Rating: 
Summary: Got a Light?
Review: Both smokers and non-smokers will enjoy this well written novel; Thank You for Smoking offers marvelously witty and satirical insight into the warped political value system of Americans today. Head tobacco spokesman Nick Naylor has the most deplorable job in the country, but he enjoys his work as much as anyone else. We all have to "pay the mortgage". With his incompetent boss, endless public relations assignments, active sex life, and young son, Nick struggles to keep his life in order. But when a non-smoking zealot takes it too far, Nick is forced to take his chances.
Rating:
Summary: Smoke your way to heaven.
Review: Christopher Buckley has struck gold with Thank You for Smoking. Not since the 1997 blockbuster hit Alien Resurreciton, have I been made to sympathize with such an abominable character. Just as Jean-Pierre Jeunet made us sympathize with the mutant ali-human children of the Ellen Ripley clone, Buckley made me love the nasty, carcenogenic Nick Naylor. The connection between director Jeunet and author Buckley is the ability to make readers and viewers sympathize with immanent death. Only a truly talented individual could make a human sympathize with the natural element against which evolution has fought. Buckley has done just this. Nick Naylor, knowing that smoking in hazardous to human health, spends his career convincing the American public otherwise. He impregnates an entire nation's chest with certain death. But Buckley manages to make us love Nick, who is doing nothing more than persuing the American Dream by any means necessary.
Rating: 
Summary: The Fine Art of Selling Coffin Nails
Review: Public relations is a fascinating business, and when Christopher Buckley approaches it in his novel Thank You For Smoking, he makes you realize the great lengths some industries go to sell themselves, as well as the short lengths we consumers go to challenge the images they create.Nick Naylor, the protagonist of this satire, is at times so suave and witty as a character, that you almost end up believing the lies he's telling. He's working for the Tobacco companies, and waging a one man assault on the public opinion that smoking is dangerous. Along the way he goes from a white-collar jerk whose lack of success is about to cost him his job, to the James Bond of PR. While appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show, he suddenly turns into a master of dodging the issues and turning them against his attackers. His ability to use the English language as a weapon against the very people who are costing him his job, is in itself the book's hilarious highpoint. The whirlwind of twisted words forced me to realize all the ludicrous ways in which politicians and corporate big wigs shine a positive light on the garbage they're doing. This book could have easily been about Gore and Bush running their infomercial-style campaigns. It could have easily been about Firestone and Ford acting like they never knew their products were prone to exploding. In the business of lying to the general public, Nick Naylor becomes a master, and sadly the reading audience falls in love with him! The strength of Buckley's book comes in it's humorous style and thought-provoking subject. The covert meetings of the "MOD Squad," (in which PR reps from the gun-lobby and alcohol industry hold private lunches to complain about their uphill battles to, in essence, sell death)are absolutely brilliant. I found myself laughing almost every other page, at either some description or just the ridiculousness of a situation. These were the moments that kept me turning the pages. However, in the end, the espionage/thriller plot line wasn't all that exciting. One plot twist in particular towards the end of the book, felt like a lame cop-out to pull the narrative towards a resolution. But even then, Buckley's style and mastery of satire kept me engaged and willing to root for the smug protagonist, whose intensions were anything but good.
Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Mockery of Corporate America
Review: 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:
Summary: Read His Other Books First, or............
Review: ......they will disappoint you after this gem. This is not only a fabulous mystery, it is sinister and hilarious. I've read all the Chris Buckley I can find, but none match up to this masterpiece. As I read it, I marvelled that I could not tell if the author was sympathetic to the soulless characters. Buy two books, because you'll finish this one quickly.
Rating:
Summary: great modern literature
Review: This has to be the most intelligent, interesting, funny, and best written fiction I've read. You just can't put it down! It makes you think twice about what you do to "pay the mortgage." Also an insightful look into the business of lobbying. Can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: WICKED SATIRE
Review: Christopher Buckley skewers the lobbyist profession along with the political correct movement. Buckley's brilliant writing deftly weaves the elements of comedy and suspense. A fast-paced, thoroughly entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good - not great
Review: A pretty funny book and a nice light read but that's it (for better Buckley humor see 'God is my Broker'). It's hip to like Buckley these days. Similar to Dave Barry reviews, the exaggerated praises wear a bit thin over time ( e.g. 'I laughed out loud for weeks', etc). His 'look at me, I'm inside the beltway' act is also getting tired. All this being said, I still recommend this book - just not the accompanying hype.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant writing, hilarious insights
Review: My husband asked me to read this to provide him with my view on whether this novel would be an appropriate book to assign for an undergraduate class on political parties and interest groups. When I finally got to it in my (despairingly large) pile of "must reads," I wearily resigned myself to what a I thought would be unsubtle insider jokes and hackneyed cynicism. Much to my delight, I discovered that the writing was absolutely brilliant -- tight, funny, sophisticated, and original. While the characters, both the neo-puritans and the MOD squad, are Seinfeld-esque in their nihilism and unlikability (even the ending does not redeeem our protagonist -- And whatever happened to his first wife and child? They just dropped right off the map!), the fast-moving plot and brilliant verbal "jujitsuing" provide more than enough entertainment for the reader. Ultimately, I suggested that the book was perhaps too sexually provocative for undergrads, but I heartily recommend it to adults.
Rating:
Summary: Laughed out loud
Review: this book is a great read. Smoker or non, you will laugh through the whole thing.
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