MacTrump
A Shakespearean Tragicomedy of the Trump Administration, Part I
Paperback | Kindle
By Ian Doescher and Jacopo della Quercia
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release date: October 1, 2019

MacTrump, the new President of the United Fiefdoms, has come to rule much to the distress of supporters of the former President, Banquo O’Bama. He thinks it will be a simple job, and that the people will beg for his legacy to continue. His first 2 years are not without bumps as he fires many people, like Stephen Bannox, causing Spicero to hide behind potted plants. He even ends up being investigated by Sir Robert of MacMueller! Whatever shall the greatest President of the United Fiefdoms to have ever lived do or tweet? One hopes he will listen to Banquo’s ghost or the spirits of the other presidents. Do you think he will?

More below on MacTrump: A Shakespearean Tragicomedy of the Trump Administration, Part I by Ian Doescher and Jacopo della Quercia.

Ian Doescher (William Shakespeare’s Get Thee Back To The Future!, William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls (Pop Shakespeare Book 1)) and Jacopo della Quercia (License To Quill, The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy) have done it again, this time mashing current political culture (or lack thereof) with Shakespearean words, namely and obviously, MacBeth. Although I always love me a good iambic pentameter, what makes this super enjoyable are the characters. From Mitch MacTuttle to Dame Desdivanka to Bernicarus, everybody is represented so cleverly. The standout is McTweet, MacTrump’s messenger, literally his tweets personified, but with a mind of his own:

McTWEET [aside:] Defender or pretender? Time will tell!

Amazing! Although the satire is aimed towards Trump, both the Democrats (Democrati) and Republicans (Republicons) are up for ridicule (Hence Bernicarus). And Desdivanka has some great lines like this one after her father and brothers exit:

Is this indeed the stock whence I have come,
A giant teat and his two suckling pigs?
Had I known father’s reign would be
So ruinous, I would have ask’d he make
Me viceroy moments after he took office.

This book is tons of fun. I thoroughly recommend this tragicomedy, and look forward to Part II. I hope, however, that there is no material for a Part III or we’re all doomed.

From the publisher:

For readers craving a humorous antidote to the sound and the fury of American politics, this clever satire, written in iambic pentameter in the style of Shakespeare, wittily fictionalizes the events of the first two years of the Trump administration.

No one thought that MacTrump””Lord of MacTrump Towers, Son of New York””would ascend to the highest position in the kingdom. Yet with the help of his unhappy but dutiful wife Lady MacTrump, his clever daughter Dame Desdivanka, and his coterie of advisers, MacTrump is comfortably ensconced in the White Hold as President of the United Fiefdoms, free to make proclamations to his subjects through his favorite messenger, McTweet.

The Democrati, mourning the loss of their cherished leader O’Bama, won’t give up without a fight. They still remember the disastrous reign of George the Lesser, and they can see Putain’s dark influence on MacTrump. Their greatest hope is MacMueller, tasked with investigating the plot that empowered MacTrump’s rise to the throne.

As Desdivanka schemes to overthrow her father’s councilors, and as Donnison and Ericson””trapped in their own Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-like storyline””prove useless to their father, MacTrump soon realizes he has no true allies. Will he be able to hold on to his throne? Only time will tell in this tragicomic tale of ambition, greed, and royal ineptitude.

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