Rating: 
Summary: Funny despite which side of the fence you're on
Review: As a big Trillin fan and a connaisseur of doggerel, this is the best of both worlds, although to totally enjoy it, you need to be very attentive to US domestic politics, which is hard if you live overseas. Nevertheless, this book is a gem and worth sending to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Funny and Enjoyable!
Review: I bought this book after I saw the interview of the author with John Stewart on Daily Show, and really enjoyed it. The book is full of very funny poems which (of course!) make fun of Bush's administration. Either because of their gaffes or their extreme believes which they are trying to hide. If you like political satire, this books is a must-have. It's not a boring political book, full of facts and conclusions, just a piece of news and sharp comic poem afterwards, so you can enjoy reading each part separately or read all the book at once. However, if you're a republican, you need a whole lot of sense of humor in order to enjoy some of the poems. The guy went to a lot of trouble for finding words that rhyme with the names of people in administration, but the result is usually great. A side note, some of the poems refer to things that has happened in 2000 presidential campaign and election, but there is a one line note about the event before beginning of the poem.
For example check this part of poem about John Ashcroft's quote that in US we have no king but Jesus:The only king we have is Jesus,
And I feel blessed to bring the news.
The only king we have is Jesus,
I can't explain why we got Jews.
Rating:
Summary: In a word, hilarious
Review: I thought I would laugh myself to death like the Weasels in Roger Rabbit after hearing Calvin reading "My Nanny, Dick", on the radio. This is the BEST BOOK yet on the misadventures and malfeasance of he who must not be opposed, IMHO--and makes the essential critical point with a combination of light-heartedness, acute poignancy, and the surprise of recognition. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: Now THIS is funny!
Review: If you haven't read Calvin Trillin before, it's about time you got started! We are lucky enough to be living at the same time as this comic genius, and any one of us who does not take advantage of reading his hilarious & intelligent creations, is just... well... missing out.
Even if you love our current administration, you're gonna laugh. If you don't laugh, well, too bad for you.
This book is funny! Buy it! & while you're at it, don't forget all the Trillin masterpieces! If you own a car in nyc, check out Tepper!!!! Thank you Mr. Trillin, for more giggles!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: In the best tradition of nursery rhymes I think this book is going to be around for a long time (possibly far longer than Bush). It is a cute, funny and well written piece of social comment (don't agree with all of it but it's so well executed I had to give it five stars).
I had an English teacher who explained the origins of some old nursery rhymes. Ring around the roses (black death - the ring and rose refers to the sore, a'tu refers to the sneezing. Plague symptoms.) And possibly the most appropriate for this book, The Grand Old Duke of York, He had 10,000 men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again again. When they were up they were up, when they were down they were down, and when they were half way up they were neither up n'or down. 19 Century rhyme reffering to an inept English military leader. The rhyme parodied his actions.
I think this will be a classic. Excellent execution with a deceptively simple style. I think this writing will have a very long shelf life, at least it deserves to.
Rating:
Summary: laugh or you will cry
Review: It is sometimes difficult to find a reason to laugh in these days of corporate and government corruption, but at least there are a few rays of laughter, including this short book of short poems. Mr. Trillin aims his barbs at Cheney's greed, Bush's (toughest hombre ever hid in the Guard) low IQ, Rove, Delay, war, fundamentalists and political campaigns, and the poems are insightful and sharp. There are even a few sea chanteys (Let's Heave Ho Toward the Center, Lads)!, and sometimes the titles are the real punch line, as in "On the Bush Administration's Reversal of the Announcement that Testing School Lunch Meat for Salmonella Would No Longer Be Required" or "Richard Perle: Whose Fault Is He?", which ends :
"And he's got planes and ships and tanks and guns--
All manned, of course, by other people's sons."
The title comes from the first rhyme of the book,
"Obliviousy on he sails,
With marks not quite as good as Quayle's"
I thought the most biting was this one, called "A Silver Lining View of George Bush's Not Attending Military Funerals, Lest He Become Associated with Bad News":
"At least there's no Bush eulogy
On why they had to die.
It's better that they're laid to rest
Without another lie."
Fine, satirical poems with a liberal/moral/rational bias.
Rating:
Summary: A breath of fresh air
Review: One would assume that the antics of this administration would have made satirists work overtime. Yet few seem to dare make Cheney, Ashcroft, and the boys targets of their wit. Michael Moore and Al Franken belong to the few. Now, at last New Yorker columnist Calvin Trillin has produced a book full of sharp satire, clever wit, and just buckets of laughs. Good fun for the family. I hope it gets the distribution if merits.
Rating:
Summary: With pith from a wordsmith
Review: Political verse is much like political cartooning: both require trimming complex ideas into a few small, deft strokes.
In this short yet pungent book, Calvin Trillin has distilled the essence of the foibles and failings of the Bush II administration. Trillin has reworked Broadway show tunes, Gilbert & Sullivan lyrics, sea chanties, Irish songs and all manner of doggerel to lampoon the follies of the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft. A sample:
A Two-Pronged Approach to the Afghan People
By night our missiles rain on them,
By day we drop them bread.
They should be grateful for the food-
Unless, of course, they're dead.
That says as much about the irony of situation or Afghans as any 200-page policy analysis. While there is little new here for those who already dislike Bush, at least Trillin says it with craft and ingenuity.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The reviews looked good, and I think Bush is ridiculous (not to mention dangerous), so I thought this book would be fun. It wasn't, for me. I think I only found three or four lines mildly amusing; and in my opinion the verse is not well crafted. But some people like this book. Here's an example. I don't like it, but if you do, you might like the book:
Before the war some working groups at State
Predicted problems certain to await
The occupying forces in Iraq.
But at Defense the neocons held sway.
They had contempt for viewpoints on the fray
That didn't come from them or from their claque.
They paid no mind to such defeatest talk.
They knew for sure the cakewalk that we'd walk
Would tame the Middle East with one great blow.
Iraq would pay its reconstruction bill.
Resistence, once we'd won, would soon be nil.
And what could striped-pants cookie-pushes know!
Rating:
Summary: Two can play...
Review: There once was a man named Trillin
Who's poems and books made a killin'
He sang to the choir
And swung on a wire
As the Liberals his poison were swillin'
Trillin told his stories in rhyme
He cooked tales spicier than thyme
The Libs would guffaw
'Til their knees were so raw
From rolling around in the grime
But the Truth had it in for old Cal
'Cuz Trillin was never Truth's pal
Will Cal take a tumble
When he and Truth rumble?
Yeppers he will, I know he shall
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