The Fool Who Thought Too Much

It's tough to be a buffoon when the Age of Reason is trying to downsize your job. When the King's Fool dies unexpectedly, a professional buffoon tries to move up the ranks and grab the top slot. But the politics involved in becoming a court jester are no laughing matter. The rules of becoming the top fool are simple: The winner is the one who performs the most outrageous act. Our buffoon and his fellows struggle for supremacy in a profession that is heading for extinction.

Ishmael Reed is a playwright, poet, and author of such groundbreaking novels as Mumbo Jumbo and Reckless Eyeballing as well as the best-selling Audible Original Malcolm and Me. Now the acclaimed writer returns to the form that introduced him to reading when he was a child: fairy tales.