Just when the nation couldn't seem more politically polarized, when the rhetoric from both left and right is often at best divisive and at worst downright nasty, comes this wickedly funny book that paints a moustache on the whole political scene, left, right, and in between. But perhaps describing The Forbidden Political Dictionary as simple moustache-painting does it an injustice, for there is much wit, and even wisdom, in its pages. Owing more than a casual nod to the Ambrose Bierce classic, The Devil's Dictionary, John Clifton's "handy guide" is full of perverse definitions of common words daily bandied about by politicos and pundits, and manages to strike the funny bone and the truth bone simultaneously. Pervading the definitions (all alphabetically ordered, like any typical dictionary) is the sense of cutthroat rivalry among political figures, operating in the context of polished public images and devious private actions. A simple word like "gift" becomes "A self-damaging error made by a rival." The verb "smear" is merely defined as "Describe" in Clifton's political paradigm. How is a reader supposed to react to that? The first response is laughter; the second is realization that maybe someone is onto something here.
Words: funny images, in the square, political books

Author: Clifton, John
Publisher: Foley Square Books
Illustration: N
Language: ENG
Title: The Forbidden Political Dictionary: Complete and Unapproved
Pages: 00000 (Encrypted PDF)
On Sale: 2010-04-05
SKU-13/ISBN: 9780976084631
Category: Humor : Topic - Political