Title: GOTCHA: Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign
Author: Ed. Weinberger
Publisher: South Street Books
Genre: Political Satire, fiction
First Publication: 2020
Language: English
Book Summary: GOTCHA: Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign by Ed. Weinberger
Nine-time Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Ed. Weinberger, known for his work on such legendary comedies as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Cosby Show, imagines an alternate Trump 2020 presidential campaign in this hilarious new novel.
In GOTCHA! Weinberger creates a chaotic world inhabited by America’s 45th President where cheating at golf is taken for granted; Fox anchors are valued advisors; and hydroxychloroquine is promoted as a COVID-19 cure.
Spanning the critical period from March 5, 2020 to January 24, 2021, GOTCHA! takes readers into Trump’s private world as he meets with his re-election committee, has a hush-hush dinner with Laura Ingraham, makes an angry early-morning call to Don, Jr., and asks Melania whether his bullet-proof vest makes him look fat. Trump tries to rush through a COVID-19 vaccine; attempts to build rapport with African Americans; and even gets away with shooting a protester on Fifth Avenue—an incident applauded by the NRA.
With an entertaining mix of fiction and satire, this provocative novel looks into the corrupt, three-ring-circus that is Washington in the new normal.
Book Review: GOTCHA: Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign by Ed. Weinberger
Since Trump’s election, I’ve read many serious books about Trump analysing how America got to what I, along with many others, consider a crisis of democracy, so it was refreshing to read a parody about it. This facetious satire of one of the world’s best-known men delivers a funny parody making light of ‘current’ president’s most conspicuous traits as well as his most momentous and noteworthy gaffes.
The book takes you through all the familiar events of the last year to recent election and the result. The staffing changes are there, as are darker things, like Putin, North Korea, and Charlottesville, though they’re not the main thing. I suppose the author wanted to leave the serious stuff to serious analysts; he concentrates on parodying Trump’s arrogance, incompetence, and growing instability. How It All Ends, which is the question on many of our minds, make me laugh out loud, when author predicted that Trump would refuse to leave the White House after losing the election.
Ed. Weinberger has now given us an outrageously funny novel equal to the absurdity roiling Washington. The explosion of topical gags in “GOTCHA! Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign” will — one hopes — someday require a host of footnotes to explain, but let the future worry about that. In this book author blended reality and fiction seamlessly, and given all that’s happened since Trump took office, the whole convoluted plot seems so damned plausible!
In ‘GOTCHA!: Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign’, Ed. Weinberger uses a strong story that has some degree of possibility to weave quite the tale and keeps the reader on their toes as they try not to tear up with laughter as it relates to the countless moments of mockery that emerge throughout. With strong chapters that keep the story moving and a cast of characters, many of whom depict real personas in the Washington sphere, Weinberger entertains like few others can. One can only wonder what ‘The election 2020’ will bring, but whatever it is, the history books will surely be full of footnotes about the craziness these past four years have been.
Worth a read no matter which side of the political fence you stand on because let’s face it, we all make mistakes and laughing at someone else’s faults makes our own imperfections a little less glaring and a lot more tolerable. This great piece leaves no stone unturned and keeps the reader snickering throughout, permitted they have an open mind and do not mind a little political ribbing. Recommended to those who can handle a little mockery of the American political situation, as well as the reader who needs a little humour to lighten their post-election cycle mood.
