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'''''Fool''''' is a novel by Creator/ChristopherMoore, published in 2009. The story is essentially a retelling of ''Theatre/KingLear'' from the perspective of Pocket, the fool of Lear's court.

Pocket has been in the employ of Lear since he was a boy, when he proved to be the only one who could make Cordelia, (Lear's youngest daughter, who was DumbStruck at the time) laugh. When Lear prepares to marry Cordelia off, Pocket is horrified by the thought of never seeing her again and comes up with ASimplePlan to cause the engagement to fall through.

Naturally everything goes wrong, and Lear splits his realm between his daughters Regan and Goneril while disowning Cordelia. A frantic Pocket schemes furiously behind the scenes and tries to stay one step ahead of the many nobles that want to kill him as events unfold, but there are other issues, including a ghost hinting at the dark nature of Pocket's past, that will need to be dealt with as well.

For more, including plenty of spoilers, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fool_%28novel%29 see here]]. Compare ''Literature/AThousandAcres'', another PerspectiveFlip adaptation of ''Lear'' that also has a SettingUpdate to 1979 Iowa.

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!!''Fool'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* ActionGirl: Cordelia becomes this, and then some.
* AntiHero: Pocket is a fairly wicked and devious character who has no problem committing all sorts of deeds that will result in harm to others.
* AristocratsAreEvil: And how! Nearly everyone of noble rank is cruel or a self-centered asshat, or both.
* TheBigGuy: Drool, a Natural and a fool-in-training, is quite big, and next to Pocket, looks enormous.
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Pocket claims he is much better endowed than most. Drool, on the other hand, is sporting rhinocerous equipment. The women love them for it.
** Though at one point in the book it's pretty heavily implied Pocket is NOT all that well endowed, but is rather skilled thanks to his... backstory.
* BlackComedy: Plenty of dark plots, ill treatment, murder, and cruel witticisms.
* CatchPhrase: "Fuckstockings!" by Pocket.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Edmund does this deliberately later in the play. His discussion of the trope is currently the page quote on the trope page.
* GuileHero: Pocket, who survives mainly on his wits, and with the occasional help of tricks like concealed daggers and such.
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: For Pocket, it's a matter of professional pride that he is always able to deliver a stream of impromptu, witty, tailored euphemisms, insults, or innuendo on the spot.
* KissingCousins: Turns out [[spoiler: that Pocket is the bastard son of Lear's brother. He's also the lover, and in Cordelia's case eventually husband, of all three of Lear's daughters. Even when he finds out it doesn't stop him from marrying Cordelia. Whether she finds out is unrevealed.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Edmund, naturally.
* OneWordTitle
* PerspectiveFlip: It's mostly Shakespeare's ''Theatre/KingLear'', but the fool tells it how it really happened.
* RaisedByWolves: Drool was literally raised by wolves.
* VoiceChangeling: This is Drool's natural talent, which Pocket exploits for his own machinations.
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