Elizabeth's Reviews > Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown: Verses for a Despotic Age

Okay, I read this because it was a Christmas present my brother received, and it was just lying around; he'll probably thumb through it once, then it will gather dust on a shelf until its donated to Goodwill three presidential elections from now. At least I helped it fulfill its purpose. It is also a book, and I want to make my Reading Challenge goal this year, so yeah.

I must admit, John Lithgow is accomplished (he's almost EGOT'ed), and I'm sure these poems were cathartic as unbelievable bit of news after news came out about the Trump administration. His forward to the book was the most intelligent piece of writing in the book; he is aware of the transient nature of responding to news, and he is in the space between what is reported, and what is sifted into history books, and that in the time between writing and publication, these poems become overshadowed as more egregious acts (like trying to commit election fraud and overturn the results) occur.

The verse itself was passable. All of it rhymed, though the rhythm and meter were jumbled. I think "Tiger King" was my favorite, but there were a few other gems, and I enjoyed the "Limericks from the Seat if Government." I was impressed that Lithgow made a rhyme with "hydroxychloroquine."

John Lithgow clearly has no love for Trump, and he writes that the purpose of the book is to make its readers angry. Mission accomplished. He contextualizes each poem with a snippet about what he discussed. It feels a bit one-sided, and he paints the Right as The Bad Guys and the Left as the Good Guys, with a few Republican Good Guys like Romney and Navy Captain Brett Crozier. But, it's very hard to be nuanced in today's political landscape, so I don't fault Lithgow very much at all.

Overall, this is like the poor man's adult, political Shel Silverstein. It would've made excellent bathroom reading, but alas we are past such an era.