No Way to Treat a First Lady [Paperback]

Christopher Buckley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Random House; Reprint edition (2002)
• ISBN-10: 0965700747
• ISBN-13: 978-0965700740
• ASIN: 1588362574
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,100,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Buckley is the author of fourteen books, including "Supreme Courtship," "Boomsday," and "Thank You For Smoking." He is editor-at-large of "ForbesLife" magazine, and was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. He lives on the Acela train between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slick, But Satisfying, January 16, 2003

By 

Virginia Lore "rumtussle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Way to Treat a First Lady (Hardcover)

Christopher Buckley slakes a reader's thirst for a juicy satirical legal thriller in _No Way to Treat a First Lady_. Set in a familiar Washington D.C. atmosphere of politics and sexuality, this is the story of a First Lady accused of assassinating the President of the United States of America in a marital dispute.

Beth MacMann (or "Lady BethMac" as the press has dubbed her) has called on Boyce Baylor, a defense lawyer as famous for his outrageous antics in the courtroom as he is for winning cases. He, however, just may lose this one to get even with Beth, who dumped him way-back-when in law school to marry the Man Who Would Be President. Rounding out the cast of characters is Babette Van Anka, famous actress/singer and Presidential consort, who was one of the last people to see him alive.

Buckley has written a fast-paced novel which sends up both the media and the courtroom in this circus of a trial. Though thinly-veiled references to real personalities seem a little mean spirited (e.g., "Greta Van Botox," a cable news personality), for the most part Buckley sticks to satirizing the institutions and societal values which make such a mockery of justice. Suspenseful, funny and truly an entertaining book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed so hard I cried, February 12, 2004

By 

cs211 "cs211" (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: No Way to Treat a First Lady: A Novel (Paperback)

It's a cliché, but true! I immensely enjoyed "No Way to Treat a First Lady", and found myself chuckling almost constantly throughout, laughing out loud many times, and laughing uncontrollably on several occasions. If you read this book in public, as I did, be prepared to receive disapproving glances from others who aren't having as good a time as you are.

No Way skewers the Washington political scene, the legal profession, the media, and in particular the Clinton scandals and the O.J. Simpson trial. But ultimately, like all great satire, it is really a no-holds-barred look at our current societal mores and norms.

The main characters in No Way are all composites, which is how Christopher Buckley is able to construct a storyline that departs from the actual events it is satirizing, but is still fully recognizable by anyone who followed the news in the late 1990s. You'll enjoy picking out references to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barbra Streisand, Marc Rich, Alan Dershowitz, and of course Monica - plus many others. Even Nick Naylor, the hero of Buckley's "Thank You for Smoking", has a bit part in No Way.

I've read most of Buckley's books, and No Way is right up there with his best. I'd put "Thank You for Smoking" first by a hair, followed by No Way, then "God is My Broker". Thank You is slightly more timeless, as No Way's humor will dissipate somewhat with time, as people's recollections of the Clinton years fade.

Christopher Buckley can legitimately lay claim to being America's top working satirist. Keep them coming, Mr. Buckley, sir!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny blend of satire, mystery and legal thriller, November 24, 2002

By 

Silver Springer "mary1anne2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Way to Treat a First Lady (Hardcover)

Christopher Buckley is a satirist/comic so this book, his ninth, is 5 parts satire, 1 part who-dun-it mystery, and 1 part legal thriller, with the latter two parts clear exaggerations of the genre.

The story revolves around the death of President MacMann, a former war hero now turned womanizer. MacMann is found dead in bed next to his wife with an imprint of "REVERE" on his forehead from a nearby Paul Revere spitoon. The previous night he had a romantic tryst with Babette Van Atta, a Hollywood starlet staying in the nearby Lincoln bedroom. Foul play is suspected and Elizabeth Tyler MacMann is arrested and earns the tabloid name "Lady Bethmac". MacMann hires Boyce "Shameless" Baylor, a defense attorney notorius for courtroom antics which succeed in getting scoundrel clients off. Baylor and McMann were once engaged in law school and the engagement was broken when Beth married war hero McMann. During their many planning meetings, Beth and Baylor renew their romance which also complicates the proceedings.

This hilarious plot lampoons Bill and Hillary Clinton, trial lawyers a la OJ Simpson trial, media, tabloids, the Washington, D.C. establishment and many others. You will be laughing at the court antics and the mystery is solved in a very funny way.

If you enjoy satire and political humor this is the book for you!!