Supreme Courtship [Paperback]

Christopher Buckley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2009

President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the guts to reject her -- Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation's most popular reality show, Courtroom Six.

Will Pepper, a straight-talking Texan, survive a confirmation battle in the Senate? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? And even if she can make it to the Supreme Court, how will she get along with her eight highly skeptical colleagues, including a floundering Chief Justice who, after legalizing gay marriage, learns that his wife has left him for another woman.


Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule. (2008)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In bestselling author Christopher Buckley's hilarious novel, the President of the United States, ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees onto the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill a Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the nerve to reject her--Judge Pepper Cartwright, star of the nation's most popular reality show. Will Pepper, a vivacious Texan, survive a Senate confirmation battle? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule.

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Amazon.com Exclusive
An Essay from Christopher Buckley

Somewhere in this brilliant, hilarious, impossible-to-put-down--to say nothing of moderately priced--new book of mine, the narrator notes that appointing a Supreme Court justice is pretty much the most consequential thing a president can do, short of declaring nuclear war; more to the point, that this fact is generally pointed out every four years by whoever is running second in the presidential election.

The Supreme Court is by any definition the most important branch of government. Who else has the power to say--without fear of being contradicted by someone higher up the food chain--"Congratulations, you just won the presidential election, even though the other guy got more votes!" Or, "We really feel awful about this, but you have to be lethally injected tonight at midnight."? If you're on the Supreme Court, you are the top of the food chain.

I've written satires about other Washington institutions. It never occurred to me to try one about the Supreme Court, for the reason that I never found it particularly funny. It was my editor, Jonathan Karp, who suggested it, and if the book turns out to be a stinkeroo and bombs, I am going to petition the Court to have him lethally injected.

At some point, while scratching my noggin and trying to come up with some way into a satire about the Marble Palace, I scribbled on a legal pad (how appropriate is that?): Judge Judy on the Court.

I called Karp and ran it past him. He laughed, which I always take as a good sign, since he doesn't laugh at 99 out of 100 of my genius ideas.

My Judge Judy is a sexy Texan named Pepper Cartwright. She was an actual judge before she became a TV hottie. How, you ask, did she get on the Court in the first place? Well, it all starts on page one where--did I mention how moderately priced the book is?

--Christopher Buckley

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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. It's a delicious prospect: what if a beleaguered president decided to nominate a TV judge to the Supreme Court? Buckley effectively ransacks the Washington political machine for his newest novel, disarmingly read by Anne Heche. No stranger to controversy herself, Heche takes a special glee in depicting media gone mad. For Pepper Cartwright, the plain ole girl from Plano who finds herself on the bench, Heche effectively channels Annie Potts. Yet Heche is equally effective delivering the rest of the overwhelmingly male characters, ranging from the Midwestern President Vandercamp to a patrician fixer and Pepper's flashy producer husband. Supreme satirical novelist Buckley gives the narrator plenty of clues, and Heche delivers the annoying laugh and calculating tones of justice wannabe Senator Mitchell with hilarious exactitude. Despite the preponderance of men in Supreme Courtship, it is the brilliant casting of Heche—who keeps Pepper present at all times—that gives this audiobook an edge over the print edition. A Twelve hardcover (Reviews, June 9). (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Twelve; 1 Reprint edition (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446697982
• ISBN-13: 978-0446697989
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #606,702 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

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Send in the Nimitz!, August 20, 2008

By 

Susan Tunis (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Supreme Courtship (Hardcover)

There are some authors who--even when they're not at their best--are so much better than almost anyone or anything else. Christopher Buckley is just such an author.

I don't think that Supreme Courtship is his strongest work. The satire isn't quite as clever and cutting as some of what he's done in the past. I'd call it "Buckley light." That said, you'd have to be made of stone not to get a giggle from this book. It's just silly and fun.

In the novel, the US is governed by a wildly unpopular president. (I'm not even going to say anything here.) Not only is he unpopular with the people, he's even more unpopular with his own congress. (He vetoes all of their pork barrel projects.) As revenge, the senate subcommittee eviscerates every Supreme Court nominee he sends their way, no matter how honorable and qualified. It's painful to watch. At his wits end, in an attempt to nominate an untouchable, he nominates Pepper Cartwright, America's favorite television judge. Hilarity ensues!

Not only is Buckley lampooning all three branches of the federal government, he takes pot shots at reality television, the uninformed populace, and possibly the writers of The West Wing. Again, this is a very light and fluffy book. If you're looking for in-depth insight into the workings of the Supreme Court, you're barking up the wrong tree. If, however, you're looking for a pleasant and not too challenging way to pass a few hours, you could do a lot worse. Christopher Buckley makes me smile. And you'll never look at the Nimitz the same way again, LOL.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judges without borders, September 10, 2008

By 

Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Supreme Courtship (Hardcover)

If you think the 2008 presidential campaign has a tendency to collapse into absurdity on any given day, Christopher Buckley's wonderful new book, "Supreme Courtship", is the perfect companion book to the real-live antics we currently witness. Filled with sui generis characters who are only a half-step away from actuality, Buckley creates scenarios that, given a twist here or a turn there, could happen in fact.

President Donald Vanderdamp has come upon a situation not unlike one that has been faced by former U.S. presidents...difficulty in getting a Supreme Court nominee through the Senate. Through a chance viewing of a court tv-like show, Vanderdamp hits on his choice... a straight-shootin' Texan host whose husband happens to be the producer. Meet Sarah Palin, southern style. Enormously unqualified to be a Supreme Court judge, Pepper Cartwright, nevertheless, becomes an instant darling of the nation and sails through her confirmation. On the court, however, responsibilities (and her personal life) catch up with her and all... well... fun breaks out, ending with a Constitutional crisis that would make Bush v. Gore seem like Law 101.

Author Buckley has a breezy narrative style that sets things up perfectly. A chapter devoted to Pepper's first case on the court, infuses Latin beyond its limits and is the most creative and hilarious part of the book. But Buckley ratchets things up to the final election mess with such finesse that it's a shame when the book finally ends. I highly recommend "Supreme Courtship" for its humor...and its relevance to the folly of our elected and appointed servants in Washington.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Supreme Disappointment, October 6, 2008

By 

RJP "An avid Skier" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Supreme Courtship (Kindle Edition)

This is the fourth Buckley novel that I have read and the most disappointing. The book becomes very tiring to read because Buckley seems to delight in using words that kept me running to the dictionary. He also uses French and Latin legal idioms, only some of which are explained at the end of the book. One major gaffe appears in Chapter 18. One character mentions that President Truman stated that the two big disappointments of his administration were both sitting on the Supreme Court. In point of fact, it was not President Truman who passed the remark. It was Eisenhower who took a swipe at Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice William Brennan, both of whom he nominated to sit on the Court.