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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Smokin'! One of the funniest books I've read in a long time.
I saw this on a library shelf and remembered how much I'd enjoyed the film a few years ago. The book is definitely worth reading too.
Very dark humour, it's the sort of funny that might make you spit out your tea. Who would have thought that lung cancer, gun death and fetal alcohol syndrome could be so hilarious...
Nick Naylor is Big Tobacco's spokesman - the man whose job it is to make them look good, to suck up criticism and spin it into a positive. He's very good at his job. After work, he relaxes with his two associates - spokespersons for the Alcohol industries and Gun Lobbies respectively. Called the Mod Squad (Merchants of Death), they support each other as much as comparing the number of deaths their employers are responsible for on an annual basis.
If you are easily offended, this may not be for you.
This is completely crazy - we are rooting for a man trying to get teenagers to start smoking!
The whole book manages to mock a whole host of industries and employers. One of my favourite moments involved the answerphone message of the Washington Post:
"If you feel you have been inaccurately quoted, press one...If you are a confidential White House source and are calling to alert your reporter that the President is furious over leaks and has ordered a review of all outgoing calls...press five."
Watching Nick at work, on TV and in the media is at once outrageous and brilliant. His verbal dexterity is admirable, even if few people reading this will agree with his arguments.
The story takes a few twists and turns, involving an unidentified person gunning for Nick, a threat on his life, some suspicious FBI agents and an attempt to get cigarette smoking into a major Hollywood film.
If you enjoy slightly tasteless but incredibly witty reads involving morally suspect men - look no further. Just brilliant.
I saw this on a library shelf and remembered how much I'd enjoyed the film a few years ago. The book is definitely worth reading too.
Very dark humour, it's the sort of funny that might make you spit out your tea. Who would have thought that lung cancer, gun death and fetal alcohol syndrome could be so hilarious...
Nick Naylor is Big Tobacco's spokesman - the man whose job it is to make them look good, to suck up criticism and spin it into a positive. He's very good at his job. After work, he relaxes with his two associates - spokespersons for the Alcohol industries and Gun Lobbies respectively. Called the Mod Squad (Merchants of Death), they support each other as much as comparing the number of deaths their employers are responsible for on an annual basis.
If you are easily offended, this may not be for you.
This is completely crazy - we are rooting for a man trying to get teenagers to start smoking!
The whole book manages to mock a whole host of industries and employers. One of my favourite moments involved the answerphone message of the Washington Post:
"If you feel you have been inaccurately quoted, press one...If you are a confidential White House source and are calling to alert your reporter that the President is furious over leaks and has ordered a review of all outgoing calls...press five."
Watching Nick at work, on TV and in the media is at once outrageous and brilliant. His verbal dexterity is admirable, even if few people reading this will agree with his arguments.
The story takes a few twists and turns, involving an unidentified person gunning for Nick, a threat on his life, some suspicious FBI agents and an attempt to get cigarette smoking into a major Hollywood film.
If you enjoy slightly tasteless but incredibly witty reads involving morally suspect men - look no further. Just brilliant.
book_concierge's review
3.0
A political satire skewering the tobacco, alcohol and gun lobbyists, the media, and the politicians who all have a role in public policy regarding these “legal vices.”
Nick Naylor is the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, an organization funded entirely by the big tobacco producers. As such, he is frequently vilified, and the target of threats. His boss, BR, and his chief rival at the Academy, Jeanette (who happens to be the boss’s “main squeeze”) seem to be trying to angle him out of his job. But when he goes on Oprah, he becomes a hero to “The Captain,” and the golden boy of the Academy. Next he’s on Larry King Live where he is, once again, subject to irate callers, including one very specific threat on his life.
He shrugs this off, but he does commiserate with his friends Bobby Jay (spokesperson for the gun lobby) and Polly (spin control for alcohol industry) – collectively calling themselves the Mod Squad (for Merchants of Death). He also begins a relationship with sympathetic reporter Heather Holloway. Still the industry wants to ensure their golden boy is safe, so the Captain assigns him heavy duty security. When Nick ditches them, he finds himself kidnapped in the lobby of his own office building, tied and blindfolded, taken to a remote location, and covered in nicotine patches before being unceremoniously dumped on the National Mall and left for dead. Then the fun REALLY begins.
The story is somewhat dated today, but as political satires go it’s fast-paced and quite funny in places.
Nick Naylor is the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, an organization funded entirely by the big tobacco producers. As such, he is frequently vilified, and the target of threats. His boss, BR, and his chief rival at the Academy, Jeanette (who happens to be the boss’s “main squeeze”) seem to be trying to angle him out of his job. But when he goes on Oprah, he becomes a hero to “The Captain,” and the golden boy of the Academy. Next he’s on Larry King Live where he is, once again, subject to irate callers, including one very specific threat on his life.
He shrugs this off, but he does commiserate with his friends Bobby Jay (spokesperson for the gun lobby) and Polly (spin control for alcohol industry) – collectively calling themselves the Mod Squad (for Merchants of Death). He also begins a relationship with sympathetic reporter Heather Holloway. Still the industry wants to ensure their golden boy is safe, so the Captain assigns him heavy duty security. When Nick ditches them, he finds himself kidnapped in the lobby of his own office building, tied and blindfolded, taken to a remote location, and covered in nicotine patches before being unceremoniously dumped on the National Mall and left for dead. Then the fun REALLY begins.
The story is somewhat dated today, but as political satires go it’s fast-paced and quite funny in places.
blondierocket's review
Adapted to film a couple years ago, Thank You For Smoking, is about Nick Naylor, vice president and lobbyist for tobacco industry who suddenly finds himself under the bright and accusatory stares of the world as he tries to increase spending on cigarettes while promoting safe living and health.
I saw this movie last year, and vaguely remembered the storyline. It was very interesting to read the actual story, many things different in the book than the movie.
Nick spends his days promoting smoking, spending money on advertising for and against smoking, carrying on a secret affair with a reporter who uses his private words and their secret conversations for her own gain. His friends all stand by him, each of them working and lobbying for their own controversial company. It’s not long before he finds himself in a life threatening situation that leaves him wondering for the first time ever if smoking is really something he wants to be standing behind.
I saw this movie last year, and vaguely remembered the storyline. It was very interesting to read the actual story, many things different in the book than the movie.
Nick spends his days promoting smoking, spending money on advertising for and against smoking, carrying on a secret affair with a reporter who uses his private words and their secret conversations for her own gain. His friends all stand by him, each of them working and lobbying for their own controversial company. It’s not long before he finds himself in a life threatening situation that leaves him wondering for the first time ever if smoking is really something he wants to be standing behind.
unklekrinkle's review
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ginbob2000's review
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jephapha's review
3.0
Perhaps I'm too naive to be able to fully appreciate this book, perhaps my sense of humor isn't as sophisticated as Buckley's intended audience, perhaps I need to experience the intricacies of Washington and the political sphere to understand the underlying motivations of this book and its characters, or perhaps this book is just overly pretentious and just mediocre at what it attempts to do.
I did find it fascinating that the book really does have the reader cheering for a pro-smoking spokesman for Big Tobacco. But that doesn't mean the book was good. The relationships between the main character Nick and his coworkers, friends, and industry peers, not to mention the media and the public, interfere with the plot and development overall. I spent more time playing the "who's who" game than I did enjoying the cat and mouse that is public relations for an outdated despicable industry of tobacco.
Unnecessary plot lines and pretentious characters and language made the book drab and annoying. I like books that make you have to think a little, but this book didn't even do that with its characters, nuance, language, or plot. That all came together to create this world that you already need to know about in order to appreciate, and the book comes across as irritating and full of itself.
And yet, in the end it was enjoyable to an extent, though I wouldn't recommend it. Nick's character is sarcastic and smart and clever which I loved, and even though you hate him, you want him to succeed and that was what carried me to the end of the book.
I did find it fascinating that the book really does have the reader cheering for a pro-smoking spokesman for Big Tobacco. But that doesn't mean the book was good. The relationships between the main character Nick and his coworkers, friends, and industry peers, not to mention the media and the public, interfere with the plot and development overall. I spent more time playing the "who's who" game than I did enjoying the cat and mouse that is public relations for an outdated despicable industry of tobacco.
Unnecessary plot lines and pretentious characters and language made the book drab and annoying. I like books that make you have to think a little, but this book didn't even do that with its characters, nuance, language, or plot. That all came together to create this world that you already need to know about in order to appreciate, and the book comes across as irritating and full of itself.
And yet, in the end it was enjoyable to an extent, though I wouldn't recommend it. Nick's character is sarcastic and smart and clever which I loved, and even though you hate him, you want him to succeed and that was what carried me to the end of the book.
tedgundry's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jeslyncat's review
4.0
Christopher Buckley is a hilarious, honest, and intelligent author, and "Boomsday" does not disappoint. Buckley writes factually about political jobs and climates. Buckley is amazing at saying, hilariously, what everyone else is too afraid to say. "Thank You for Smoking" is a romp through lobbyist dynamics and how it feels to shoulder the blame of one of the most hated vices in America.