A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Inauguration

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Inauguration

January 24, 2021 —Last week, as more than half the nation celebrated the removal of Donald J. Trump and the ascension of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. to the White House, I got a curious Twitter notification from somebody I’d never heard of—but I had to investigate. This person had spotted my book galley on the Senate desk of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Now that’s some pretty nice product placement. Warren is a very popular senator, a 2020 presidential candidate, and one smart cookie. She’s also super concerned about economic inequality and the corrupting influence of money in our political system, and so I sent a galley to her home in Cambridge, thinking maybe she’d read the back cover if I were lucky—senators are very busy people. But the book apparently caught her interest—enough so that she brought it along with her to Washington. She even tweeted out a photo with the book in it!

Of course, I had to share this minor coup (if you’ll pardon my terminology). And when I did, yet another extremely accomplished person chimed in…

Wow! I’d also sent Atwood a copy, because she’s a fascinating person and a great writer who is interested in all kinds of things, including economic matters. The Studs Terkel callout was a bonus!

In any case, that was all reality. But I was feeling giddy, in the mood for a little fun. First step: Pile on the Bernie meme…

To which my colleague Dave replied…

Hilarious, but shouldn’t the book be upside down? Either way, I couldn’t let this go without a response. I was pleasantly surprised how nicely this next attempt turned out, given my basic Photoshop skills…

All of this got my friend Jenny excited. She’s a graphic designer who helped me with my author photo—thank you! I think I may have ruined her work day, but she at least was having fun.