Ken Waldman's
As the World Burns
The Sonnets of George W. Bush and Other Poems of the 43rd Presidency

Review & Commentary

“Poets have been commenting on political issues and personalities since the dawn of recorded time. You can often say something in carefully crafted lyric prose or poetic verse that will ‘get the message through’ where no amount of speech-making or political pontificating will succeed. Few will doubt the impact that George Bush, as the 43rd American President, has had in generating an over abundance of political dialogue, demagoguery, disputation, and debate. Strongly recommended reading in this current political season — and with two more years to go in his presidency — As The World Burns is a collection of 64 poems by Ken Waldman, 41 of them are in the ‘voice’ of President Bush, the other 23 are sonnets serving up political commentary and indictment on Bush and his political policies.”

Abu Ghraib
What could have been more incriminating?
Photos of naked men flanked by snarling
dogs. Blindfolded Iraqi underlings,
hands protecting genitalia, waiting
for the guards to finish the debating
and get on with the session. Breathtaking
to imagine. And what about the egging
of the culture, the forced masturbating,
other big indignities we can’t yet
document? Someone with a camera let
click that one first shot, capture a moment.
We're liberators, says the president,
ignoring the disconnect. We’re guilty,
I say, of humiliating a species.

—Midwest Book Review, October 2006

“Here’s the holy grail: political poetry that really works as poetry. Ken Waldman, the ‘fiddling poet,’ deals with presidential failures with grace and humor. Some day, the world will be able to forget George W. Bush. I hope we never forget Ken Waldman.”

—David Cheezem, co-owner, Fireside Books,
Palmer, Alaska (www.goodbooksbadcoffee.com)

“Every U.S. citizen should read this book. My guess is word-of-mouth will spread rapidly about the book. I like the variety within the book, not only mixing the Bush speaker with other speakers but how even within the Bush ones, his voice shifts, sometimes the unwittingly comic Bush we know but also sometimes a much straighter voice, as in Iraq 3, which doesn't create sympathy for him, I‘d say—we’re still outside him—but which deepens the pain of the book, to hear him speaking like that, oblivious to all that the harm he has done. I have of course more favorites than I can name, but Sobriety and Inarticulateness and Stress are certainly up there near the top. Perhaps my favorite line is ‘No. No way. Uh uh. I don't know the guy.’ Where Yes Means No, Maybe gives a good idea of Americans’ humiliation these days at the ways of our government. I love the way Waldman deploys the sonnet form--with seeming insouciance but always cannily, with deadly accuracy and efficiency.”

“Your CD is great. So enjoyable...so informative, so funny. We have a political section in the on-air studio. It is getting full...this one shines. I have put you on our charts for the world to see. Thank you.”

“I had a chance to listen to your music over the holiday. I simply loved it! No wonder your music/poetry is so popular on the radio and you were invited to the Kennedy Center. You are very talented, and your musical/spoken ‘portraits’ of Bush were — as the critics noted — devastating in their understated directness. It reminded me of some of the best musical/political pieces aired on the Smothers Brothers or the original Saturday Night Live shows — all of which dates me but I feel fortunate to have shared in that ‘era’ of pop/folk activism, which I feel needs to be resurrected today.”

“I wanted to say again how much I enjoyed your performance at Flips! The book is fantastic, as well; I still find it hard to believe that you haven’t gotten more of a response to your mailings. Incidentally, have you sent one to Al Franken? Seems like it would fit perfectly on his Air America show.”

“Many thanks for the copy of As the World Burns. I think you’ve really got something there. I’ve shared some of the sonnets with my colleagues and friends and always the response is, ‘I’ve got to get one of those!’ Is it available on Amazon? I’ll check. Great cover design, too, and a handsome book. I’m sure it’s occurred to you, but you really need to get a copy to Jon Stewart and get yourself interviewed on The Daily Show. Know any gatekeeper types in the television industry? I’m serious.”