W.A. Frederick

The Clown King is a modern political fable about narcissism, flattery, fear, and the strange power of public delusion. In a land grown weary of ordinary rulers, a boastful clown named Chump gains a feverish following and rises to power by promising to make the country laugh again. Soon 'President Chump' decides to crown himself king. There are parades and golden statues; wealthy merchants who receive favors from the coins pressed into his palm; silenced counsellors and broken presses.
As the Clown King's vanity swells to bursting, the people must decide whether they will keep on cheering or finally remember what truth sounds like. Darkly comic, briskly told, and illustrated in a richly painterly storybook style, The Clown King is a satirical fable for readers who realize, as did Hans Christian Andersen long ago, that the emperor has no clothes.