Tales of Obamaland: A collection of fables, myths, and legends from a world not so far away

Robert Thomas
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9781440174667
Reviewed by Ron Standerfer for Reader Views (02/10)

 

I am a political satire fan and always have been; the more outrageous and irreverent, the better.  Movies, books, TV, cartoons - it’s all the same to me.  You see, I believe that laughter is the oxygen of life and these days, with Americans facing two wars, a severe recession and pervasive joblessness, most of us are staggering around in a semi-hypoxic state that never seems to go away.  Put another way, we all need a good laugh these days, and the more we get the better it is for us.  Enter “Tales of Obamaland” by Robert Thomas.  This book of poetry is just what the doctor ordered.  Although it is small in size - 135 pages or so - it packs a wallop in terms of non-stop grins and laughter.

How is the “story line” laid out?  Let me explain it this way:  Remember the old Wood Guthrie song, “This Land is Your Land?”  You know:

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island; 
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters 
This land was made for you and me….etc.

Well, imagine if those lyrics were stretched, turned inside out, and allowed to run totally amok throughout the book, and you have some idea about the poetic story line.

Thomas’s poetry takes some healthy swipes at the White House and Congress too for that matter, but that is to be expected in a piece of political satire; however, the book expands its horizons to places elsewhere in America - oops, I mean Obamaland - painting poetical portraits showing how current government mismanagement and foibles are affecting families in mystical  communities.  It’s funny stuff, to be sure.
From the sarcastic and iconoclastic tone of his writing I would have imagined Thomas to be a disgruntled civil service employee or even a ghost writer for a right wing conservative like Rush Limbaugh, but such is not the case.  As it turns out, Robert Thomas is a product of the business world; an engineer, and executive in the U.S. manufacturing industry who has worked in a variety of small and large companies.  Go figure!

The book is well written and his poetry has a metric cadence that is pleasant and easy to read; but that’s not the point.  The point is that “Tales of Obamaland” by Robert Thomas is hilarious and a fun read.

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