Thank You for Smoking

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and laugh-out-loud insight
Review: As a person who used to do what these characters do, I have to admit I laughed out loud as I blushed. The shameless and never-ending spin Buckley wrote about in _Thank You for Smoking_ was a painful - and probably inadvertent - prediction of what we've reduced public policy to in the last decade. Although I'm not as fond of Buckley's other novels, this book receives my highest honor: I buy it over and over again because I'm constantly loaning it to to people who never get it back.

Rating:
Summary: Wildly funny
Review: Fantastic! I have read this book several times and it has never failed to have me laughing out loud. Naylor is one of the best characters ever and I love the portrayal of the Department of Health and Human Services (Hopeless, Helpless and Stupid)---I say all this as a health care professional who works for the department (and as a liberal!). Buckley's other books can't compare.

Rating:
Summary: A comical gem
Review: I waited in anticipation for this novel to arrive, could it be as entertaining as 'Little Green Men'?
Perhaps my expectations were too high... Nope.

Buckley's story, revolving around the character of Nick Naylor an intelligent Spokesperson for the tobacco industry whose primary aim is to pay the mortgage and in the process challenge himself, delivers a message with regard to politics, media propaganda and corruption.

Another gem, I almost started smoking.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing escapes Buckley in this hilarous satire
Review: In Thank You for Smoking, Christopher Buckley effectively uses stereotypes to create a wonderfully ironic satire that will leave the reader literally "gasping for air."

Buckley is clever in his ability to get the reader to excuse the faults of his self-serving, over-indulgent main character, Nick Naylor. Buckley persuades the reader to be sympathetic with Nick, despite his less than honorable job as a spokesman for the Tobacco Industry.

Buckley's satire leverages popular stereotypes about the FBI, the Tobacco Lobby, the Gun Lobby, the Alcoholic Beverage Lobby, Hollywood, bosses, cabbies, newspaper reporters, co-workers, office politics, the Christian Right, and lawyers in order to make us laugh but also to drive home deeper points about what we have become as a nation.

This book works on so many different levels - whether you're looking for a good laugh or a well-written political satire, you will enjoy this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Hysterical
Review: I was delighted to discover Christopher Buckley. His satire is dead-on and laugh-out-loud funny. I've enjoyed "Little Green Men" and "Wet Work" just as much.

For anyone who's tired of waiting for Carl Hiaasen's next book, you'll find Mr. Buckley just as entertaining - and more topical.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely funny
Review: It's hard enough to write something that a lot of people would find funny, but think about this: How often have you read something that just made you laugh out loud in a tears-are-falling-down-my-face kind of way, time and again? Buckley does that here. When I read the book five years ago, I was staying with a bunch of relatives at a summer house on vacation, and I was up reading and laughing until about 3 a.m. At breakfast the next morning, everyone was mad at me for waking them up. It was only after I told them about the book and gave them a copy to read did they understand, and forgive. Outside of "A Confederacy of Dunces," "Thank You for Smoking" really is the funniest, most laugh-out-loud book I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Weight In The Lobby
Review: Buckley successfully spoofs the lobbying industry while also illuminating how much power "institutes" and "centers" have in policymaking. While many Americans may think of lobbyists as well-dressed pretty boys up on Capitol Hill handing out briefcases full of cash, Buckley highlights lobbyists as they are today -- spokespersons, advertisers, and marketers, selling ideas and not buying politicians.
Buckley also amuses in his display of America's burgeoning nanny culture, where groups daring to defend smoking, drinking, meat-eating, and gun ownership are forced to disguise themselves and work from a defensive position.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent satire and wonderful story.
Review: Ever have a job where it feels like everyone is out to get you? Even your friends? Welcome to the world of Nick Naylor - spokesman for the Tobacco Institute. His job: promote one of the deadliest products on the planet and maintain his conscience while doing so. Ironically, you find yourself hoping that good old Nick Naylor survives his trials and tribulations in the book even though he knows he backs a product that is deadly. Some of the wit of Naylor's character comes out in that all-too human pathos of "just paying the mortgage." The reason I think we cannot really hate Nick in this book is because all of us, at some point in our careers, have to become like him - at least a little bit.

This book is a very good satire, filled with many humorous moments. The dialogue is witty and keeps you involved. The story takes a very interesting (and dark) twist a little more than midway through and the ending is just perfect! It is rare to find a book that coheses so well at the beginning, middle, and end but this one did it. The characterization is just phenomenal in the book. You hate the characters you are supposed to hate and you like the characters you are supposed to like - even when the characters you are supposed to like, you really should hate! The book is populated mainly with anti-heroes and the main protagonist is certainly that (although certainly not in the style of Vonnegut or Faulkner). The book also presents a nifty way of trying to kill someone that, unfortunately, other reviewers have already revealed and they should not have. Luckily this is not a critical part of the book (insofar as knowing the method) but it does lead to some interesting consequences for the protagonist.

This is a book that makes fun of the bureaucracy that surrounds many institutions, particularly those in Washington D.C., but also pokes a little fun at society in general for some of the dichotomous notions it holds regarding those things that are "not good for us," with the focus being on tobacco, guns, and alcohol. The title itself serves as a delicious double entendre that you have to read through the whole book to see.

The book will probably not offend smokers because it does not necessarily treat them as idiots for routinely using the old coffin nails or cancer sticks. And non-smokers (like myself) will certainly enjoy the book as they realize they have not fallen prey to the addictive "joy" of smoking. Highly recommened for any and all.

Rating:
Summary: lucky strike
Review: this funny, satirical, sharp-witted novel is something that will make you scream with laughter. to be read by both smokers and non-smokers. hilarious & cynical, after having read this book you will never look at smoking the same way again - don't get me wrong, this is no book of the how's and about's to quit smoking (but you might consider taking a job as a spokesman for a tobacco company. Buckley's words are harsh and unforgiving, he blurts things right out, the result = 100% pure unfiltered entertainment. a great story that just'll give you a lucky strike with every page you turn!

Rating:
Summary: The best book ever!
Review: I give this book as a gift quite often because it is hillarious. Buckley is the man, and I love all of his books. This one is no exception. So read this, and The White House Mess. They're both bound to make you laugh out loud.