I finished a book called Thank You For Smoking this morning, which I discovered amongst the girlfriend’s piles of books as we were unpacking the other week. It’s very much a tongue-in-cheek, cynical and satirical look at the tobacco industry and its opponents, as well as media coverage of the issue. Oh, and with a bit of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll thrown in for good measure.

The main character, the chief spokesman for big tobacco, is relentlessly cynical about the world around him, especially himself. His co-workers are a little too caricatured to be completely believable, but they provide some good background to Naylor’s machinations. Similarly, the big boss character is even described in the text as being a stereotype of sorts, although his accent is put down beautifully on paper.

The MoD Squad (Merchants of Death; an impromptu drinking/support group of the chief spokespeople for the tobacco, alcohol and gun industries) is a genius invention, and I have to believe that similar groupings exist all over Washington in the lobbying world. Certain media bodies are skewered, with Hollywood in particular taking a big punch to the gut over its willingness to compromise for yet another dollar.

The plot is fast-paced, following Naylor on a seemingly endless series of cross-country flights and Washington offices. One minute he’s on Orprah, defending his industry against a cancer-ridden 17 year-old, the next he’s negotiating a $25 million product placement deal in a producer’s office in LA.

I was reliably informed last night that a film of the book exists, with Aaron Eckhart as the main character. I would expect him to have a good enough sneer and ability to show cynicism to carry it off, but I’m a little worried that the female characters may be easily relegated to mere eye candy, when they in fact carry a lot of the story.

It’s a pretty good read, worth checking out if a bit of satire and world-weariness is what you’re after. And it definitely didn’t leave me wanting to smoke… ( )

A humorous look at big tobacco and how it has intertwined itself in politics. Lobbyist/PR person for the industry, through the "Institute", has a rocky trip as he attempts to ward of science, politicians, and the media in his attempts to convince the world that smoking is good for you and nicotine patches are dangerous! ( )

As chief spokesman for the Academy for Tobacco Studies, Nick Naylor pays his mortgage by trying to convince the world that tobacco is not damaging to your health. Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel about Nick is outrageous from beginning to end. There’s almost no tactic that Nick and his cohorts won’t stoop to. If you’ve ever wondered if those talking heads on Larry King and the like can be trusted, this book will do nothing to inspire confidence.

For me, the book was at its best—and funniest–in scenes that you can just about believe. I got a lot of laughs out of the scenes when Nick and his friends from the tobacco and gun lobbies (they call themselves the MOD Squad–for Merchants of Death) discuss PR tactics. As the book goes on, the story gets crazier and crazier. There’s a car chase, a kidnapping, a forced overdose on nicotine patches, and more, but the wildest incidents never quite touch these moments when you get to see just how easy it can be to manipulate the media.

See my complete review at my blog. ( )

This is quaint and readable. It stays pretty firmly PG-13 and it would be hard to believe the author didn't have the concept it could be adapted to a movie as it was written. It has all the ingredients--three women characters fitting completely different personae, leading man acknowledged to be good looking, bad guy boss, older character actor with personality, and a lot of action and romantic entanglements. The plot itself seems a bit too encapsulated, almost as if the crime--the entree course of a book that takes longer to warm up than most of its size--had been sterilized or even cauterized to fit nicely into the course of the novel. What is amazing in the book--and I have not seen the movie--are the fits of speed-logic, debating, and verbal maneuvering the main character does in his defense of smoking. It's very entertaining and humorous! Even smokers should love this one, unless you've lost someone to cancer. ( )

fiction, unread