A PUBLISHER is hoping for New Year bestseller with a book called The Wit and Wisdom of Donald Trump – which comprises mostly blank pages. It comes from Skyscraper Publications, which publishes a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, and the 112-page tome is being rushed out in time for Trump’s inauguration as US president on January 20.
The chapter headings include: How I will bring peace to the world; How I will heal the divisions in American society between racial, ethnic and lifestyle groups; How I will protect the rights of women; and How I will demonstrate restraint, civilised behaviour, and compassion.
There are also sections on the major positive achievements of Trump’s business career and the benefits his presidency will bring to the US, as well as tributes from beneficiaries of his charity giving and testimonials to his qualities from leading statesmen.
Publisher Karl Sabbagh said: “Enormous research went into the preparation of this book. But, as we neared publication date, we had reluctantly to accept that, apart from the chapter titles, the pages would have to remain blank.
“No example of wit or wisdom among the words of Donald Trump would have escaped the research team if it had existed.
“We hesitated over the last chapter, since the researchers found a quote from Vladimir Putin appearing to praise Trump. But we decided that it was actually tongue in and cheek and not worthy of inclusion.”
Sabbagh told The National his team had carried out extensive research, scouring all references to Trump over the last 30 years.
“Funnily enough, I met him in 1987 when I was making a documentary about skyscrapers, and I talked to him in his office,” he said. “I was struck then by the total absence of anything witty or wise in what he said. We suspected that he hadn’t ever said anything interesting, but of course you have to be sure you’re based on serious research.
“If we’d had the money to make a thicker book, we would have given all the references to the articles in which he didn’t say anything wise or witty. Obviously that would have made the book a lot bigger.”
Sabbagh describes Trump’s election as “one of the most extraordinary events of the 21st century”.
“Talking seriously, here is somebody who showed absolutely none of the qualities or qualifications that you would expect in an American president – there have been some good and some bad – but there’s been nobody with the kind of awfulness that he has displayed and I think it’s a glitch in the American electoral system.
“Depending on the success of the book we may look at some other people – Nigel Farage might be another candidate. Some people do occasionally say something interesting but it’s not worth publishing a book of mostly blank pages with a couple of quotes, so we have to be careful who we choose.”
The Wit and Wisdom of Donald Trump, which already has a number of advance orders, is released on January 12, costing £5.
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