- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: HarperPerennial; 1st HarperPerennial Ed edition (Jun 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060976624
- ISBN-13: 978-0060976620
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.4 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,033,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Wonderfully satiric and blessed with the gift of storytelling...a page-turner that will appeal to believers and non-believers alike.' Financial Times 'Bright, knowing - and out there.' Time Out 'A savagely comic novel which pokes fun at every aspect of American society.' The Big Issue 'Chris Buckley is America's top humorist' The Spectator
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies–in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
There was a thick stack of while you were outs when he got back to the Academy's office in one of the more interesting buildings on K Street, hollowed out in the middle with a ten-story atrium with balconies dripping with ivy. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
There was a thick stack of while you were outs when he got back to the Academy's office in one of the more interesting buildings on K Street, hollowed out in the middle with a ten-story atrium with balconies dripping with ivy. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a weird book with a weird title, unless you are weird or have had it recommended to you it is fairly unlikely that you will pick it up. If you like weird books then you will be happy to have bought it too!
Buckley has a style that is hard to get a grasp of, after about 50 pages you manage it though and from there on in its fun! Simply, he switches between narrative, speech and character thought in the space of a few words, which is hard to follow, it takes an alert mind to note the quotation marks. But its possible and you get the knack.
The story follows Nick Naylor through the pursuit of his job. His job - keep tobacco sales as high as possible, the other characters jobs - either support him or trip him up.
He is one of the most hated men in the USA, a fact he tends to revel in at times, he is also pretty lucky with the ladies in a strange way. Despite seeming, acting and at times trying to be as evil as possible, Nick ends up being a good man. For that you are completely on his side, despite what he might have done in the past.
Some of the smaller characters are absolutely hilarious too, proper out loud chuckles.
The ending possibly comes too soon, and too abruptly, but that's mitigated by the fact that some of it is a complete surprise.
Everything is very clever, you cant second guess the author too often and the book twists and turns beautifully. In fact its almost an educational book, giving an insight into politics, big business and specifically the tobacco industry - while entertaining at the same time!
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this book because I liked the cover and I was pleasantly surprise. This is the story of a PR man in a puritanical modern America fighting for the right to smoke in the USA. He appears on Oprah and Larry King and he encounters a strangely familiar former female British prime minister who is in the pocket of the tobacco companies. Anti-smoking activists try to kill him in a very creative way.
This book is educational, sarcastic and funny. You will learn a lot about tobacco. Thankfully it hasn't made me start smoking.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Efficient delivery, and the book was good value. It was in good condition, and the price reasonable.
It was an interesting read, and this book should be recommended to those interested in the social politics of the United States of America.
It was an interesting read, and this book should be recommended to those interested in the social politics of the United States of America.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very entertaining
I was hardly able to set this book down. Very clever, funny, and entertaining. Much better than the movie they made out of it!
Published 17 months ago by neonflash
Look at old news in a new way
The fact that the media manipulates us is old news, but this book has made me look at that whole issue in a new way. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2008 by A. Furse
Sick but very funny!
This has to be one of the funniest, most intelligent, but sickest books around. Buckley introduces us to Nick, spokesman for the tobacco lobby, and himself a committed smoker. Read more
Published on 30 May 2001 by alevine@gmx.co.uk
Wake-the-dead funny
It is not normally a good idea to start reading a book late at night when you are tired. But by page 7 I had woken the entire family laughing out loud. Read more
Published on 20 May 2001
Funny Funny Funny
This is without doubt the funniest book I have read in years. The social satire is both innovative and pointed as the central character tries to reconcile his job as the leading PR... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2000 by funchoice@btinternet.com
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