Love it or hate it, Alec Baldwin’s impression of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live became one of recent pop culture’s defining symbols of parody during an otherwise parody-like presidential election. An argument can be made for Anthony Atamanuik’s deeply psychological portrayal of the president on Comedy Central’s The President Show, but it hasn’t reached nearly as many eyeballs as Baldwin’s version has. Even Trump himself is aware of the impression, which he railed against as being “not good.” Whether or not the president is aware of Baldwin’s new in-character book, however, remains to be seen.
Titled You Can’t Spell America Without Me, Baldwin and Spy magazine co-founder Kurt Andersen co-wrote the book, which was first announced in March. Described then as a “parody presidential memoir,” Baldwin and Anderson’s book would essentially co-opt (and mock) the political memoir genre currently packed with forthcoming books by James Comey, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Aside from the pair’s writing process, however, very little was revealed about what precise form You Can’t Spell America Without Me would take… until today.
Entertainment Weekly released a first look at the cover, another version of which is now available on Amazon’s website and elsewhere, courtesy of Penguin Press. What’s more, they also revealed a November 7th, 2017 release date for the book — thereby recognizing the one-year anniversary of the last day ever that the word “President” didn’t have to be placed in front of Trump’s name. Here’s that cover.
Several comedic books about Donald Trump’s campaign, election or both have already been written and published. Even so, none of these have gone quite as far as Baldwin and Anderson have in maintaining the original parodic impression’s allusion. You Can’t Spell America Without Me doesn’t go on sale until November 7th, but Amazon and other outlets are now accepting pre-orders.
(Via Entertainment Weekly and Amazon)