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The Haircut Who Would Be King: A Political Fable
A farcical sendup of Donald Trump’s rise to power and volatile partnership with Vladimir Putin...As a young boy, Donald Rump was less than precocious—a miserable student, prone to implacable tantrums, whose emotional intelligence ceased maturing at the age of 9. But the region of the brain responsible for egomaniacal self-assessment was prodigiously large. After some success and plenty more failure in real estate, he turns his attentions to reality TV and hosts a show called “Paycheck,” each episode of which concludes with Rump singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Poutine was raised by KGB agents during the early years of Khrushchev’s reign. Poutine, a latent homosexual who immerses himself in the self-consciously manly world of “physical culture,” reads magazines about bodybuilding. Crushed by the demise of the Soviet Union, he copes in the most peculiar “he would slip into a silver lamé gown, pop on a curly wig and perform Marlene Dietrich classics at a local drag bar.” Rump decides he’d like to try his hand at politics and recruits shock jock Alex Clamz from the popular but frothing radio show, “Disinfowarz.” He runs for president opposite Mallory Claxton, a sensible woman with a sterling career in public service. Despite a bizarre campaign and a trail of seedy scandals, Rump wins with clandestine help from Poutine. And then, the fun really begins.
184 pages, Paperback
Published April 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 11, 2019
This was a fun and a very interesting satire. He combined what is happening in a humorous, fictional cloth. Very much like Mark Twain and Will Rogers he spun a tale with humor and a great deal of wit but there was just a sharp enough edge so you know it was couched in the reality of our time.
January 6, 2020
From character actor with more than forty years experience on stage, film, and television comes Robert Trebor's The Haircut Who Would Be King:A Political Fable
The tone for his wickedly funny parody is set with the opening page statement attributed to American journalist and political commentator, H.L. Mencken:
“On some great and glorious day,
the plain folks of the land
will reach their heart's desire at last,
and The White House will be adorned
by a downright moron.”
Did Mencken predict one day that there would be a Donald Trump elected as President of the USA? If so, he must be turning in his grave!
You don't have to get far into the book to start howling as Trebor ridicules the many inane diversions that distract Trump, whom he calls “Rump,” from more serious concerns. Without a doubt, the book is a product of our times as readers will enjoy Trebor's piercing, often hilarious takes and observations on Donald Trump and his buddy, Vladimir Putin, as well as the some of the other familiar characters that have come and gone in the Administration.
Although many of the scenes and descriptions may seem a trifle far fetched, yet, regrettably they are accurate, allowing for the parody's necessary selection and exaggeration. How many times have we heard the familiar expression “many a true word is spoken in jest,” which incidentally has been attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer in The Cook's Tale? And this is what Trebor's scathingly funny political parody and his comedic gift are all about- a deliberate persuasive effect to make Trump and his cronies appear dumb and even comical.
You have to admit you don't have to try too hard to accomplish this feat where you have a President who takes his tactical and ideological cues resembling a screaming, mid-tantrum toddler. Moreover, Trebor effectively succeeds in peppering his yarn with snatches of uproarious light takes on serious issues which all makes for a good belly laugh.
This wildly comic and uncannily spot-on spoof gets off to a swift start and maintains its momentum beginning with our first introduction to Trump or Rump, as Trebor refers to him, on election eve. Trebor informs us that Trump's father shortened the family name from “Rumperlcarpf “to avoid embarrassment, but nineteen-year-old Donnie seemed intent on causing the family maximum amount anyway.” And although, there is no evidence that Trump read Mein Kampf or Hitler's sayings such as: “What luck for rulers that men do not think”, and “The great masses of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one,” you can nonetheless understand Trebor's references when we compare these Hitlerisms and the dubious quotes that Donnie loves to tweet on Twitter.
As the burlesque unfolds, we follow Trump's journey in his early years of his Presidency, his peculiar relationship with Putin and the folly that is Trump's White House. Trebor effectively depicts the absurdity, excessive stupidity, and petty obsessions of the clown in the Oval Office with just the right mix. This is a parody at its supreme best; uproariously funny yet accurate. If you are feeling down from the bombardment of the daily outrageous behavior of the idiot in the White House, the read will provide you with just the right medicine to cure your ills and put away those anti-depressants that you may be taking.
FOLLOW HERE https://waa.ai/OZgw TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT TREBOR
The tone for his wickedly funny parody is set with the opening page statement attributed to American journalist and political commentator, H.L. Mencken:
“On some great and glorious day,
the plain folks of the land
will reach their heart's desire at last,
and The White House will be adorned
by a downright moron.”
Did Mencken predict one day that there would be a Donald Trump elected as President of the USA? If so, he must be turning in his grave!
You don't have to get far into the book to start howling as Trebor ridicules the many inane diversions that distract Trump, whom he calls “Rump,” from more serious concerns. Without a doubt, the book is a product of our times as readers will enjoy Trebor's piercing, often hilarious takes and observations on Donald Trump and his buddy, Vladimir Putin, as well as the some of the other familiar characters that have come and gone in the Administration.
Although many of the scenes and descriptions may seem a trifle far fetched, yet, regrettably they are accurate, allowing for the parody's necessary selection and exaggeration. How many times have we heard the familiar expression “many a true word is spoken in jest,” which incidentally has been attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer in The Cook's Tale? And this is what Trebor's scathingly funny political parody and his comedic gift are all about- a deliberate persuasive effect to make Trump and his cronies appear dumb and even comical.
You have to admit you don't have to try too hard to accomplish this feat where you have a President who takes his tactical and ideological cues resembling a screaming, mid-tantrum toddler. Moreover, Trebor effectively succeeds in peppering his yarn with snatches of uproarious light takes on serious issues which all makes for a good belly laugh.
This wildly comic and uncannily spot-on spoof gets off to a swift start and maintains its momentum beginning with our first introduction to Trump or Rump, as Trebor refers to him, on election eve. Trebor informs us that Trump's father shortened the family name from “Rumperlcarpf “to avoid embarrassment, but nineteen-year-old Donnie seemed intent on causing the family maximum amount anyway.” And although, there is no evidence that Trump read Mein Kampf or Hitler's sayings such as: “What luck for rulers that men do not think”, and “The great masses of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one,” you can nonetheless understand Trebor's references when we compare these Hitlerisms and the dubious quotes that Donnie loves to tweet on Twitter.
As the burlesque unfolds, we follow Trump's journey in his early years of his Presidency, his peculiar relationship with Putin and the folly that is Trump's White House. Trebor effectively depicts the absurdity, excessive stupidity, and petty obsessions of the clown in the Oval Office with just the right mix. This is a parody at its supreme best; uproariously funny yet accurate. If you are feeling down from the bombardment of the daily outrageous behavior of the idiot in the White House, the read will provide you with just the right medicine to cure your ills and put away those anti-depressants that you may be taking.
FOLLOW HERE https://waa.ai/OZgw TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT TREBOR
December 18, 2019
Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...
It was a bizarre scenario yesterday—juxtaposing an occasional glance at the impeachment debates with reading the book The Haircut Who Would Be King by Robert Trebor. A bit surreal to say the least!
Trebor, an actor whose face I knew from television and the movies, has laced together the relationship between Putin and Trump into a giggly-style farce that is really spot on. Here is the summary of the plot—if you can call it a plot.
“A farcical sendup of Donald Trump’s rise to power and volatile partnership with Vladimir Putin...As a young boy, Donald Rump was less than precocious—a miserable student, prone to implacable tantrums, whose emotional intelligence ceased maturing at the age of 9. But the region of the brain responsible for egomaniacal self-assessment was prodigiously large. After some success and plenty more failure in real estate, he turns his attentions to reality TV and hosts a show called “Paycheck,” each episode of which concludes with Rump singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Poutine was raised by KGB agents during the early years of Khrushchev’s reign. Poutine, a latent homosexual who immerses himself in the self-consciously manly world of “physical culture,” reads magazines about bodybuilding. Crushed by the demise of the Soviet Union, he copes in the most peculiar way: “he would slip into a silver lamé gown, pop on a curly wig and perform Marlene Dietrich classics at a local drag bar.” Rump decides he’d like to try his hand at politics and recruits shock jock Alex Clamz from the popular but frothing radio show, “Disinfowarz.” He runs for president opposite Mallory Claxton, a sensible woman with a sterling career in public service. Despite a bizarre campaign and a trail of seedy scandals, Rump wins with clandestine help from Poutine. And then, the fun really begins.”
Rump’s election motto was “Make America Grate Again,” and believe me, my teeth are “grating” today. Trebor’s antics are too close to the truth to be believed, and I gasped a couple of times as I read this paragraph following the news about Trump’s letter to Nancy Pelosi.
“Rump’s medical problem involves his digestive tract being wired backwards, so that everything flows in reverse. And that’s why he talks out of his butt, and nothing but crap comes out of his mouth!”
Read The Haircut Who Would Be King at your own risk. I found it a very funny and cringe-worthy satire. So did the Kirkus reviewer who says, “Debut author Trebor displays a sharp attunement to the politically absurd and a talent for making the already peculiar into the raucously silly. The first rule of parody is that it must be genuinely funny, and the author accomplishes that repeatedly.”
It was a bizarre scenario yesterday—juxtaposing an occasional glance at the impeachment debates with reading the book The Haircut Who Would Be King by Robert Trebor. A bit surreal to say the least!
Trebor, an actor whose face I knew from television and the movies, has laced together the relationship between Putin and Trump into a giggly-style farce that is really spot on. Here is the summary of the plot—if you can call it a plot.
“A farcical sendup of Donald Trump’s rise to power and volatile partnership with Vladimir Putin...As a young boy, Donald Rump was less than precocious—a miserable student, prone to implacable tantrums, whose emotional intelligence ceased maturing at the age of 9. But the region of the brain responsible for egomaniacal self-assessment was prodigiously large. After some success and plenty more failure in real estate, he turns his attentions to reality TV and hosts a show called “Paycheck,” each episode of which concludes with Rump singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Poutine was raised by KGB agents during the early years of Khrushchev’s reign. Poutine, a latent homosexual who immerses himself in the self-consciously manly world of “physical culture,” reads magazines about bodybuilding. Crushed by the demise of the Soviet Union, he copes in the most peculiar way: “he would slip into a silver lamé gown, pop on a curly wig and perform Marlene Dietrich classics at a local drag bar.” Rump decides he’d like to try his hand at politics and recruits shock jock Alex Clamz from the popular but frothing radio show, “Disinfowarz.” He runs for president opposite Mallory Claxton, a sensible woman with a sterling career in public service. Despite a bizarre campaign and a trail of seedy scandals, Rump wins with clandestine help from Poutine. And then, the fun really begins.”
Rump’s election motto was “Make America Grate Again,” and believe me, my teeth are “grating” today. Trebor’s antics are too close to the truth to be believed, and I gasped a couple of times as I read this paragraph following the news about Trump’s letter to Nancy Pelosi.
“Rump’s medical problem involves his digestive tract being wired backwards, so that everything flows in reverse. And that’s why he talks out of his butt, and nothing but crap comes out of his mouth!”
Read The Haircut Who Would Be King at your own risk. I found it a very funny and cringe-worthy satire. So did the Kirkus reviewer who says, “Debut author Trebor displays a sharp attunement to the politically absurd and a talent for making the already peculiar into the raucously silly. The first rule of parody is that it must be genuinely funny, and the author accomplishes that repeatedly.”
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews