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Title: Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley ISBN: 0-06-097662-4 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 07 June, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (77 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Extremely witty, original, funny.
Comment: Even with a short attention span, a dislike for contemporary fiction and a natural resistance to forced reading assignments, I managed to thoroughly enjoy the wit and humor found in Christopher Buckley's Thank You for Smoking. The protagonist is the antagonist; the attitude is dark yet truthful and the characters artfully dynamic. Nick Naylor is the chief spokesperson for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He pays his mortgage by stretching, twisting and hiding the truth about tobacco from the public, and as a result lives his life as a target for despise. Buckley's talent as a writer concisely and sarcastically reveals the culmination of events that grow from Naylor's continual and conscious lying. The readers' separation from Nick's dangerous life provides perspective for humor - continuing to prove the "it's funny when someone else falls down" theory. As Nick's awareness and follies increase so does the readers' fondness for this tragic hero. When boss-man, BR, turns up the heat, Nick's urgency to regain the integrity of tobacco for a newly health-conscious society shifts into a high gear. He begins to make blatantly false public statements that in turn introduce him to death-threatening enemies and the praise of the Captain, the tobacco-god. With manic intensity he continues to finagle his way into the media until he is so deeply loved and hated that bodyguards, FBI interrogations and secrete plots with his fellow "Merchants of Death" become necessary. Oddly, Nick's increasingly good job results in an increasingly malignant response from his boss, and the notion of internal tobacco scandal calls for extreme measures. The curious scandal and how Nick manipulates and escapes brilliantly fuels the plot. Buckley writes with a mesmerizing tempo, gluing your eyes to the pages. Between his cynicism, humor and talent for creating anticipation, Buckley weaves Thank you for Smoking into a book that is impossible to leave unfinished. My only criticism is the last chapter, which is weak and jumps almost too radically to a pleasant conclusion, however the fury of events leading up to that single final chapter makes the book well-worth the read.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Marvelous Mockery of Corporate America
Comment: Nick Naylor is your classic American weasel. Like Bill Clinton at the cutting edge of convincing his country that he didn't have sex with Monica, Nick almost persuades America that smoking is good for you. As a tobacco lobbyist and two-timing master of manipulation, Nick bolsters the smoking world. He slivers his way through Clean Lungs conventions and talk shows with Oprah and Larry King, squashing his health-crazed rivals and attaining the crown to his profession. But Nick obtains more than just a pay increase. He must brave a mass of enemies involving his jealous boss, BR, his alluring assistant, Janette, the non-smokers of society, and fanatical abductors who try to kill Nick with nicotine patches. Nick's only outlet from the havoc is when he's lunching with his two best friends, the spokespeople for the alcohol and firearms industries, or-when he's getting laid. Although Christopher Buckley creates a humorous mockery of corporate America, this novel contains some loopholes. The language can be too elaborate at times, tripping up the reader before he can ingest the action. Nevertheless, I recommend this read. The plot portrays the wicked reality behind what moves the money of America, while the suspense keeps the pages turning.
Rating: 4
Summary: Light pleasant satire
Comment: Buckley has a light, pleasant, humorous easy-to-read style, and he fully understands the double-think, newspeak and weasel words that are inherent in the political games, pro and con, surrounding tobacco. No one comes off looking good here. Everyone is a liar with ulterior motives concerning power, perks and attention. Unfortunately, his characters are really more caricatures than anything else. Still, this is a funny work, and I'd recommend it to get the Big Picture on Big Tobacco, and far worse, Big Government.
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Title: The White House Mess by Christopher Buckley ISBN: 0140249281 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Little Green Men : A Novel by Christopher Buckley, Random House Inc. ISBN: 0060955570 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: No Way to Treat a First Lady : A Novel by CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY ISBN: 0375758755 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: God Is My Broker: A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth by Christopher Buckley, John Tierney ISBN: 0060977612 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Wry Martinis by Christopher Buckley ISBN: 0060977426 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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