Books

John Oliver's Gay Bunny Book Is Selling WAY More Copies Than The Mike Pence Book It Parodies

by Sadie Trombetta

John Oliver can officially be crowned the Trolling King of the book world this week after he announced an LGBTQ picture book about Vice President Mike Pence's bunny, which sold out in a single day. According to the Last Week Tonight host, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is already getting another printing, while the Pence's own book about their family pet is a flop.

Published the same time as an authorized picture book written by Mike Pence's daughter, Charlotte, and illustrated by his wife, Karen, John Oliver's #BetterBundoBook is the story of the Pence family pet with one major difference: he's a gay bunny who falls in love with and marries another male rabbit. Written by Last Week Tonight writer Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is Oliver's direct response to what he calls Pence's "hostility to LGBT rights." If the book sales are any indication, he is far from the only person that way either, because Oliver's gay bunny book is outselling the VP's book it is meant to troll.

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, $18.99, Amazon

The Last Week Tonight host first shared his plans to troll the Veep on his show Sunday night when he announced the counter-release of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo. "Now, there are a few small differences between the two books,” Oliver said on Sunday. “You’ll notice right away that our rabbit has a bow tie, so there’s that. Also, our story is about Marlon Bundo falling in love with another boy rabbit, because our Marlon Bundo is gay — just like the real Marlon Bundo.” By the following morning, it was No. 1 on the Amazon's best-sellers list, where it remains at the time of this article was written.

An instant bestseller, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo sold out of its first printing within a day of its release. Luckily for readers who weren't quick like a bunny when it came to ordering their own copy, a second printing has already is already in the works.

Oliver shared the exciting book news with Ellen DeGeneres on Tuesday's show, where described Pence as "clearly, to put it in the nicest possible terms, is not a friend of the LGBTQ community." He went on to explain: “So we, on top of that, have released our own book about his bunny where his bunny falls in love with another male bunny and gets married, because that’s the world that we want to live in."

Even adults who think they are too old for children's literature might want to consider buying a copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, because proceeds of Oliver's book will go to both The Trevor Project, a free and confidential national suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth, and AIDS United. If looking at pictures of an adorable bunny couple just isn't your thing (which, by the way, how could it not be?) there is also an audio version of the book available that features an all-star cast of talented actors, including Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons as Marlon and special voice appearances by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ellie Kemper, RuPaul, and more.

If Pence hopes to beat Oliver at his own game, he better hop to it, because A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is currently sitting pretty in the No. 1 spot on Amazon. Meanwhile, the Pence family book trails at No. 4, behind both Oliver's book and former FBI director James Comey's highly anticipated memoir A Higher Loyalty.