Hey there, and happy Friday. It’s been a moment since my last post in early September, so let me start with a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to my NYC launch at Books of Wonder. It was such a lovely, fun time, and I’m very appreciative. Thank you also to author superstar Corey Ann Haydu for interviewing me so thoughtfully and to Rosalind, Tara, Squish, and the rest of the Books of Wonder team for making the entire event a smooth and wonderful experience, even when many attendees got soaked by a downpour that happened eight minutes before the event started.
Also, thanks to Katie for getting this beautiful Zed Moonstein cake! My name was delicious.
And ALSO: whether you were at the launch or not, thank you to everyone who’s been reading the book! And thank you to your kids for reading too! It’s really the most delightful thing to hear about kids staying up too late to read it, or being a little more afraid of AI after finishing it, or—in the case of my dear friends Jason and Molly’s 9-year-old daughter, Mara—being inspired to write a full-length review of it. (Which I’ve been given permission to share here:)
I added some of Mara’s review to the Zed page on my website. If any other kids who enjoyed it want to write a one-or-two sentence blurb, please do! I’ll put it on my site amidst the adult blurbs, credited with their first name and age. Or even just a first initial if that’s preferred!
In other recent Zed news, the book made the pages of The Week Jr! Our kids have loved this magazine for years, so it was truly thrilling to see Zed Moonstein inside it. Big thanks to The Week Jr’s Books Editor, Karen Cicero, and to HarperCollins.
And, meanwhile, the fascism faucet keeps flowing! What a week, huh? It’s pretty awful! Great work to everyone who pulled the plug on their Disney+/Hulu/ESPN subscriptions to protest the horrendous suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC after FCC Chair Brendan Carr not-so-subtly threatened them on a podcast.
At the end of the day, though, money talks (it’s why so many people in this administration are opting to corrode their souls to work with this guy). I’m sure this won’t be the last time this year we are called upon to flex our boycott power.
If you haven’t watched Jimmy’s Tuesday night monologue, I highly recommend it. Very funny and very moving and kind of a stunning reminder of where America’s at right now. The leader of our country wants to get rid of all late-night TV show hosts because he’s too weak and insecure to handle any jokes that reflect his own horrid behavior back to him. (I mean, who needs to get rid of Jimmy Fallon? Does he even know what politics is?)
It’s definitely scary. But this piece by Robert Reich resonated for me and gives me hope as we move forward. The danger is far from over, but it’s crucial to remember we have agency here, and there are many Americans who are not okay with what’s happening.
I also had an epiphany earlier this week that’s brought me some joy. For years now, it’s been said that this president is Biff from Back to the Future, in no small part because, when Biff uses the Sports Almanac to get rich in Part II, the filmmakers modeled him after the sad man who is now our president.
But, as the Jimmy Kimmel suspension news was followed closely by news that the president was pushing the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia out of his job for not charging NY Attorney General Leticia James with made-up crimes as revenge for her finding the president legitimately guilty of fraud, and then by the news that he was replacing that attorney with someone wholly unqualified who immediately charged James Comey with made-up crimes for getting in the way of the president’s real crimes approximately 85 years ago, I realized who this man is.
He’s not Biff.
He’s FRANCIS.
Why has this not occurred to me sooner?
He’s whiny, spoiled “My father said I can have anything I want, Pee-Wee, so guess what I want? Your bike” Francis.
Look, he’s even got his initials monogrammed in a stupid font! I’m sure I’m not the first person to make this connection, and it doesn’t actually solve anything, but it was clarifying and hilarious nonetheless.
We’re now in the second term of a Francis presidency. He spends all his time trying to get exactly what he wants and doing away with anything and anyone who gets in the way of that.
And, when people do get in the way, he wants revenge. He is a whiny man-child in a bathtub.
He is an idiot in a devil costume trying to scare us.
And he’s stolen Pee-Wee’s bike.
AKA America.
He’s also, ironically, stolen Pee-Wee’s catchphrase. “I know you are, but what am I?” has literally been his entire political strategy for the past decade, starting with his “You’re the puppet” moment in the 2016 debate leading up to now, when Jimmy Kimmel is “a whack job” and James Comey is “a sick person.”
And it’s since become the GOP’s entire strategy too—when accused of criminal and/or cruel and/or disgusting behavior, just throw it right back at the Democrats! They’re the criminals! They’re the deep state! They’re inciting violence by (accurately) calling us fascists! When you do it with no shame and the conviction of a sociopath, it’s surprisingly effective!
To read a more incisive analysis of this, check out Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger. It’s an incredible work of nonfiction that goes a long way toward explaining where we’re at right now.
But anyway: America’s been stolen by Francis. And we’re Pee-Wee Herman. Weird and funny and unique and innovative and ready to do whatever it takes to get it back. Sure, maybe we’ll end up at the Alamo and realize it has no basement, but that’s just a minor setback.
The bike will be ours again. It’s just a question of when.
And on that note, if you’re looking for ways to channel your energy, I’m sure you know the next No Kings Day is on October 18th.
You should also join me in writing letters for Vote Forward! I just adopted 20 letters to write to voters in Pennsylvania about three crucial state Supreme Court races. You could also adopt letters to CA voters encouraging them to vote YES on Prop 50, Gavin Newsom’s essential legislation to counter all the gerrymandering Trump has requested in Texas, Missouri, and other states. (“My father says I could have anything I want. And I want those house seats, Pee-Wee.” “They’re not for sale, Francis.”)
I hope you are remaining engaged while also finding the joy and connection apart from the news. Both are essential!
Have a super and restorative weekend. Big love and see you soon.
just picked up zed for a reread the other day—what a great time at the nyc launch and what a great re/read! the ideas & experiences about making / finding / keeping friends are amazing and i'm really glad they're in a book like this, plus, who knows what we can take away about being Unruly, Unsurveilled, and Understanding of how nobody can or should be Ideal Product Guaranteed Experience to anyone, and that more likely you can expect unruly surprises as potential great things even, especially when you have a tricky time making friends (so fantastic reading the more successful Making A New Friend arc)....congratulations on the publication and only even more so with learning how long the ideas & efforts behind zed were brewing! and if i'm remembering right that denton little's deathdate is a 2015 publication? hooray for having a 10 Year Anniversary 2025 Publication too!