cover image You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody)

You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody)

Alec Baldwin and Kurt Anderson, read by the authors and Oliver Wyman. Penguin Audio, unabridged, 6 CDs, 6 hrs., $35 ISBN 978-0-525-52671-1

Baldwin and Anderson’s satirical title comes to audio in a curious arrangement with regard to performance. Longtime movie and television actor Baldwin delivers the first few chapters of the book using his familiar caricature of President Trump, made famous on Saturday Night Live. Then, Baldwin suddenly breaks character and announces that he prefers playing the chief executive in five-minute television sketches, instead of long hours in a recording studio. Author and Studio 360 host Anderson takes over, though eventually audiobook veteran Wyman takes the reins. Anderson and Wyman certainly present the material competently, though their styles pale in comparison to Baldwin’s reading. The mix of styles may leave some listeners scratching their heads as to the where the project fits on the spectrum between sketch comedy and autobiographical parody.[em] A Penguin Press hardcover. (Nov.) [/em]