Trump

August 1, 2016
As the go-to quick-hit graphic biographer of the current political circus, Rall (Snowden, Bernie) has been a reliable source of simple narratives delivered with a heavy dose of progressive editorializing. With Trump, Rall takes a less aggressive approach for a simple reason. Donald J. Trump’s entire life story, from his privileged upbringing to being a military-school bully, real-estate huckster, reality show clown, and putative quasifascist leader of the free world, speaks for itself. Rall’s critique of Trump is clear from the beginning, but he doesn’t let his viewpoint get in the way of some sharp analysis of the Republican primary (“like any good businessman, Trump exploited an inefficiency in the marketplace, in this case, of ideas”) and Trump’s business personality. As usual, Rall’s blocky art is more functional than anything else, and pages using screen grabs from Web news reports make the book seem rushed. Overall, it’s a concise and decently footnoted pocket political biography that Clinton’s campaign should buy thousands of and distribute to voters for free.