Fool and The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore

 I first encountered Christopher Moore with the book Lamb, which Liz reviewed earlier this year. In that book, the protagonist Biff gives us an irreverent and sex-obsessed view of Biblical times. In Fool and The Serpent of Venice, the jester Pocket provides a similar look at a more Shakespearean era.

Fool is basically a retelling of King Lear from the jester's point of view. Pocket is in love with Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia, and when she does not get a share of the kingdom that is left to her sisters, Pocket schemes to exact revenge on the king and win Cordelia's heart. If you're not familiar with Shakespeare's original play, well I'm not going to go into the whole plot here. Suffice it to say, in Fool it turns out that Pocket (with help from his dimwitted apprentice, Drool) was behind most of the tragic occurrences and jealousy among the three sisters, as he shags the lot of 'em. He obtains three doses of a love potion from the witches of Macbeth fame, and uses these to manipulate the women to desire whoever is most convenient.

The more recent novel The Serpent of Venice combines elements of Othello and The Merchant of Venice with the Edgar Allen Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." Pocket remains our main narrator, though some passages are told in third person, and an omniscient Chorus pops in to introduce certain scenes and otherwise annoy the other characters in a fourth-wall-breaking manner. Not long after finding out his beloved Cordelia has died, Pocket's misfortune continues when he's thrown in a dungeon.

These books will appeal to Shakespeare fans who don't mind the idea of the Bard's plays being ripped apart and thrown together by a prankster. As I have implied, both are occasionally sexually explicit when Shakespeare was subtle about such matters. It's a sense of humor that will appeal to the naughty teenager in you. I don't think Christopher Moore is for everyone, but for those who like a combination of highbrow and lowbrow, there is nobody like him.

For more about the author and his books, check out Christopher Moore's website.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Franny Banks is living in New York City circa 1995 trying to be an actress. She set herself a deadline: by the time her boyfriend in Chicago graduated from law school, she should know if acting is her way of life or just something she can say she tried. We join her 6 months till her deadline and she seems no closer than when she started. We meet her roommates, Jane and Dan: Jane is a production assistant and Franny's cheerleader and Dan is the engaged guy trying to write a science fiction screenplay.

It was not until the end of chapter 29 (of 32) that I saw what Graham was trying to say with this book. Prior to this point in the novel, we've been following a jaded Franny in her in her every day life: acting classes, auditions, dating, agents.. Franny has lost hope and Dan tries to cheer her up by describing the character in a J.D. Salinger story that Franny is named her after: J.D. Salinger's Franny carries around a book, The Way of the Pilgrim, which says that repetition brings enlightenment. I prefer how Dan interprets it: "the idea that quantity becomes quality." Throughout the whole book Graham's Franny has been filling her Filofax and Dan tries to get her to understand that if she "keeps filling up the pages" that "something is bound to happen." And so I found myself understanding the beauty of Franny's life as told by Lauren Graham.

I started reading it but I ended up listening to the audiobook which is read by Lauren Graham. And I thought that was really great: an actress reading her own book so you could really hear what she meant with her words. I have no doubt that listening to that audiobook gave me a better understanding of the exact tone was trying to convey from her novel. I liked it. Oh and I have to mention that the #1 reason I decided to read the book in the first place is because I really liked Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls.

Visit Lauren Graham's site for more information about the author and how to purchase her book(s).