Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme

By Calvin Trillin

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Calvin Trillin's Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin.

Does the Bush Administration sound any better in rhyme? In this biting array of verse, it at least sounds funnier. Calvin Trillin employs everything from a Gilbert and Sullivan style, for describing George Bush’s rescue in the South Carolina primary by the Christian Right (“I am, when all is said and done, a Robertson Republican”), to a bilingual approach, when commenting on the President’s casual acknowledgment, after months of trying to persuade the nation otherwise, that there was never any evidence of Iraqi involvement in 9/11: “The Web may say, or maybe Lexis-Nexis / If chutzpa is a word they use in Texas.”

Trillin deals not only with George W. Bush but with the people around him—Supreme Commander Karl Rove and Condoleezza (Mushroom Cloud) Rice and Nanny Dick Cheney (“One mystery I’ve tried to disentangle: / Why Cheney’s head is always at an angle . . .”) The armchair warriors Trillin refers to as the Sissy Hawk Brigade are celebrated in such poems as “Richard Perle: Whose Fault Is He?” and “A Sissy Hawk Cheer” (“All-out war is still our druthers— / Fiercely fought, and fought by others.”).

Trillin may never be poet laureate—certainly not while George W. Bush is in office—but his wit and his political insight produce what has been called “doggerel for the ages.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 18, 2007
• ISBN: 9780307431547

Calvin Trillin

Peter M. Wolf is an award winning author. His recent memoir, My New Orleans Gone Away, reached the New York Times e-book Best Seller list. Previous books such as Land in America, Hot Towns and The Future of the City have been honored by Th e National Endowment for the Arts, Th e Ford Foundation and The Graham Foundation. Wolf was educated at Metairie Park Country Day School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale, Tulane, and New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. His research has taken him to Paris as a Fulbright scholar and to Rome as a visiting artist/scholar at the American Academy in Rome. In New Orleans Wolf serves on the advisory board of the Tulane University School of Architecture, and as a trustee of the Louisiana Landmarks Society. In East Hampton he is a trustee of Guild Hall and the Village Preservation Society. Wolf, a fifth generation New Orleans native, is Leon Godchaux’s great-great grandson.

Reviews for Obliviously On He Sails

[devil_llama · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A small book of doggerel by the Nation's Deadline Poet, Calvin Trillin. Most of the poetry focuses on the Bush years, so has not worn well, but can still be fun.

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Funny poems bashing Bush; what could be better.

[quantum_flapdoodle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A small book of doggerel by the Nation's Deadline Poet, Calvin Trillin. Most of the poetry focuses on the Bush years, so has not worn well, but can still be fun.

[runa_17 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was really excited to read this book. The concept sounded original and hilarious, and I was so sure I'd have a good time reading it. While reading, I found out that the poems were originally broadcast on a weekly radio show. This was a great idea. I would have much rather heard the poems in context with the world's events, rather than randomly combined in one book. I can understand someone wanting to read this after having heard the poems on the show, but other than that, this is definitely one of those books you want to pick up at the library, instead of purchasing it. I did enjoy the poems for the most part, although I really would have loved it if each poem had a blurb accompanying it, explaining the backstory behind the poem, as I found myself completely unfamiliar with the content of some of the poems.