Coming soon · A picture book for grown-ups

DonaldtheDingleberry

Name: Donald the Dingleberry Is Hanging On by a Hair
Author: Harry Cheeks
ISBN: 9798161386538

Is Hanging On by a Hair

by Harry Cheeks

Donald is hanging on by a hair. Paige dumped him three months ago. He still sleeps in her hoodie. He still likes her old photos at 3 a.m.

He has driven past her duplex “by accident” sixteen times on a Sunday, and he has not washed his sweatpants since spring.

Join one small, lumpy, deeply unwashed dingleberry as he learns the hardest thing a dingleberry can do: let go.

Then take a shower. Seriously.

Coming soon to Amazon

Contains strong language. Not for children. Or your ex.

Cover of Donald the Dingleberry Is Hanging On by a Hair: a small lumpy brown dingleberry in a lavender hoodie and gray sweatpants clinging to one curly hair that hangs from a giant pink cartoon butt.

“Letting go doesn’t wipe you.
You’re still you. You’re still whole.”
— Gary, page 22

Peek Inside

Rhyming verse, warm vintage illustrations, and one dingleberry who will not let go.

Donald, a small lumpy dingleberry in a lavender hoodie, dangling from one curly hair beneath a giant pink cartoon butt. — “Our Donald is hanging on just by a hair.”

Donald in bed at night, his face lit blue by his phone, horrified at a big heart icon on the screen. — “He ‘liked’ an old picture from twenty-nineteen.”

Donald's messy apartment: a tower of pizza boxes, a goldfish giving a look, and a trash bag in a bow tie walking out the door with flowers. — “It took itself out and went off on a date.”

A grocery checkout where shoppers flee from Donald and a tiny cartoon fly holds its nose. — “There’s still such a thing as a line, my good man.”

Lou, a big bearded man in a red plaid shirt, pulling on Donald's legs while Donald clings to the sofa. — “Lou pulled and Don held, and the couch said, ‘God damn.’”

A dream: a huge quilted square of toilet paper circling Donald like a shark under a night sky. — “It was soft. It was quilted. It was two-ply at least.”

Wes, calm in a FRESH START WIPES T-shirt, offering a single wet wipe to Donald, who has fallen backward on the wet lawn. — “A wet wipe. And Don screamed and fell on his seat.”

Gary, the older red hemorrhoid in glasses and a cardigan, raising one finger as he hands Donald a cup of coffee. — “Kid, you can’t hang on tight and move on. Hang it up.”

A clean, glossy Donald in a white T-shirt with a laundry basket, his old sweatpants burning in a fire pit outside the window. — “He washed them twice more. Then he burned them. All done.”

The Cast

Cling-Ons Anonymous · Tuesdays at Seven · Name Tags Required

Paige

Donald’s ex. Kind, but done. She turned the page.

Wes

Paige’s new boyfriend. Does yoga. Bakes his own rye. Smells like fresh laundry. Unbearable.

Lou

Best friend since college. The only one who’ll tell you that you stink.

Gary

Cling-Ons Anonymous, Tuesdays at seven. Not a clinger. Just there for the coffee.

Donald’s Guide to Letting Go and Freshening Up

Shower every day. Even on the sad days. Especially on the sad days.
Wash the sweatpants. Yes, those ones. Hot water. Twice. Then think hard about burning them.
If it’s over, it’s over. Return the hoodie. Unfollow. Nobody gets blown by the wind past the same house sixteen times.
Find your Lou. The friend who tells you that you stink is the friend who loves you.
Letting go isn’t disappearing. You don’t have to hang on to somebody to matter. You matter fresh.
Wipe until the paper comes back clean. Front to back. Don’t rush. And if it hurts or there’s blood, see an actual doctor. Donald is a cartoon.

Harry Cheeks at his writing desk, looking back over his shoulder with a fountain pen, jeans riding low

About Harry Cheeks

Harry Cheeks has sat through a lot of meetings. Some of them could have been emails. Most of them could have been nothing. Donald the Dingleberry Is Hanging On by a Hair is his third picture book for people who are far too old for picture books.

Format: Paperback, 8.5″ × 8.5″, full color, 36 pages. Also on Kindle, in color.
ISBN: 979-8-16-138653-8
Publisher: Backdoor Books
Buy: Coming soon on Amazon
Audience: Adults. Strong language. Makes an excellent gag gift for the newly dumped, the newly divorced, and the friend who hasn’t showered since it happened.