that is Shakespeare for Squirrels. I know that I would be, were I in his ancient and rotted shoes somewhere in a dank hole in Straford-upon-Avon.
I really hope there’s a book four in the Pocket saga.
Christopher Moore is the best. All of his books are humorous, thought provoking, and so well written. It’s best to read Fool first
I LOVE Christopher Moore! This book had me laughing so hard I was in tears! You will have had to read Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream to understand much of the humor, though.
If you know Christopher Moore, enough said. If not, you will have to be prepared for scabrous (but funny) dialog along with much snogging and shagging and some mild violence. For the rest, the book is a sort of mashup of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (no, you can’t imagine) and stars Pocket, King Lear’s (former) fool, coming to us after his adventures in The Serpent of Venice. Moore is the funniest and most imaginative writer I have ever read–and also one of the most skillful at his craft.
Christopher Moore is a definite “taste.” It’s hard to be funny for the entire length of a book without it getting a little eye-rolly. I find his humor over the top, but in a way I truly enjoy. It’s absurd and irreverent, and sometimes blasphemous (okay, often blasphemous) but always enjoyable from first page to last. Shakespeare for Squirrels is both homage to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (and other work by Willy-Shakes), and a parody of it. Fun, fun book. Thoroughly entertaining.
Beyond tedious.
Wanted to like the offbeat humor depicting Shakespeare stories in modern language, but just couldn’t.
I enjoy Christopher’s creative and very fun way of presenting events based on history. He is obviously brilliant and spends a great deal of time doing research.
As far as Pocket stories go, nothing will beat the first one (Fool), but this had me laughing nearly as much and I like the story much more than the second book (Serpent of Venice). Pocket’s been tossed ashore and thrown into A Midsummer Night’s Dream where he ends up shagging squirrels, dealing with perfect f@cking French (in Greece?), and solving the mystery of who killed Puck.
If you like Christopher Moore and if you aren’t afraid of having your Shakespeare poked, prodded, and ripped apart, you’ll love this. If you’re easily offended by potty language and can’t bear any alterations to Shakespeare, best skip this.
Moore is a madly clever satirist.
He has reworked Shakespeare wonderfully.
It took me a little while to get my brain geared to his Moore universe, but once I was set, it was great.
I found the Afterword particularly informative.
Contrived.
Pocket in the world of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Yes, please! I rolled with laughter from beginning to end. I quoted some of my favorite lines along with the characters. It has been a long time since a book made me smile like that.
Shakespeare for Squirrels is Christopher Moore’s latest madcap adventure for his infamous character, Pocket, previously employed in Fool and Serpent of Venice. As in these other novels, Moore inserts his egotistical and raucous character into the beloved works of the Bard, thereby creating irreverent versions of the plays as seen through Pocket’s “outsider” viewpoint. For the uninitiated, Moore’s hijacking of the plot can at first be unsettling, but those who have experienced his skill with satire will recognize his true respect and knowledge of the source material. This iteration takes on one of Shakespeare’s most accessible works, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which already has a fair share of fantasy and bawdy humor. Moore amps up the action by adding an infiltrating Pocket to the cast list—hijacking the well-known events with his trademark twisted and witty commentary. Pocket, a roving Fool, arrives on the scene after being shipwrecked along with his apprentice and a monkey (picked up in from the earlier novels). After being resuscitated by fairies, Pocket is drawn into an intricate drama that involves, among other things: a group of inept amateur actors, pompous mythical beings, unnatural love triangles, dizzying court intrigue, silly revenge plots and faulty magic. Moore’s also weaves in a mystery for good measure. Pocket needs to navigate within the already frantic events to discover who killed Puck (a central mischief maker from the original play) and in order to set his imprisoned apprentice free. Moore, in typical form, tosses in some absurd details and complications, the addition of squirrels being only one such example. Shakespeare for Squirrels has moments that may confuse some readers, with character names that closely resemble each other and an assumption of knowledge that not all may possess. Those who persevere will be rewarded by receiving clarification in a concluding monologue from Rumor, a recurring addition who serves as a “summation/omniscient” character. Truly hilarious at times and cringeworthy at others, Moore demonstrates once again his deserved reputation as an accomplished satirist. Re-reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream and/or the first two books in the Pocket series is highly recommended before starting this new release. While most readers will find much to enjoy in Moore’s latest cheeky dip into our sacred literary canon, longtime fans and those well-versed in the original Shakespeare will derive the greatest pleasure.
Thanks to the author, William Morrow and Edelweiss for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.