Brent Bohlen of Springfield has done it again. His third political satire has been released and is receiving glowing reviews. The blurb on the back cover reads, “The Parable of the Peacock Redux provides a satirical review of the past four years in the life of a sore loser…so many behavioral outrages that readers may have forgotten…warns that the November 2024 election may be an inflection point in American history.” This book is being grabbed by those with a particular political view, but all should read it to seek the truth of what has been happening. “Satire is fun, but this subject is serious,” the author says.
At first glance, all of Bohlen’s books look like children’s books with their colorful cartoon-like illustrations, and they read like children’s books with clever rhyming couplets. But the subject matter is for adults in a serious, too true, look at political events and their impact on the U.S. citizens.
In 2019 Bohlen wrote his first book, The Parable of the Peacock: A Read-Aloud Picture Book for 2020 Voters, which introduced the peacock, aka Trump, the “Mocker-in-Chief,” and the sheep who followed him unquestionably. This was followed in 2020 with The Parable of the Peacock II – the Saga Continues – a Read-Aloud Picture Book for Thoughtful Citizens, which again followed the machinations of the peacock and the other barnyard animals, many donning masks in a nod to the pandemic.
The prologue revives the characters and reintroduces some of the incidents from the previous books, so the latest book can be read without having read the other books. “This book would have been ready to go to press in mid-July,” Bohlen says, “but a debate, a couple of court decisions and a switch of candidates meant adding four new verses and four new illustrations.”
The plot starts with Peacock losing the election to Old Plow Horse, but claiming he really won. Things heat up because,
“Peacock has some help in spreading his lies.
It came from Fix News and its lying guys.”
In the barnyard the horses call the election fair while the sheep support Peacock and follow his lead. Even the pigs have “morphed into pig sheep/’cause they were entranced by the Peacock creep.” They then head to the Capitol.
“Rioters broke glass and forced their way in
To search for those who didn’t help them win.”
Meanwhile Weasel from a far-off land invades his neighbor while Peacock faces his days in court for sexual assault and defamation:
“Liable on both counts the jury said
Five Million Dollars, punk. You made your bed.”
Bohlen covers it all: Trump’s defamation suit and sexual assault case, Stormy’s story, hidden documents, Biden’s disastrous debate, the Supreme Court immunity ruling, and of course immigration:
“He claims there’s a breakdown of social order
Because of bunnies breaching Barnyard’s border.”
The book is fun and funny and causes many laughs out loud. Reading it out loud, too, is what Bohlen encourages, even if reading alone. “That is the best way to enjoy the book,” he says.
For his first book, Bohlen had asked several illustrators to provide samples of their work. Oksana Basarab sent him a few drawings. “Her artwork blew me away,” he says. When he came up with his third book, “I was most concerned about my illustrator because she lives in Ukraine,” he says. “Her country has been invaded by a leader who was mocked in the earlier Peacock books and would be tweaked again in this volume. The young artist wanted to go forward.” Basarab has captured the peacock, who wears a pig nose, and added clever details such as Peacock’s Grift Shop booth selling shoes, t-shirts and Bibles.
Bohlen says, “When I started on the Peacock series five years ago, I had high aspirations. I hoped that using the metaphor of a barnyard and its inhabitants to represent a country in a volume that’s styled like a children’s read-aloud book might be morally persuasive to undecided voters. I don’t have such lofty expectations now. But I’m happy that people find humor in the satire I use to remind them of the unbelievable things that happened among the denizens of the Barnyard over the past four years.”
Parable is clever, hilarious, and an engagingly satirical look at what is happening today. Sad, though, that so much is true.
The book is available on Amazon, and signed copies are available from The Cardologist, 229 S. Sixth, Springfield.
Cinda Ackerman Klickna, a frequent Illinois Times book reviewer, loved Bohlen’s latest book.
This article appears in County Board elections in the spotlight.
