Official Review: Rainbow Farm by Robert R. Williams

[Twylla]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Rainbow Farm" by Robert R. Williams.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Rainbow Farm by Robert R. Williams is a satire of our democratic form of government and its current state of affairs since the election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States. Rainbow Farm uses personified animal characters to symbolize real people and ideologies similarly to George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

The big three characters are very recognizable. Cam the Chameleon can change his colors depending on the situation. Shrill the Parrot seems to be preordained to be the next Chief of the Farm (CoF). And Pete the Peacock, a successful businessman with no political or military experience, pledges to “make the farm grow again.” The author’s sense of humor comes through on every page. One of my favorite lines in the book is “The area where the ruling class congregated became known as the Rancid Pond.”

The main theme of the book is the hypocrisy of our political system. Polarization on the Rainbow Farm is at an all-time high, and it can be largely attributed to the constant hypocrisy from both political parties. For example, the Elephants complain if a Donkey CoF issues an executive directive. Then the Donkeys complain if an Elephant CoF issues an executive directive. They both say they are doing it for the greater good and to help the animals. But they criticize each other for doing the same thing the other one does. Maybe hypocrisy is not always a bad thing. It doesn’t seem logical that religious conservatives would support a peacock with such a dubious moral past, but the political goals of those religious groups would not be achieved without that support. If the Rainbow Farm refused to work with foreign leaders whose countries did bad things, we would be completely isolated.

There are so many things I like about this book. In an exclusive interview on Box News, the beautiful Irish Setter, Regan Smelly, conducts an exclusive interview with Sly the Fox, Chief of the Red Farm. We learn how the Eggtorial College works in an election. Rex the Rooster and Pete the Peacock have a late night heart to heart talk. Shortly after Pete’s inauguration, there was a Hen's March. The book ends with an interview by Ellie Madcow, a journalist with Shrill News Network, and the Wise Old Owl.

There are forty-four (44) animals named in the book. The names of the animals are very clever and descriptive of the person they symbolize. Frankie the Praying Mantis represents the leader of the Evangelicals. Tookie the Chipmunk represents Shrill the Parrot’s campaign manager. Laddy the Rogue Camel represents Osama Bin Laden. I was able to identify most of the people the animals represent, but there were a few obscure animals that I just could not name. The author needs to add a “cheat sheet” at the end of the book with the name of the person that each animal represents!

I am giving this book an enthusiastic rating of 4 out of 4 stars. It is well written and professionally edited. I didn’t find any errors. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in politics or anyone who just needs a good chuckle about our political system. Rainbow Farm would be a fantastic addition to the curriculum for high school or college classes. This book would be even better with an accompanying workbook that includes group discussion questions.


List of Characters: Rainbow Farm

Arrogantgit Clouds, AC, Giraffe (James Comey, Director of the FBI)
Caeser the Orangutan (Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security)
Cam the Chameleon (Barack Obama, POTUS)
Casanova - Nova the Bluebird, and Mona (Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, FBI agents)
Crier the Cat ( )
Devil Dog (Robert Mueller, FBI - Special Counsel)
Donnie the Eagle (Don Henley)
Ed the Toad (Bob Gates, Sec of Defense)
Ed Bighead II / Ed / Toad Frog ((John Brennan, Director of the CIA)
Ellie Maddow (Rachael Maddox, journalist, MSN)
Fancy the Bat ( )
Frankie The Praying Mantis (Franklin Graham, Leader, Evangelicals)
Gila the Horned Frog (Ross Perot)
German Shepherd, Chief of Interior Farm Security, CIFS ( )
Glenn the Eagle (Glenn Frye)
G-Man the Doberman (Rudy Giuliani )
Grinch the Newt (Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House)
Jimmy the Wolverine ( Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio - R)
J.C. the Tiny Mouse (Justin Cooper, Bill Clinton Aide)
Jowls the Pig (Rep. Steve Cohen, TN-D)
Kyle the King Snake ( )
Laddy the Rogue Camel (Osama Bin Laden)
Marcellas the Razorback (Bryan Pagliano)
Max the Crow (Rashida Tlaib, Congresswoman MI-D)
Leila the Crow (Ilhan Omar, Congresswoman MN-D)
Mo the Young Hen (Monica Lewinski)
Naddie the Walrus (John Bolton, National Security Advisor)
Old Red the Aged Bear (Bernie Sanders, Senator Vermont)
Pete the Peacock (Donald Trump)
Pete Junior (Donald Trump, Jr)
Po the Polecat (John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Strategist)
Rad the Bearded Stork (Michael Cohen, Trump’s Personal Attorney)
Regan Smelly the Irish Setter (Megyn Kelly, journalist Fox News)
Rex the Rooster, Teflon Rex (Bill Clinton, former POTUS)
Shifty the Weasel (Tim Kaine, Hillary’s running mate)
Shrill the Parrot, Sideways Shrill (Hillary Clinton, Pres Candidate)
Sloth (Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida)
Sly the Fox (Vladimir Putin, President of Russia)
Sniffy the Hound Dog (Joe Biden, Obama’s VP)
Stein the Opossum (Rod Rosenstein, Deputy AG)
Swan (Melania Trump)
Tookie the Chipmunk (Robert Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager)
Willie the Bulldog (William Barr Atty General)
Wise Old Owl - WOO (Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House)

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Rainbow Farm
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[hasincla]

What an interesting update to an old classic! I'm not a super fan of politics (especially not US politics), so I think for me the fun would be in figuring out who the characters were rather than chuckling smugly at their hypocrisy and idiocy. I'll skip this one, thank you for your honest review!

[Shaffner]

Sounds really interesting, this is a good and descriptive review. Politics can be tiring, but poking a little fun may be just the antidote I need Thanks for including your list of who each character represents, I'm not sure if I know all these 'characters' well enough to understand all the satire in the book though.

[Mrunalpatki]

Nicely written review and very detailed. Nice twist to a topic that would have been a bit boring for some audiences.

[Caffrey_19]

The political state of present America in relation to The Animal Farm? Self-centered characters should be expected. Nice work.

[Michael40]

Rainbow Farm is a kind of book you just want to read to get some humour out of the worrisome situation of things in order to move on. It's a wonderful thing that this book is written. Great review!

[geebeex]

This is such a comprehensive review! I was a bit wary about the political themes but you make clear how much you enjoyed reading it. Thank you!

[LinaJan]

Wow! Definitely adding to my 'to read'! Within the first couple of lines of the review, I started feeling that this is something resembling George Orwell's work, and there it was, the reviewer confirmed it! I will certainly enjoy all the fictional and non-fictional dirt I can get on some of these 'characters'

[Ediomis_Enwongo01]

A great satire by Robert Williams. I'm taking a trip straight to the Rainbow Farm to see the likes of Donald Trump, Barak Obama etc. Wonderful review.

[GiselleBengochea]

This is a very detailed and excellent review for the book "Rainbow Farm". The central characters and their animal counterparts make for very entertaining reading! This was very clever way of putting serious issues into comedy. Excellent review!

[Pstodumeje]

I like reading political books. Political issues give the reader an insight into what happened in a government at that particular time. This is a nicely written and detailed review.

[Gracious Ngy88]

I really love the animal representation
of characters in this book. And yes I agree with you,adding it to High school curriculum will make sense.
Great work!