''Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!'' is a 1972 children's book by

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red b ...

''. The book presents, in short and funny fashion, Dr. Seuss's nonsensical words, rhymes, and illustrations. It is not entirely clear what the story is about but is known to have a similar ending to

Green Eggs and Ham ''Green Eggs and Ham'' is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2019, the book has sold 8 million copies worldwide. The story has appeared in several adaptations, starting with 1973's '' Dr. Seuss on the Loos ...

. One popular interpretation of the story, given Marvin is wearing purple pajamas, is that he is being told to go to bed by his parent, though the story was designed to be ambiguous in nature. This book was also used in the Beginner Book Video Series along with '' Hop on Pop'' and '' Oh Say Can You Say?''.

Story

Marvin K. Mooney, a young dog boy wearing purple pajamas standing in the middle of a rug, is asked to "go" by an unseen individual because "the time has come" for him. The individual, who is depicted with a large arm and pointing finger and is also the narrator, tells him to "go". They suggest wacky and bizarre ways for Marvin to leave (even though he does not mind how), but they all end with the narrator repeating the point. After all the suggestions are listed, the individual points their finger very close at Marvin to firmly confirm that they order him to leave the room. Marvin finally complies and decides to go by foot. The individual waves goodbye to him.

In political culture

At the height of the Watergate scandal, in a July 1974 collaboration with political humorist

Art Buchwald Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in ''The Washington Post''. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspaper ...

, Dr. Seuss took a two-year-old copy of his book, crossed out "Marvin K. Mooney" wherever it occurred and wrote in " Richard M. Nixon". With Dr. Seuss's consent, Buchwald and his editors reprinted the markup as a newspaper column, published on July 30. U.S. President Nixon resigned ten days later on August 9. In

Maureen Dowd Maureen Brigid Dowd (; born January 14, 1952) is an American columnist for ''The New York Times'' and an author. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Dowd worked for ''The Washington Star'' and ''Time'', writing news, sports and feature articles. ...

's column for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "Wilting over Waffles", dated April 23, 2008, she suggests that Democrats in the 2008 presidential election might take a cue from this book in their approach to

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

's prolonged campaign against

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, asking her to "just go. I don't care how". MEP Daniel Hannan quoted the book in reference to

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

after the 2009 European Parliament election. The same idea has also been applied to

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

during the

2011 Egyptian Revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

during and after both the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

and the 2020 United States presidential election.

References

{{Dr. Seuss 1972 children's books American picture books Books by Dr. Seuss Watergate scandal Cultural depictions of Richard Nixon Random House books Children's books about dogs