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Loading... Supreme Courtshipby Christopher Buckley
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  sumanam | Oct 29, 2009 |  This delightful satire is laugh-out-loud hilarious in many spots. What it might lack in substance it more than makes up for with its zany twists and quirky characters. It also serves up neat commentary on the reality television craze. I didn't expect to like this book nearly as much as I did. (  ) brianinbuffalo | Sep 15, 2009 | Christopher Buckley turns out novels even faster than William F. did. In fact, since I read what I thought was his latest, Little Green Men, he has published five more. Perhaps I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. Generally Buckley's books revolve around the sordid side of life in Washington, DC. Usually they are funny. Mostly they hang together pretty well. This book, published in 2008, revolves around an unpopular President, (not that one) an ambitious Senator and a TV judge, appointed to the Supreme Court. The TV judge is a wise cracking, colorful lady from Texas. She is highly entertaining until the President's handlers get a hold of her and manage to get her through the confirmation hearings. As a confirmation candidate and a Supreme Court justice she becomes a boor, not to mention a poor judge. I was hoping to hear her speak up and use some of those borrowed Ratherisms in the Senate and during oral arguments. No, she is as polite and as quiet as a church mouse. The plot takes a bunch of twists and turns, there is (shocking!) sex, alcohol consumption and a bit of intrigue. The Senator gets his own TV show. The President wins reelection, mostly because he tells the country that he doesn't want it. Naturally the election goes all the way to the Supreme Court and our TV judge must cast the deciding vote. Everything comes out right in the end. Buckley's use of language is superb. He fills the book with clever plays on words. Don't worry, ecxept for some Latin, thrown in (with bogus translations) for legal color, he does not go in for his dad's polysyllables. I was a bit disappointed. I liked the idea of a Judge Judy stirring things up among the Supremes. Still, although no Thank You For Smoking, it was an entertaining quick read. Give it about a 73. I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book! cbjorke | Sep 10, 2009 | What better way to prepare for the upcoming Supreme Court nominee hearings than to indulge in the ironic-humor-on-every-page writing of Christopher Buckley. This book imagines that political polarization has reached a point where it is impossible for anybody nominated by the president to be confirmed by the Senate. Then through a surprising twist of fate only possible in the context of American politics, a popular but enormously unqualified woman (combination of Judge Judy, Sarah Palin, and yellow rose of Texas) is confirmed to the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. It's then Katie bar the door with hilarious fun breaking out in all directions in the midst of Constitutional, international and personal crises. A chapter devoted to the new justice's first case on the court stretches legal Latin beyond the limits of credulity. Since the author's name is Buckley, I'm pretty sure it's all good Latin. However, the cases referenced surely must be fictional. I think the point being made is that the justices are more concerned with one-upping each other with their inflated knowledge of cases and legalese than with justice. " ... it was a clear-cut case of 'interrebus quod aspecto' and that it had absolutely zero bearing 'per res sciatica.' When the new justice interrupts the arguments her mind goes blank, and she can think of only two words to say, "Quasi & modo." She is then asked, "... do you think 'Quasimodo v. Notre Dame Bellringers Guild' has application here?" Buckley shoots one-liners and modern-day-proverbs out with such rapidity one can't help but wonder what sort of mind generated them. Is it a clever wit at work? Or a demented mind? Here are some examples: On the virtues of procrastination: Short of nuclear warheads that have already been launched, there is no situation that cannot be met head-on with inaction. On the political temperature: Nothing raises the national temperature more than a VACANCY sign hanging from the colonnaded front of the supreme Court. Man speaking to woman: "I Googled you, ... Sounds almost indecent, doesn't it?" The nominee telling the Senators what the viewing public is saying about their hearing: ".... wake me up if they find public hair on any Coke cans." The response to the preceding comment above: "Nineteen senators stared mutely at the nominee." The following isn't exactly a one liner, but I love the historical associations: How many times had those awful words - "I know what I'm doing" - been uttered throughout history as prelude to disaster? The night before Waterloo in Napoleon's tent? In the Reichschancellery before invading Soviet Russia? Before the "cakewalk" known as Operation Iraqi Freedom? There's even a quotation of William F. Buckley Jr. cited in the text by this disinterested author. I've decided not to repeat the quote here. You can find it yourself. Not only is Buckley lampooning all three branches of the federal government, he takes pot shots at reality television, the writers of The West Wing, and the uninformed populace. Hmmm, that includes you and me! He even has the court deciding the outcome of a presidential election. How far-fetched can a novel be! We know that could never happen in real life. (  )1  Clif | Jul 17, 2009 | Christopher Buckley did it again! Another strong and funny female character. This story was fast moving and witty. A fun read for anyone who thinks sometimes the media and politics can be equally absurd. (  ) taramatchi | Jun 3, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0446579823, Hardcover)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. 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 (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:05 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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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. 
A great balance of humor and outlook on Washington. Though sometimes some things may not have been as funny as what may have been intended, there were so many high points where I was laughing that this is worth it to lighten up your day and also adds knowledge of Washington politics and the legal system. Nice combination and good work.
This is my first book by Buckley. It’s a biting, very funny political satire. I will be reading more of Buckley’s books in the future. (