But one child cried out, “He’s got nothing on!”

The crowd fell to silence, the spell nearly gone.

Yet the emperor scoffed, “Fake news! Just a hater!”

And kept on parading, two cheeks to the crater.

Once Upon a Grift: Fairytales Reimagined for Late-Stage Capitalism reimagines the fairytales of your childhood for the age of megacorps, monopolies, and manufactured myths. In Dexter Droll’s satirical anthology, no story is safe from the realities of hustle culture, corporate greed, or the illusion of merit. Equal parts clever and cutting, these retellings skewer the systems that keep us spellbound—and dare us to rewrite the ending.

Dexter Droll is a cultural satirist, amateur lexicographer, and full-time observer of modern absurdity. When not revising fairytales for corrupt kingdoms or updating outdated dictionaries for the deeply doomed, Droll enjoys strong tea, weak institutions, and the occasional quiet laugh at humanity’s expense.