Customer Reviews

Thank You for Smoking

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Nick Naylor, the protagonist of Christopher Buckley's "Thank You for Smoking," gives new definition to the term "antihero." Despite his position, he's not really a bad guy. Sure, he makes six figures a year lying through his teeth as the chief lobbyist at the Academy of Tobacco Studies in Washington, but he's not really making anybody smoke cigarettes. As he explains it, he's just moderating between two competing groups, namely the cigarette companies and the anti-smoking zealots. Besides, someone's got to pay the mortgage and his son's prep-school tuition. Even he realizes that his rationalization sounds like something a Nuremberg defendant might say ("I vas only paying ze mortgage"), but it takes a certain courage to go on TV and say there's no demonstrable link between smoking and disease. Perhaps Buckley's greatest achievement here is that he can take a guy who lies to sell cigarettes and make him into a sympathetic figure.

Nick Naylor's life provides the basis for Buckley's often hilarious look at the "neo-puritanism" of mid-nineties America and the attempts of tobacco companies to fight it. And although I hate cigarettes, I think a book like this needed to be written. Anybody who's ever been repulsed by those ridiculous "Truth" ads where a bunch of obnoxious young people harass those who make and sell cigarettes should get a good laugh at Buckley's portrayal of the sanctimonious forces of political correctness. As Nick tells Oprah Winfrey in one uproarious scene, cigarette opponents aren't above manipulating children and trying to tell everyone else how to think. And anything that takes the wind out of the sails of political correctness is fine by me.

Much of the book's humor comes from Nick's lunch meetings with his friends in the Mod (an acronym for "Merchants of Death") Squad. Composed of Nick, alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey, and one-armed gun advocate Bobby Jay Bliss, the Mod Squad is sort of a combination support group and mutual admiration society. In the presence of their own, the three death merchants can work on their PR strategies, discuss their latest misfortunes at the hands of the neo-puritans, and compare just how much death they've caused and how hated they are. In one particularly humorous scene, Polly and Bobby Jay are saying how much hate mail they get, and Nick just scoffs and says, "HATE mail? ALL of my mail is hate mail."

Of course, even satires need plots, so Buckley throws in some intrigue regarding a plot to have Nick killed. When a team of killers kidnaps Nick and covers him in nicotine patches, Nick finds himself suspected by the FBI of having done the deed himself as a PR stunt. In an effort to clear his name, Nick eventually traces the attempt on his life to a conspiracy in the upper levels of the tobacco lobby. Although this plot had possibilities, it felt somewhat underdeveloped to me. At a mere 272 pages, "Thank You for Smoking" isn't quite long enough to function effectively as both a satire and a thriller. The plot's pretty interesting, I just would've like to see a little more space devoted to it.

Still, this book is worth a read. It's fast-paced, well written, and remarkably perceptive. More than once I found myself laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all. If an avid non-smoker like myself can find himself rooting for a tobacco lobbyist, than anyone can.

Christopher Buckley knows how to write satire that has a delicious bite along with the laughs. Nick Naylor, our protagonist, is a highly paid consultant for the tobacco lobby that is thinking about cutting back expenses because of their shrinking market and lack of success on the Hill. So, Nick decides on a plan to go on the offensive for the public mind and breath. Unfortunately for Nick, his new public notoriety brings attention from some folks who have a rather aggressive passion against smoking.

This book takes on everyone. Lawmakers, lawyers, lobbyists, amoral businessmen who don't care what they sell as long as they get rich, activists who are motivated by a lot other than their stated cause, media types, and the public. We all get it in ways that will make you say ouch and still find a laugh.

Good novel that has held up well.

I would have never guessed that I would even consider reading a book about a PR man for the tobacco industry ... and I certainly could have never imagined that if I did, I'd enjoy it so much!

I picked up Thank You For Smoking at the suggestion of a friend, and was pulled into the narrative immediately. The story is so tightly and entertainingly written that I practically inhaled it (pun intended), taking less than a day to finish the book's nearly 300 pages even though for the most part I had to read it a few pages at a time while working at a conference.

Author Christopher Buckley pulled off the seemingly impossible here: making a despicable protagonist like Nick Naylor seem sympathetic. I won't go into the way Mr. Buckley does it, but it is definitely worth finding out for yourself.

My only complaint is that the ending to the story wraps up a little too neatly, a little too much like Hollywood. It's a weakness, but not a serious enough of a weakness to cloud the value of this original and clever book.

A friend's parents brought me this book when I was down for the count with some serious health issues. The book is hilarious and fast-paced, and while it doesn't spend too much time delving into the minutiae of the lobbying industry (perhaps if it were written today), the reader does get a satirical look at how the wheels in Washington get greased. Everyone who borrowed the copy of this book that I had loved it as well. I'm thrilled that it's been made into a movie and that this book (and author Chris Buckley) will finally get the recognition that probably wasn't there when the book was first published. I can't wait to see the movie.

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 anough entertainment for the reader. Ultimately, I suggested that the book was perhaps too sexually provocative for undergrads, but I heartily recommend it to adults.

Dark comedy is a tough genre. Difficult to write and even more difficult to sell. It's always hard to be funny, but even harder when the topic is grim--the unnecessary deaths caused by smoking. While some people will be offended, the truth revealed in an excellent dark comedy is unsurpassed. This is not just a book about smoking. . .or lobbying. It is a book about smoking, lobbying, alcohol, firearms, cholesterol, cheese, spinning, the press (print, radio, and television), workplace politics, and career paths. Ultimately, it is about making your own choices and taking responsibility for the consequences. Those who view this novel as merely shining a spotlight on the evils of the tobacco industry have, I think, missed the larger point. Well-written, in a style that is both funny and informative (though occasionally abrupt), with enough densely-packed passages to please the literary crowd and enough surprises to be a page-turner. Highly recommended. Donald J. Bingle, author of Forced Conversion.

I really didn't want to like it. I wasn't so sure about reading from this perspective, was worried that it would be pro-smoking or try to make a cliched attempt at being anti-smoking. And while I felt the ending and the big switchover was a bit contrived and quick, I enjoyed the book.

I was a bit angry at becoming so involved with the main character, but it happened instantly when his major incident took place. I wasn't sure what my morals were doing, but my readerly instincts had me engaged with the character. As soon as that happened, I was able to enjoy the light and sometimes humorous style of Christopher Buckley and make guesses as to which way the plot was going. I enjoyed the unravelling of it all.

All in all, a good read.

Rich Baiocco

Review of Thank You For Smoking

Christopher Buckley's ear for political and social satire is in perfect pitch in his latest book Thank You for Smoking. The book follows protagonist Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for the dreaded Tobacco Industry, through run-ins with kidnappers, confrontations with Oprah, and a barrage of extremely humorous sexual exploits. Naylor is on a quest to prove to his boss, B.R, that he is worth the money they are paying him to lie and finesse the public into thinking cigarettes are not dangerous. Nick defends his moral character in the role of the mouth of the merchant of death by claiming he is doing all of this to pay the mortgage and send his son through one of Washington's most elite private schools (St. Euthanasius). The brilliance of Buckley's writing comes in the fact that the reader is not necessarily on the side of his main character at the beginning for he the defender of such an evil corporate empire. As the plot twists and turns, we find room in our sympathetic hearts for Nick, and he quickly turns from antagonist to protagonist. We see a man, who like most Americans, is doing his job and trying to make a living. In fact his only real obstacle is the moral strain his position is imparting on him lately. Believe me, as the plot elevates and Naylor faces more and more heated public ignominy we actually feel sorry for him. Though the story tends to get a bit repetitive at times Buckley's sharp wit and tight comic prose keeps the reader very much engaged. Nick associates himself with a spokesperson for the NRA and a spokesperson for the Alcohol industry. They are known amongst each other as the M.O.D squad (Merchants of Death). Together they comfort and console each others wavering morals, battered and tired from tidal waves of public scorn. Like I stated earlier, the author has a knack for being able to grasp the evil world of publicity and propaganda behind corporate America. This book partially serves as a comic vehicle to follow the life of one of the country's most hated professionals, and partially as a flashlight to shine clearly upon the public's corruption by the Tobacco Industry. There is a real message to be learned here about what goes on behind the scenes in giant corporations, and Buckley delivers that message quite honestly, though sometimes heavy-handedly, through his satire. Thank You for Smoking is a fine accomplishment and marks the writer as one of the premiere social satirists in the game. I look forward to reading his next one.

A relative gave me this book and said it was sure to entertain, I wasn't disappointed. The book is a satire of the tobacco industry that goes even beyond what I thought was possible to promote tobacco. Although I don't smoke, the people peddling tobacco are unique? individuals that have quite a gift? for promoting something so toxic to the human body. Although the subject is appalling, I was laughing my head off at the outrageous interpretations of medical studies and clever rebuttals the tobacco spokesman came up with to counter the media and medical community. In a dark way, it really is a funny book....

A comedic novel about a spokesperson for the tobacco industry? At first, this may sound as promising as a novel about a dirt salesperson. But Thank You For Smoking is utterly hilarious, perfectly-pitched comedy. It is swiftly paced, and not easy to put down. It's a great escape to a place you didn't think you'd want to go until you got there.