Struggled to get past page 1.

I got just over two thirds of the way through and decided I really wasn't interested in what happened and quite simply couldn't finish it. I think this book really has to be your cup of tea. I didn't laugh, I didn't find it funny.

When Nathan Stubbs doesn't get promoted he decides to take actions into his own hands and orders an alien abduction (well two actually) on the Washington talk-show host John Banion. John then decides to set the world to rights and I can't tell you if he did or not as I only got as far as his march/rally.

At one point I was convinced my copy was a proof as there were a lot of typos in there but it wasn't. I therefore wonder if it is the American style. If you believe Little Green Men are your thing or not you have to like the writing style of this book. The plot itself is an excellent concept which is what I was hoping was going to keep me going. However, it's a good cure for insomnia. ( )

I've read a few Christopher Buckley books this year, and found them all enjoyable, but I think that I have to say that this one is the best of the bunch. The other ones were generally smirky books, with a couple of laughs; this one had a good number of laughs, and the story didn't suffer for it at all.

Here we have the story of John O. Banion, a bowtied, cane-carrying conservative columnist and TV host who's at the top of his game (this is said to be a take-off on George F. Will, if you know who he is). After a bad day, a guy at the alien abduction wing of the US government decides to abduct Banion, basically just on a whim. The repercussions of this are profound for just about everyone involved.

The book's in two parts, how Banion loses his credibility, and then how he gets it back. Both parts are very funny, and still make some good pointed jabs at the nature of life in politics and media in DC, along with the UFO crowd and such. It's a fast read, roars along to a pretty good climax, and comes down nicely. The style and the dialogue are both quite sharp, much in line with his other works. If you want to start somewhere with Buckley, this is a good place to try. ( )

After the famous host of a Sunday morning talk show, and Washington uber-insider, is abducted (twice) by space aliens, he becomes the pariah of the Beltway but the celebrity leader of three million UFO believers. This set up in the hands of America's funniest political satirist is sure to be entertaining.

And it is. It is fun and funny and goes down like a bomb pop on the first hot day of summer.

My only problem with Buckley's books is that they are never as good as the first one I read. That is, I think that whichever one someone reads first will be that person's favorite, because it is so surprising to read a clever, really funny, contemporary satirical novel. The first one sticks with you.

So, for me, while I find all his books to be entertaining, none will compare with Thank You for Smoking, which made me laugh out loud from cover to cover.
( )

Funny, if a little long ( )