Its disgust is outraged, its outrages disgusted, especially as the plague descends. It's also written with grace and wit, at times even skirting toward apologia for its more outré inventions. Not that it’s only the fictional stuff that’s outlandish. At first, it seems ludicrous when a whistleblower—The Whistler—describes a meeting in which the president and his “Poodles” attempt to find someone, anyone, to assassinate to knock impeachment headlines out of the news. But then team chooses to target Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian major general actually killed in a January 2020 drone strike. Link also engages in Chaucerian play, with “The Copper’s Tale” detailing a police officer’s experience of departmental corruption.

Finding inspiration in great ribald literature proves effective both in parodying the administration, connecting it to the brazen transgressions writers have always lampooned, while also reminding readers that nothing much has changed in humanity since the age of Molière. The joking here at times is mean—early on, the Narrator declares that “right wingers don’t read”—and the wildness of Link’s imaginings might not be enough to win over sympathetic readers who, in the moment, have simply read enough about Trump.

Takeaway: A proudly outrageous satire of the Trump administration, with classical roots.

Great for fans of: Christopher Buckley’s Make Russia Great Again, Mark Doten’s Trump Sky Alpha.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-