We have been rattling on for weeks about our latest book without really giving it a proper presentation.

Here’s the background: About two years ago, on a run, I thought it would be fun to make a mix-and-match book lampooning the various contenders in the 2012 presidential race. About six weeks ago, I remembered the idea, and we scrambled to get it done in time for our reading at Bookplate the Friday before last.

The result was Build Your Own President, 2012 (http://store NULL.idiotsbooks NULL.com/ProductDetails NULL.asp?ProductCode=IB033-01)

The idea is simple. I wrote satirical stump speeches for ten candidates (Gingrich, Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Romney, Palin, Santorum, Paul, Clinton, and Obama), and Robbi did satirical portraits of the same. I wrote and she illustrated such that components of the writing and images would be interchangeable. The reader is charged with flipping the panels in search of the perfect candidate.

For example, when we combine:

Mitt Romney, the Olympic-Sized, Snore-Inducing, Platform Panderer

With Newt Gingrich, the Whip-Wielding, Marriage Mangling, Neo-Narcissist

With Sarah Palin, the Money-Grubbing, Attention-Craving, Tea Party Tease

You get the Olympic-Sized, Marriage Mangling, Tea Party Tease

Similarly, when you combine

Rick Perry, the Bare-Knuckled, Tongue-Tied, Texas Avenger

With Hillary Clinton, the Dues-Paying, Tongue-Biting, Lady-in-Waiting

And Ron Paul, the Liberty-Loving, Age-Defying, Money Magnet

You get the, Bare-Knuckled, Dues-Paying, Money-Magnet

And so on. There are exactly 1,000 permutations. Start looking now, and perhaps you’ll find one to your liking by election day.

If you suspect that this book might make a good Christmas present for the political junkie in your life, and if you place your order by mid-afternoon Wednesday (http://store NULL.idiotsbooks NULL.com/ProductDetails NULL.asp?ProductCode=IB033-01), we should be able to get it there by Christmas.

Subscribers will be getting a copy of this book in a few weeks. Sorry to make you fine people wait. We are simply too busy changing diapers to stuff envelopes at present.