"This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spaking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as nontraditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank."
Verily speaks Christopher Moore, much-beloved scrivener and peerless literary jester, who hath writteneth much that is of grand wit and belly-busting mirth, including such laureled bestsellers of the Times of Olde Newe Yorke as Lamb, A Dirty Job, and You Suck: A Love Story. Now he takes on no less than the legendary Bard himself (with the utmost humility and respect) in a twisted and insanely funny tale of a moronic monarch and his deceitful daughters - a rousing story of plots, subplots, counterplots, betrayals, war, revenge, bared bosoms, unbridled lust...and a ghost (there's always a bloody ghost), as seen through the eyes of a man wearing a codpiece and bells on his head.
Now, as I've stated, I'm a huge fan of Christopher Moore. This offering, however, sorely missed its mark with me. It did not draw me in. I didn't like the characters (of course I didn't like the characters in Shakespeare's play either). The writing wasn't as witty and engaging as previous books. I have to agree with Lois when she commented on a precious Christopher Moore book that I reviewed here. This is NOT a book that I would recommend to MY gentle readers.
