Alec Baldwin

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) by Alec Baldwin, Kurt Andersen is a parody but sounds just like the real thing! It is witty, funny, and too real at times! I had to read it slowly, small bits at a time. Even a fake tRump I have to take in small doses!

I was led to this book by Trish's great review as it would not have been on my radar otherwise.

I enjoyed the satire very much, but as a sustained roar, it started to lose power after a while. I think that's because I get far too much of the real thing on the news for it to be effective. Alec Baldwin is superb as DJT on SNL -- but the reason he is, (for me at least) is that I can view him in small doses. Fifteen minutes is my humour limit on DJT, it appears; and so, I read it in 15 minute show more increments, just to be on the safe said, and not become totally depressed. I mean totally. With a capital T.

Baldwin and Andersen cut too close to the bone on this one. After about 30 pages, I wasn't sure anymore if I was reading a parody, or if I was reading the transcripts from an MSNBC segment. I had to shake my head on several occasions, and even do a reality check with my husband. Our conversations ran something like this for two days:

"Did Trump really say ... ?"

"No? Hmm. I thought for sure I'd heard that last night on .... Are you sure about that?"

At which point, my husband was second-guessing himself.

We did get a lot of chuckles of recognition. But, as I say, it's hard after a while to do a caricature of a caricature, and keep it alive and fresh. It's too exhausting, I imagine. Alec Baldwin should get some kind of award just for maintaining the role and not going completely insane.

A couple of the stand-out moments which exemplified to me DJT's spirit, were captured with perfection:

Then there was my speech. Remember when Obama surprised everybody by singing "Amazing Grace" at that very sad black funeral in the South? People loved that. Loved it. My idea was to end my inauguration speech by saying, as I did, "America will start winning again, winning like never before." But then suddenly the music would come up and I would start singing -- "We ... are ... the ... champions, no time for losers, 'cause we are the champions of the world!" Boom, people are going wild, applauding, screaming, crying. Would've been amazing. But Mike Pence literally pleaded with me not to do that, because it turns out the guy who sang it originally was gay.

My fallback idea was to end the inauguration speech with the lines, "I will never, ever let you down. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. See how they run, like pigs from a gun? Everyone is listening to you now." Then, cue the U.S. Army band, music up and I sing, "I am he as you are me and we are all together!" and repeat it over and over, easier to sing than the Queen song, clapping my hands, everyone joins in, then I'm like, "God bless you, and God bless America!" Boom, the end, totally upbeat after Bannon's "carnage" stuff earlier. But Ivanka didn't get the Beatles reference, so in the end I decided to play it straight. As it turned out, people said the speech was one of the five best of all time."

I ask you, is there really anyone who could "not" imagine DJT doing this?

Both Baldwin and Andersen read Trump like an open book, pardon the pun, and the result is gut-splittingly funny, and very sad. It's up to the reader to decide if they can sit through the entire book when so much of it can be caught on the evening news.

I give this 5 stars for capturing the man so well. 3 stars because I can only stand so much of a bad thing. Sad. : [ show less

Alec Baldwin starts his book with his early childhood and ends in the present day, all the way up to the election of the current president. I thought he spent too much time on his childhood. I wanted him to hurry up and get to the good stuff.

Once he finally did, I was greatly rewarded. He included details about his marriage to Kim Bassinger and their divorce, the angry voicemail he left his daughter Ireland, his physical altercations with the paparazzi and more. I loved it. Dishing behind show more the scenes dirt is the primary reason I read celebrity memoirs. Baldwin is definitely not lacking self-confidence. He apologizes for most of his bad behavior but it’s usually of the, “I’m sorry but…”variety of apology.

Baldwin pulls no punches when talking about Hollywood insiders and fellow celebrities. I have a feeling he burned a lot of bridges with this book and couldn’t care less. One example is when he talks about being forced out of The Hunt for Red October and replaced with Harrison Ford. “One thing [Ford] does not have is an Oscar, which must frustrate, if not burden him, after his long career…Ford is “a little man, short, scrawny, and wiry, whose soft voice sounds as if it’s coming from behind a door.” Other times, he is less subtle, calling people assholes and the like outright. I listened to the audiobook, mostly in the car, so unfortunately I didn’t write down anymore examples. I wish I would have because they were great.

Baldwin narrates the audiobook himself and is fantastic. His velvety voice was made for voiceovers. I was surprised that he is also really good at doing impressions. He did the voices for all of the actors he quoted and they all sounded just like whichever celebrity it was.

I recommend Nevertheless to anyone who loves memoirs of famous people like I do. It is highly satisfying and you will not be disappointed. show less

Now, I love Baldwin's skits on SNL - he really does a good job with the caricature that is Donald Trump. 6+ hours of it, though, is just too much. Baldwin reads this audiobook in character, meaning the cadence just wears on you, and rather quickly. Stuff that was still mildly funny a year ago when he did this book are horrifyingly mild compared to events that have transpired since. Given that we apparently have a long way to go in this ridiculous presidency, I think Baldwin probably should show more have let things (if not actual events, then his characterization of them) run its course before laying down this book. As it stands, it's pretty obsolete. show less