Thank You For Smoking: A Novel by Christopher Buckley

Thank You For Smoking: A Novel by Christopher Buckley, (New York: Random House; 1994) 228 pages.

Thank You For Smoking: A Novel by Christopher Buckley is a satirical fictional romp that exposes the repugnant work of a tobacco industry lobbyist in Washington D.C. The story follows chief tobacco industry spokesman Nick Naylor, a man desperately trying to save his job from being given to a younger but equally ambitious female co-worker. Naylor is a seasoned media performer who uses rhetorical flourishes, double-talk, manipulation, scientific skepticism to attempt to make the weaker argument stronger, namely, that there is no scientific evidence that smoking is damaging to your health. He plies his trade at conferences, television talk shows and interviews. Naylor knows his days as chief spokesman are numbered and, in a series of interviews, attacks and humiliates critics of the tobacco industry. Naylor gets extensive publicity for his clients in a series of high profile interviews, but his success proves short lived for he is threatened, kidnapped, and poisoned to a state close to death, an event he also uses to gain positive publicity for the tobacco industry. From hereafter, Naylor's life and career begin to unravel. His initial success in obtaining positive publicity for smoking is rapidly followed by an alienation of his lobbyist friends, him becoming a suspect in a F.B.I. investigation into his kidnapping, and the unexpected death of his only patron in the tobacco industry (the tobacco industry's chief industrialist). Nick is left alone to use his wits to defend himself against his co-workers, the F.B.I., a Senate Inquiry and ultimately criminal prosecution.

Buckley's booking is a ripping yarn, a fast moving and engaging close-up examination of the sewer that is political lobbying in Washington D.C. A notable feature of this book is Buckley's ability to make the reader sympathetic to such a loathsome character as Naylor. Perhaps its that Naylor is an under-dog - him against the smokers, scientists, medical profession and media - that makes us delight in his deceptive use of sham rhetoric to dissemble, obfuscate, bluster and charm in such a manner that we find him, at times, both outrageously funny and charming. It is no wonder his protagonists refer to him as Satan. Or, perhaps, we are somewhat sympathetic to the character because he embodies a rugged individuality that can be so appealing - the lone individual (with considerable financial backing mind you) standing up to the self-righteous, sanctimonious, busy-body, know-alls that proliferate Washington D.C. who want to govern, regulate and control all aspects of our lives. Nick Naylor stands up to them, but ultimately both he and his opponents are portrayed in unflattering light, as equal pigs with their snout in the Washington D.C. trough.

Thank You For Smoking may not be enjoyed by lobbyists or federal regulators and other do-gooders, but it is very enjoyable for the rest of us. If you read it in public, don't be surprised if you laugh out loud.