The gag is so thorough, and executed so subtly, that it took several minutes to convince my friends that the book I was flashing around the bar wasn't in fact a glowing tribute to George W. Bush. Despite the ultra-sincere jacket design and the glowing, bigger-than-the-Texas-sky photo of Bush on the cover, Destined for Destiny is actually a very carefully disguised—and blessedly hilarious—parody of the man we're forced to call president. A parody in his own words. Sorta.

The book is a product of Scott Dikkers, editor in chief of The Onion, and Peter Hilleren of weeklyradioaddress.com, so the results are pretty predictable—the central joke is hysterical, but tends to drag on longer than necessary.

A quick scan of the chapter titles reveals what's in store for the reader: "Like Roots Only White," "Then I Ran Some Companies into the Ground," and "The Clown-Faced Zombie I Call My Wife." The chapters are filled out with an approximation of Bush's communication abilities—the typos one would expect are absent, but Bushisms abound. The book, for instance, is dedicated to "The Faith-Havers."

The timing of Destined for Destiny's release is impeccable; while it's always been apparent that Bush is a barely conscious moron, for the past six years he's been a very powerful barely conscious moron. But now that an acquiescent Congress no longer buoys him, Bush is little more than a bumbling lame duck. And that makes his fake autobiography all the more funny.

Jokes aside, Destined for Destiny is actually a plausibly accurate portrayal of Bush. In the book, Fake Bush—who is narcissistic, classist, power mad, imbecilic, and cruel—is convinced that all of his traits and behaviors are approved and endorsed by God. All Fake Bush wants is to eat as many hot dogs as he pleases, and to bomb whatever country he sees fit. It's this juvenile self-centeredness and refusal to admit fallibility that has made the real Bush so frightening and dangerous.

Sometimes, satire is our only defense. SCOTT MOORE