The Serpent of Venice
New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore channels William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe in The Serpent of Venice, a satiric Venetian gothic that brings back the Pocket of Dog Snogging, the eponymous hero of Fool, along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff.
Venice, a long time ago. Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy of Britain and France, and widower of the murdered Queen Cordelia: the rascal Fool Pocket.
This trio of cunning plotters--the merchant, Antonio; the senator, Montressor Brabantio; and the naval officer, Iago--have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of spirits and debauchery with a rare Amontillado sherry and Brabantio's beautiful daughter, Portia.
But their invitation is, of course, bogus. The wine is drugged. The girl isn't even in the city limits. Desperate to rid themselves once and for all of the man who has consistently foiled their grand quest for power and wealth, they have lured him to his death. (How can such a small man, be such a huge obstacle?). But this Fool is no fool . . . and he's got more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve.
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Christopher Moore is the author of eighteen previous novels, including Razzmatazz, Shakespeare for Squirrels, Noir, Secondhand Souls, Sacré Bleu, Fool, and Lamb. He lives in San Francisco, California.
"In The Serpent of Venice (2014), Pocket travels to Venice as Britain's royal ambassador and gets involved in the events of both Othello and The Merchant of Venice. . . . Because Fool was set 'in a more or less mythical 13th-century Britain' . . . Moore backed up Othello's and Merchant's original settings 300 years . . . This new historical setting serves as an even better backdrop than Shakespeare's originals for stories of Venetian military and mercantile chicanery, and the titular serpent becomes the perfect personification of Shakespeare's themes of revenge and jealousy." -- Austen Tichenor, Shakespeare & Beyond, Folger Shakespeare Library
"Shakespeare and Poe might be rolling in their graves, but they're rolling with laughter. Christopher Moore is one of the cleverest, naughtiest writers alive." -- Carl Hiaasen, New York Times bestselling author of a whole bunch of excellent books, including Bad Monkey, Nature Girl, and Sick Puppy on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"Fans who enjoyed the rollicking play within a play of Fool or the historical whimsy of Sacré Bleu will find many of the same gifts here . . . from one of America's most original humorists." -- Kirkus Reviews on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"Fans of Fool will be overjoyed to rejoin Pocket and company . . . for their latest adventure, and newcomers will find that Shakespeare isn't nearly as dry and dusty as they thought, at least not when Moore is at the helm. -- Library Journal (starred review) on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"Moore's imaginative storytelling, bawdy prose, puns aplenty . . . succeed in transforming two classical tragedies into outrageously farcical entertainment." -- Publishers Weekly on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"Moore . . . is an excellent writer, and there are passages of prose--Pocket's defense of Othello and the entire Pound-of-Flesh trial--that sparkle with Moore's trademark wit and intelligence. Moore's strength is his ability to appropriate supporting characters and make them wholly his own creations. -- Dallas Morning News on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
Moore's greatest asset is his skill with language. Readers with a certain Monty Python nerdiness will rejoice in its hundreds of insults . . . and jokes. . . . [W]itty and wise . . . Serpent is a bright, quick novel." (3 out of 4 stars) -- USA Today on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"The dialogue is extremely witty, and . . . you will laugh hard and find yourself hurling bawdy insults throughout the day, even if you don't say them out lout." -- Louisville Courier Journal on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"To get a sense of the tone, imagine the merry pranksters of Monty Python in their heyday taking off on Shakespeare while simultaneously trying to break the record for F-bombs currently held by The Wolf of Wall Street." -- Tampa Bay Times on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"A gleeful and wonderfully strange mash-up. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and Othello are its chief ingredients, with Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Cask of Amontillado' thrown in. The result? An imaginative, wildly inspired satire." -- Seattle Times on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"[Moore] brings back one of his favorite characters, Pocket from 2009's Fool. . . . Add a weirdly satisfying combo of literary in-jokes and low sex gags to the mix and what comes out of the Christopher Moore meat grinder is unique and sublime." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
"The Serpent of Venice is a remarkable reimagining of classic literature, churned through historical backgrounds and research and set to a different drum. Tragedy becomes comedy in this side-splitting, hair-raising adventure. . . . A piece of literary gold." -- Bookreporter.com on THE SERPENT OF VENICE
