Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable [Hardcover]

John Egerton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2006

Told from a vantage point of long ago and far away, Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves reconstructs-from the recently discovered journals of Ibrahim Barzouni-the tale of the ruler George W. "Dubyiah" Fratbush, son of the earlier monarch Wimpbush, and the Fall of the American Empire. After Ali Dubyiah ascends to the kingship, his lust for power draws him into a gambit to take possession of the world, together with his band of thieves-including Dick Chaingang, Donald Rumsfailed, and Paul Werewolf. But how long can Ali Dubyiah lie, cheat, and steal before his subjects rise up against him?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Egerton has been a "professional South-watcher" for half a century. Beginning in high school in the 1950s, through two years in the U. S. Army,five years earning two college degrees, five more as a college news bureau reporter, six as a magazine writer, and for the past thirty-five years as an independent journalist and author, he has seldom strayed far from his life’s work: following the social and cultural, political and economic trends that forever have made the American South the unique place that it is, for better and worse. Until the publication of Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves, all his published writing, including more than fifteen books, has been classified as nonfiction. He calls his new book "a fable ... a parable ... a cautionary tale" in the genre of "political science-fiction," and he claims that he "did not so much author it as synthesize it from hundreds of sources, compile it, and become by default the one to present it to the reading public. Fables don’thave authors. They’re found, heard, passed down."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: New South Inc; First Edition edition (October 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588382028
• ISBN-13: 978-1588382023
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,388,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you've ever scratched your head and wondered how in the hell we've gotten ourselves into such a global mess, read this book!, November 6, 2006

By 

J. Emma Lazarus - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable (Hardcover)

Friends just gave me this book and I want to throw my arms around John Egerton and hug him with gratitude. Finally, finally, someone has taken all of the facts of this baffooning president and his miserable band of boy-ohs and called a spade a spade. His facts are impeccable, his sequencing strips all of the republican hooligans, rouges, and scheming thieves from their mysterious cover of rightousness and religiosity and makes it clear that the king has no clothes on. The book is funny as hell, and while it's a hoot to read it is deadly serious. I am ordering a dozen copies and am handing them out to everyone on my Christmas list. This is a gem. John Egerton for President! Read it! And then go out and vote damn it. I wish I could give it ten stars!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor Is Truth, January 17, 2010

By 

James E. Egolf "James E. Egolf, MA" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable (Hardcover)

As this reviewer wrote elsewhere, Mortimer Adler wrote that the tyrant does not fear the well reasoned treatise condemning tyranny because the tyrant knows most people will not read nor understand it. Yet, the tyrant greatly fears the well timed joke told by the town drunk. This is not to say that John Egerton is the town drunk. Yet, his book titled ALI DUBYIAH AND THE FORTY THIEVES is a clever parody of Bush I, whom he called Wimpbush,and Bush II, whom he called Fratbush. This review deals with this humorous book and will add commentary to what was not mentioned and what has happened since the year 2006 when the book was published.

Egerton began this book by making parodies of the names of political leaders. For example, Pres. Clinton (the Clintstones?) was named King Zip. The one US Supreme Court Justice was named william Inquest. Fratbush's first Attorney General is referred to as Johan Sackcloth. Former Vice President Cheney was renamed Dead Eye Dick Chaingang. Donold Rumsfeld was appropriately named Donold Remsfailed. Egerton used clever wry humor to compare what these politcos said compared to their complete policy failures and attempts to conceal these failures.

Egerton began with the 9/11 tragedy attacks by Osama Been Hidden who has yet to be captured. The book dealt with the complete failure to detect these terrorist attacks prior to that tragic day (9/11/2001) in spite of all the warnings from flight instructors in Florida and some government field officers. The failure to stop the attacks took place in spite of Sybil Edmonds' warning. Miss Edmonds was a government Arabic translator who sounded the alarm. She has since been silenced by a federal court order.

The book gave a good assessment of the tar baby wars in Western Asia (Iraq and Afghanistan). The Fratbush's comment that he "liberated" 50 million Iraqis was undermined by the realities. Egerton gave a good account of the bitter internal wars and violence between the Sunni and Shia factions (Islamic sectarian groups), the Kurds etc. Egerton mentioned the mass killings, chaos, etc. that resulted from the US invasion and Fratbush's empty phrase, "Mission accomplished." Egerton mocked the optimistic propaganda from Fratbush, Deadeye Dick Chaingang, etc. Egerton made wry comments about the needless loss blood and treasure. By the way, the Iraqi population is just over 31 million and not 50 million.

Egerton also undermined the notion that the US invasions were to protect freedom in the US. The undersigned cannot understand how officials defend freedom when, in late 2001, postal patrons were arrested in Chicago, Ill. for ordering stamps with the word Liberty rather than stamps with the US Flag. In 2003, a do gooder tattle tale reported a young man to the FBI for reading a book or monography that the do gooder did not like. The FBI actually visited the young man to report the incident and try to indimidate the lad about his reading habits. How this is defending freedom is beyond this reviewer's imagination. Yet, the terrorists who committed the 9/11 were under FBI survillance. Yet, the FBI let these terrorists board planes. Later 80 year old ladies were detained for having knitting needles.John Sackcloth announced on the House and Senate Floor that anyone who critisized Fratbush, Deadeye Dick Chaingang, etc. could be arrested and held in detention indefinately without due process. One must assume that this is defending freedom.

Egerton also had good parody between the major political parties. He used the terms Publicans and Sinners. The Publicans were the religious zealots who claim that God is on their side while the Party of Sinncers consists of anyone who disagrees with the Publicans greed and hypocricy. Egerton referred to one TV evangelist as Telly Tubby. Egerton cited Pat Robertson for claiming tax exempt status and money for "Faith Based" programs. Yet, Robertson who was cited for sending mining equipment to Africa for his diamond interests under the pretext of humanitarian aid. Egerton briefly mentioned the Publicans, the party of God, for adultry, same sex solicitation, etc. Yet, anyone who noticed the hypocrisy is condemend to the Party of Sinners.

The last sections of the book are sobering. Egerton mentioned that US jobs are sent to other countries by American CEOs who get government subsidies and tax exemptions for doing so. They get help for creating jobs-elsewhere besides the US. Egerton chided the Americans for losing their self respect and losing their soul as Americans. As a friend and Mr. Egerton noted, too many Americans are obese, flag waving thoughtess patriots who have lost their ability to think clearly and intelligently. Egerton sees the Americans as an empire in the stage of decline.

This book was first published in 2006. The undersigned hopes that Egerton or some enterprising historian will update this book. For example, a good parody could be made of the governor of South Carolina who said he would refuse unemployment benefits for the poor souls who are unemployed in his state. He claims to be in favor of "family values" whatever that means. Yet, on Fathers' Day of lst year (2009) he took a flight to Argentina meet his mistress at tax payers' expense. He claimed that he was on the Appalachian Trial, and the undersigned knows of some folks who actually beleived that this trial was in Argentina. Egerton could make a good parody of an eight year US child who has been on the do-not-fly list since the lad was two years old. Yet, the CIA (Can't Investigate Anything) and US embassy officials refused to stop a potential terrorist from boarding a flight to Detroit, Michigan. This is known as security. The undersigned hopes Mr. Egerton expands this book.

This book is a humorous relief to the depressing state of the US Empire and tragic economic situation. The book will not solve all the problems listed therein, but it is a welcome relief to the current crises that plagues too many Americans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Parable of the Reign of George W. Bush, December 4, 2009

By 

Paul R. Waibel "Paul R. Waibel" (Clinton, MS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable (Hardcover)

Recently while attending the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association, I happened to stop by a booth belonging to New South Books. As I browsed through the mostly academic books on display, my eyes caught sight of a small volume that looked much like a child's book of fairy tales. The title, Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieve*, and the amusing picture on the cover, a cartoon of George W. Bush and his gang, made me smile. I could not resist picking it up and thumbing through its pages. What I discovered was a fairy tale, or fable, that went something like this:
Once upon a time in a land known as "America" a tribal ruler by the name of George W. Fratbush, leader of the Publicans, was declared Ruler of the American Empire after an intense struggle with Prince Al Bore, leader of the Sinners. The whole nation waited with bated breath as the two contestants fought for the honor of leading the world's greatest nation into the new millennium. The outcome remained in doubt until the nation's highest judicial authority chaired by Sir William Inquest declared, by a margin of just one vote, that Fratbush was the winner, despite the fact that the majority of the people had indicated their support for Prince Al Bore.
Following his coronation, complete with blessings from the nation's religious leaders, many of whom were members of the Publicans, George II, or "Dub'-yuh" as his friends called him, left his home in the western territories to take up residence in the nation's capital. No longer would he spend his leisurely days clearing underbrush on his ranch. Encouraged by a close following of sycophants, Fratbush began to believe he was called by Providence to usher in a new world order. Many felt that he was driven in no small part by the desire to avenge the defeat and humiliation of his father, the ineffectual former King George Wimpbush, by King Zip.
King Zip was a territorial leader known locally as "Willie Bubba." Bubba defeated Wimpbush by speaking positively of the nation's greatness and promising eight unbroken years of progressive reforms. Thus was King Wimpbush's reign limited to only four years, rather than the expected eight. King Zip served his allotted eight years, but they were less than glorious. His efforts at reform alienated the rich, while a brief moment of moral weakness that became known as "Zippergate" brought down upon him the wrath of a powerful Publican faction known as the Pharisees.
Very little was expected from Fratbush. Even family members admitted that the lad was intellectually challenged. Much of his early life was in the company of youthful friends who spent their time in drunken revelry. In a moment of weakness, what Fratbush would later often refer to as his "Damascus moment," young George Dubyiah underwent a religious conversion. This existential experience would later assure him of support from many of the nation's most popular clerics, especially Mulla Pat ("God is on line one.") and Mulla Jerry "Teletubby."
King Fratbush's rule would have warranted only a mention in an outline of America's history, if it were not for Osama bin Hiden and the event forever remembered as "Nine-Eleven." The two were more than causally related. Osama bin Hiden, like Dubyiah, was a rebellious son born to privilege. Indeed, the Bushes and bin Hidens were known to each other. And, like Dubyiah, Osama underwent a religious conversion. But unlike Dubyiah, who became a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, Osama became a follower of the prophet Muhammad, some of whose followers believed in spreading the prophet's teachings by violence.
Osama was the alleged mastermind behind the Nine-Eleven incident. In a brazen act of terrorism, Osama's operatives skyjacked commercial airliners loaded with innocent passengers and crashed them into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing thousands of civilians. Not since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a day that shall live in infamy, had Americans suffered such a blow to their pride. Never again would they feel safe and secure behind two oceans. Would any nation in the world continue to live in awe of American power?
Osama bin Hiden and Nine-Eleven raised George "Dubyiah" Fratbush from among the ranks of America's most harmless rulers to what he liked to call himself, a "war president." In a moment, Fratbush saw himself as another Lincoln, Wilson, or FDR, a courageous leader of a beleaguered but free people in a war for the survival of Western Civilization, threatened once again by hordes of barbarians riding out of the deserts of the Middle East.
No one close to Fratbush ever suspected that he was capable of such heroism. Fortunately, or unfortunately as it turned out for America and the world, Fratbush was but the man out front for a cabal of much more intelligent and sinister characters who had followed him to Washington, D.C. Among them were Dick Chaingang, Donald Rumsfailed, Paul Werewolf, John Sackcloth, and Karl "Babyface" Machiavroelli. Historians still disagree as to who was the "Brain" behind the Fratbush rule, whether it was "Bullseye" Dick or Babyface Karl. They, together with others of similar character, would become known to history as "The Forty Thieves," and the eight years of Dubyiah's rule in Washington would be remembered as the reign of Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves.
Unfortunately for America and the world community, the eight-year reign of Ali Dubyiah and his Forty Thieves proved to be the most disastrous period in American history. It marked the end of America's moral leadership in the world community and the beginning of the decline of America as a world power. Once his reign ended and the Sinners returned to power, Fratbush spent his remaining years clearing underbrush and mending fences in self-exile on his western ranch. To the end of his life, he could never understand why God and the American people let him down, or "whatever became of Osama bin Hiden?"
Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable is very entertaining bit of short fiction that is not only humorous but also a very perceptive and witty analysis of how the Bush machine, together with its ideological comrades, was able to mislead a sizable portion of the American electorate for eight tragic years.
The author, John Egerton, is an independent journalist and author of more than fifteen books. For this analysis of the George W. Bush administration, Egerton chose to employ political satire, or "political science fiction," and present his findings in the form of a fable drawn from the "recently discovered journals of Ibrahim Barzouni." The time is somewhere in the distant future, when the "American Empire" is but a memory, much as the Iranian world of The Thousand and One Nights is to the reader. Edgerton said that he meant for the book to be a "cautionary tale." Written and published while George W. Bush was still in office (2006), Edgerton's fable appears from the vantage point of 2009/2010 to be rather uncanny.
I have but two regrets about Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves. The first is that I did not know of it until three years after it was first published. The second is that Mr. Edgerton has not seen fit, at least not yet, to provide us with an updated edition, or at least publish more of Ibrahim Barzouni's journals.
*John Edgerton, Ali Dubyiah and the Forty Thieves: A Contemporary Fable (Montgomery, AL: New South Books, 2006), 144 pp.