Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!

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Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! book cover
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Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! book cover

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! (ISBN 0-394-82490-3) is a children's book by Dr. Seuss. Written as a book for early beginning readers, it is suitable for children who can not yet read at the level of more advanced beginning books such as The Cat in the Hat. The book presents in short and funny fashion, Dr. Seuss's nonsensical words, rhymes, and illustrations. The gist of the book is that Marvin K. Mooney is asked to leave in many ways. The title is still in print.

Some have suggested that Dr. Seuss wrote Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! as a political allegory about Richard Nixon in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. This is unlikely, as the book was originally published in August, 1972, only two months after the Watergate break-in in June. Suggesting he could have written, illustrated, and published a book in under 2 months in the 1970s is extremely unlikely; moreover, there was no evidence yet to tie the White House to the burglaries.

However, two years later, when Seuss was challenged by political columnist Art Buchwald for never having written a political book, Seuss took a copy of the book and crossed out "Marvin K. Mooney" and wrote in "Richard M. Nixon." Buchwald was so delighted, that with Seuss' consent he printed the text as his column for July 30, 1974. Nixon resigned nine days later on August 8th.

Some of Seuss' other work, such as The Butter Battle Book, was clearly political.

[edit] Notations

  • Seuss coined the word "crunk", which is used in this book ("You can go in a Crunk-car if you wish.")