Young Donald

"...Will make readers laugh so they don't cry." — Booklist

Just a few minutes before, Teddy Haswell had been helping his friend Donald break into the math teacher's office. Now, limbs terminally akimbo, Teddy’s body lies in a pool of blood in Jessup Quadrangle. And at the center of the investigation at the prestigious New Jersey Military Academy is young Donald.

Surely blame for Teddy’s accidental death should not rest with him, Donald reasons. But how? Can people be convinced that Teddy took his own life? Can suspicion be cast on Stanley Wong, the Academy’s only Asian cadet? And with Teddy gone, who can Donald enlist to help him avoid blame?

From New York real-estate moguls to Hong Kong triad bosses, Donald’s web of lies soon spins further than he could have ever imagined.

NOTE: This is entirely a work of fiction.

There is no shortage of Trump-inspired satire today, from John Lithgow’s DUMPTY to Christopher Buckley’s recently released MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN. Given such, we wanted to outline just two reasons why we think this novel is distinct and worthy of your review.

First, whereas nearly all Trump-inspired satire explores the present, Young Donald separates itself as a coming-of-age story in the unique environment of 1960s America—the space race, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement.

Second, rather than focus only on young Donald, the novel moves through an ensemble of perspectives. It shows us the ambitions and pathologies of young Donald’s family across generations; it also shows us the effect of Donald’s lies on others, stretching from his immediate peers all the way to Hong Kong’s triad bosses. Michael draws his characters with both humor and humanity.