Quirky and humorously provocative.
Two young writers satirize the American obsession with conspiracy theories by offering “insights” into a fictional governmental plot.
During the Trump era, the far-right fringe groups, including QAnon—which posited that elite Satan-worshipping pedophile democrats controlled politics and the media—developed a robust following, to the chagrin of many, including then teenage McIndoe. He responded by disseminating a joke conspiracy theory claiming that, in the 1970s, the U.S. government “killed off the entire bird population and replaced them with robotic bird replicas that are used for mass surveillance.” In this book, McIndoe and Gaydos move to the next parodic extreme by offering an in-depth history of this fictional movement—which they claim has been “brutally suppressed” by the government—and other absurdist gems, including a field guide to major bird drones such as pigeons, seagulls, bluebirds, and vultures and a “real history of America” that claims the apex of the American Revolution was in 1812, when “Washington led his colonial army across the Delaware ocean.” For fellow “Bird Truthers” seeking to spread the word, the authors deliver sage advice on everything from how to hold rallies—complete with instructions on ways to make the best use of speeches, moments of silence, and bagpipes—to how to hypnotize every member of the armed forces for effective government overthrow and how to create shelters and societies by digging interconnected backyard holes. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white sketch-style drawings, the text presents its own alternative-fact universe that ridicules the bizarre distortions that have become an embedded part of American sociopolitical reality. “This book,” write the authors, “is intended for readers with an IQ over 250….If your IQ is under 250, please close this book immediately and read something more suited to your sensibilities, such as Goodnight Moon or Frog and Toad.”
Quirky and humorously provocative.Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781250288899
Page Count: 272
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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