Rating: 
Summary: Good Airplane Reading (but keep expectations low)
Review: I bought this book based on the enthusiastic reviews on Amazon as well as the intriguing and tremendous satiric potential offered by its premise. I was disappointed. While often entertaining and readable, this was by no means a spectacular, well-plotted, or thought provoking book. The characters are one dimensional (when they do attempt to evolve into two dimensions the resulting actions are completely implausible). A lot of it is predictable (former lovers.. hm - what will happen next?). Buckley also uses the words "objection" and "sustained" or "overruled" so many times I simply lost interest. There are countless courtroom scenes, but the real plot is pretty much contained in the last 20 pages. There is a difference between satire and simple cynicism - Buckley is definitely more the smart aleck kid criticizing and picking at the obvious targets (from starlets to various governmental agenices). The only enjoyable passages involved the self-absorbed Babette van Anka, another stereotype but so caught up in her own odd universe that she is the only character worth remembering from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Airplane Reading (but keep expectations low)
Review: I bought this book based on the enthusiastic reviews on Amazon as well as the intriguing and tremendous satiric potential offered by its premise. I was disappointed. While often entertaining and readable, this was by no means a spectacular, well-plotted, or thought provoking book. The characters are one dimensional (when they do attempt to evolve into two dimensions the resulting actions are completely implausible). A lot of it is predictable (former lovers.. hm - what will happen next?). Buckley also uses the words "objection" and "sustained" or "overruled" so many times I simply lost interest. There are countless courtroom scenes, but the real plot is pretty much contained in the last 20 pages. There is a difference between satire and simple cynicism - Buckley is definitely more the smart aleck kid criticizing and picking at the obvious targets (from starlets to various governmental agenices). The only enjoyable passages involved the self-absorbed Babette van Anka, another stereotype but so caught up in her own odd universe that she is the only character worth remembering from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Grab your tin pan & chisel!!
Review: I eagerly bought this novel expecting his well-worded wit to keep me laughing from beginning to end. Not so. I gave up somewhere around chapter 21. There is only so much a man can take. I now know what gold-miners went through in the 1800's! Tedious, laborious work that only produces a few nuggets. Life is too short. For example, Christopher's use of the word "delicious" to describe a scene was hilarious the first time around. The second time, the word lost its original luster. The third time, I wished he hadn't used it the first time.
Another reason I quit reading the book is that the plot is not strong enough to hold my interest without his steady dose of barbs...Buyer beware!
Rating: 
Summary: Good read - thats all.
Review: I have a general formula for awarding stars. Four for a good read that I would definitely recommned to others if asked. Five stars for those that make me want to grab people in the streets and say to them, "Read this, or you will be missing something in your life!" Two stars for those books I only read ten pages and find reason and excuses not to read further. One star for books that I read two pages and throw away.I give this book 3 stars, I read it even liked it in places but that is all. I would not recommend it to anyone else. Even while enjoying it, I kept thinking this is a waste of time.
But then I enjoyed "Thank you for smoking" so very much and by reading this book feel that I am just paying my respects to the author who is capable of better.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Not Quite Sure Why I Enjoyed This Book
Review: I have greatly enjoyed Christopher Buckley's books, particularly God Is My Broker, which I consider his best. This book did not have the same lethal wit. The humor seemed downright subdued, so I'm not really quite sure why I enjoyed the book. I am an attorney, and there was something very true-to-life about the book's details---minutely scrutinizing the jury's reactions, making the events fit into a predetermined theory, the legal plotting and strategy. Plus, every time you think you know what is going to happen, the author throws in a 180 degree plot turn. It made the book very hard to put down, if not a little annoying. Overall, it was amusing, but light-weight reading, better than the works of many authors, but not his best.
Rating: 
Summary: Strained, Not Funny
Review: I love funny books. I enjoy satire. What a disappointment this one is. The author really tries but consistently misses. Add to that, there is not one sympathetic character in it. Even a little sympathetic. I wanted to laugh, but the laughs were not there.
Rating:
Summary: LOL Audio Book
Review: I recently laughed my way through the CD audio book edition of Buckley's roman a clef (more like a Roman toga party a clef) while driving some of the most stupefyingly dull stretches of the New York State Thruway. It preserved my sanity, kept me awake and in a keen state of anticipation for the next sharply goofy plot turn. Kudos to Tim Matheson for a fine telling of the story. His voice, intonation and strategic pauses were right on the money. A cautionary note: don't play this story when your kids are within earshot unless you like to feel embarrassed.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: If you like satirical humor, this is a GREAT book. I could not put it down. I was laughing out loud. Everyone is a target--the legal profession, the media, and politicians in Washington.
Christopher Buckley has been called "the quintessential political novelist of our time" by Fortune and I would have to agree! I liked this book much better than "Thank You for Not Smoking."
Rating:
Summary: Thank you for laughing
Review: If you've read and enjoyed other Christopher Buckley books such as "Thank You for Smoking" and "Wry Martinis," you will probably have as good a time as I did reading his latest, "No Way to Treat a First Lady." If you haven't read those books, order them right after you order this book. Buckley has a wonderfully demented mind (and I mean that in the best possible way). It must be incredibly hard to write satire about politics these days. After all, how can you make up stuff that is more outrageous than what the real-life folks are doing? You will recognize many of the characters in this book from the Washington scene--although the names have been changed to protect the guilty--and Buckley has managed to come up with even more outrageous words and actions for them than their real-life counterparts have managed (at least so far). One caution: You may not want to read this book in public. People tend to look at you strangely when you are in a public place and chuckling and giggling to yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Laughed so hard I cried
Review: It's a cliché, but true! I immensely enjoyed "No Way to Treat a First Lady", and found myself chuckling almost constantly throughout, laughing out loud many times, and laughing uncontrollably on several occasions. If you read this book in public, as I did, be prepared to receive disapproving glances from others who aren't having as good a time as you are. No Way skewers the Washington political scene, the legal profession, the media, and in particular the Clinton scandals and the O.J. Simpson trial. But ultimately, like all great satire, it is really a no-holds-barred look at our current societal mores and norms. The main characters in No Way are all composites, which is how Christopher Buckley is able to construct a storyline that departs from the actual events it is satirizing, but is still fully recognizable by anyone who followed the news in the late 1990s. You'll enjoy picking out references to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barbra Streisand, Marc Rich, Alan Dershowitz, and of course Monica - plus many others. Even Nick Naylor, the hero of Buckley's "Thank You for Smoking", has a bit part in No Way. I've read most of Buckley's books, and No Way is right up there with his best. I'd put "Thank You for Smoking" first by a hair, followed by No Way, then "God is My Broker". Thank You is slightly more timeless, as No Way's humor will dissipate somewhat with time, as people's recollections of the Clinton years fade. Christopher Buckley can legitimately lay claim to being America's top working satirist. Keep them coming, Mr. Buckley, sir!
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