It’s no secret that Mike Pence doesn’t support the LGBTQA community, but does his pet rabbit, the charming Marlon Bundo? According to a new children’s book written by Jill Twiss, a writer for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” the answer is a resounding yes.
“A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” weaves the romance of the adorable white-and-black rabbit who falls hopelessly in love with another boy rabbit named Wesley. This book parodies the Pence family-approved children’s book, “Marlon Bundo’s a Day in the Life of the Vice President,” written by Pence’s daughter Charlotte and illustrated by his wife, Karen Pence. As can be imagined, Charlotte’s rendition yields a disappointing amount of boy bunnies falling in love with each other.
To the shock and delight of everyone involved in “Last Week Tonight,” printed versions of “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” sold out after the first two days, depleting the stock of 180,000 books. Recently, the children’s tale was ranked No. 1 bestseller on Amazon, compared to Pence’s rendition which ranked No. 11 within the first week of its publication. “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” has even made a splash amongst e-book consumers. What’s more, there’s now an audiobook version featuring the voice talents of RuPaul and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Incredibly, all of the proceeds generated from the sales of Marlon Bundo’s love story contribute to the causes supported through the Trevor Project and AIDS United. The Trevor Project is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 that is committed to teen suicide prevention in the LGTBQA community. AIDS United is a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. whose goal is to mitigate and eventually end the AIDS epidemic in the United States. According to the website for AIDS United, they reward people who donate to their cause with an ebook version of John Oliver’s fantastical tale!
I first learned of this literary masterpiece watching the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” when Ellen invited John Oliver as one of her guests. During his interview, Ellen presented a large stack of copies of the book to the audience and challenged John Oliver to hand out as many of the copies as possible to individual audience members. The challenge had to be completed in 60 seconds. In addition to being wildly funny (John Oliver repeated vehemently that his talents did not lie in athletics), for every book passed into the hands of an audience member $100 would be donated to the Trevor Project and AIDS United.
The response from the public about this bunny-filled book has been overwhelmingly positive, with Amazon’s customer ratings currently scoring the book with an impressive 4.9 out of 5 stars. Even Mike Pence’s daughter approves of it, saying, “[John Oliver’s] book is contributing to charities I think we can all get behind … I’m all for it.” It should be noted that Charlotte Pence’s book, “Marlon Bundo’s a Day in the Life of the Vice President,” also contributes to a charitable cause. A portion of the proceeds support the efforts of the A21 campaign, which is an international nonprofit organization that works to fight human trafficking and slavery all over the world.
Domenica Castro is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in Spanish. ✉ DC874612@wcupa.edu.