I forget, how much of the Mahabharata story do you actually know? Because if you've absorbed it via osmosis, you could also read another sort-of retelling, Shashi Tharoor's The Great Indian Novel, which is a mash-up of the MB with the story of the Indian Independence movement. It's really wild and funny and irreverent and smart - right up your alley. But you do need to know who the characters are before you start.