The recent novel Shakespeare for Squirrels is the work of Christopher Moore. A particularly well-read aunt introduced me to Moore’s books several years ago. He writes funny books, and his sense of humor border on insane, but in the best possible way. Moore’s trilogy You Suck, Bite Me, and Bloodsucking Fiends remain the funniest books I’ve read.
Shakespeare for Squirrels is a (very) loose adaptation of the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Someone who has read the play will find a number of inside jokes, I imagine. I can’t say if they’re funny, though, because I haven’t read that Shakespeare play. Sorry. My former career as the sole history professor at my small college didn’t leave much extra time for reading Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare connection is how I justify reviewing the book on my history blog. Tenuous, maybe, but hey, some comedic relief can be a good thing.
Shakespeare for Squirrels Characters
The hero, if one can call him that, is Pocket of Dog Snogging. Pocket is a fool. A jester, that is. Except his motley has no bells. It seems his former pirate companions tired of them and cut them off. But he still has his stick puppet, Jones, his apprentice, Drool, and his monkey, Jeff.
Cast adrift by the aforesaid pirates, the pair (Threesome? Foursome?) is shipwrecked in Greece near Athens. Except it’s not really Athens. This Athens is surrounded by dense forests with horny, hypersexed fairies and dense goblins who offer blow jobs for silver, even to the female fairies. (Did I mention the author is maybe insane?)
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Pocket of Dog Snogging must investigate the foul murder of Robin Goodfellow, a puck, to save his apprentice from imprisonment and death. He seems like a lousy investigator. Pocket ignores clues, insults royalty, and shags fairies along the way. He also befriends a troupe of actors, the Rude Mechanicals, the spurned lover Helena, the goblin Gritch, and Bottom, a magical man-donkey. (Like a centaur, but with better hearing and larger man parts.) Bottom, donkey, yeah, you get the idea.
But it’s a setup. Both Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Amazon Queen and unhappily soon-to-be Duchess of Athens, are using him for their own purposes, as are Titania, the Shadow Queen, and Oberon, King of the Night. Pocket must unravel the schemes to free Drool and save himself. He’d also like to find Jeff, the monkey, who runs off after masturbating monkey spunk into someone’s hat.
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Shakespeare for Squirrels Review
Hopefully, you’ve realized this isn’t a book you should take seriously. It features gratuitous cursing, considerable fantasy sex (although not graphic), and lots of goofy scenes. Does it add up to a fun read?
Mostly. If you find crude, lowbrow humor too dumb for your tastes, you’ll want to pass on Shakespeare for Squirrels. Pocket, fool that he is, also relies heavily on wit and sarcasm. If you like those in a main character, chances are better you’ll like the story. Like I wrote at the start of this blog, Shakespeare fans will probably find their share of inside jokes. So, if ferreting those out is something you enjoy, have at it.
I haven’t enjoyed the Pocket trilogy (I’ve also read The Serpent of Venice) as much as I did the gothic humor of You Suck and company. I’d score this book as pretty good, although readers may have a wide range of responses—understandably so—depending on how they take the humor.
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As always, I welcome constructive and polite discussion in the comments section. Thank you!
Well, perhaps I’d understand the more obscure references, but this book sounds insane. The play itself, though, is a bit insane, to be honest (mistaken love potions, a man with an ass’ head, fairies fighting, and inept players arguing over lines and parts). You must read more Shakespeare! Does The Serpent of Venice follow the plot of The Merchant of Venice at all?
Well, this story also has most of the things you mentioned. Just with a lot more cursing and sex . . . and a monkey. But no elves, despite several elf tests.
Players, play on.
I should also mention that The Serpent of Venice bears the same type of connection to The Merchant of Venice. The characters are about the same, except with a serpent that came back from China with Marco Polo that likes to eat bad guys, and a sarcastic jester as the main character.