What do you think?
Rate this book
The White House Mess
At last, a White House reminiscence that pulls no punches! Herbert Wadlough, personal assistant to President N. Tucker (TNT), offers his unique and utterly self-serving inside view of the historic years 1989-1993 of the ill-fated Tucker administration, in which he played such a crucial role. From the inauguration crisis--when President Reagan refused to vacate the White House--to the epochal War on Bermuda, to the delicate negotiations (sexual, for the most part) between the President and his First Lady, Wadlough gives an account that is open, honest, and hilarious.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
40 people are currently reading
557 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Buckley
102 books958 followersChristopher Buckley graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1976. He shipped out in the Merchant Marine and at age 24 became managing editor of Esquire magazine. At age 29, he became chief speechwriter to the Vice President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Since 1989 he has been founder and editor-in-chief of Forbes Life magazine.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He is the author of twelve books, most of them national bestsellers. They include: The White House Mess, Wet Work, Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker, Little Green Men, No Way To Treat a First Lady, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday and Supreme Courtship.
Mr. Buckley has contributed over 60 comic essays to The New Yorker magazine. His journalism, satire and criticism has been widely published—in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Washington Monthly, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, and other publications. He is the recipient of the 2002 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. In 2004 he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He is the author of twelve books, most of them national bestsellers. They include: The White House Mess, Wet Work, Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker, Little Green Men, No Way To Treat a First Lady, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday and Supreme Courtship.
Mr. Buckley has contributed over 60 comic essays to The New Yorker magazine. His journalism, satire and criticism has been widely published—in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Washington Monthly, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, and other publications. He is the recipient of the 2002 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. In 2004 he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
May 15, 2021
"Democracy can be a bit of an ordeal, you know.” (3.5 stars)
THE WHITE HOUSE MESS was published in 1986, and some readers have said it is dated. Well, yes. It reflects the world in 1986! Having stated the obvious, let us move on.
This first-person novel is written as a memoir of Herbert Wadlough, Personal Assistant and Deputy Chief of Staff to President Thomas Tucker. In Christopher Buckley’s world Ronald Reagan is succeeded by a democrat from Idaho in 1988. The four years of the Tucker presidency are an unmitigated, and funny, disaster. Over the course of the Tucker train wreck of an administration our narrator is demoted to being the First Lady’s Chief of Staff, and eventually re-promoted back to his former position during the calamitous years of 1988-1992.
Christopher Buckley has deftly created a voice with his characterization of Herbert Wadlough where Herbert's self-importance and delusions are always questioned by the reader when compared to those of the folks who surround him.
One of the joys of reading a good Buckley text is the display of wit and the abounding number of clever and classical allusions throughout the book. At one point our narrator laments upon losing an executive parking space, “I’ve grown accustomed to the space.” (Come on folks, that’s funny!)
It is nothing spectacular, but THE WHITE HOSUE MESS is a sharp satire of political memoirs and the reasons they are written. All of that, wrapped up in a delightful farce.
What’s not to like?
THE WHITE HOUSE MESS was published in 1986, and some readers have said it is dated. Well, yes. It reflects the world in 1986! Having stated the obvious, let us move on.
This first-person novel is written as a memoir of Herbert Wadlough, Personal Assistant and Deputy Chief of Staff to President Thomas Tucker. In Christopher Buckley’s world Ronald Reagan is succeeded by a democrat from Idaho in 1988. The four years of the Tucker presidency are an unmitigated, and funny, disaster. Over the course of the Tucker train wreck of an administration our narrator is demoted to being the First Lady’s Chief of Staff, and eventually re-promoted back to his former position during the calamitous years of 1988-1992.
Christopher Buckley has deftly created a voice with his characterization of Herbert Wadlough where Herbert's self-importance and delusions are always questioned by the reader when compared to those of the folks who surround him.
One of the joys of reading a good Buckley text is the display of wit and the abounding number of clever and classical allusions throughout the book. At one point our narrator laments upon losing an executive parking space, “I’ve grown accustomed to the space.” (Come on folks, that’s funny!)
It is nothing spectacular, but THE WHITE HOSUE MESS is a sharp satire of political memoirs and the reasons they are written. All of that, wrapped up in a delightful farce.
What’s not to like?
January 22, 2024
There is surely a problem when you read such a book (which pretends to be a humorous one) and you only smile once or twice.
Who is at fault? The author or the reader(s)? Judging by the reviews, the first one looks like the real culprit...
Who is at fault? The author or the reader(s)? Judging by the reviews, the first one looks like the real culprit...
April 6, 2017
Proof that Republicans Can Tell Funny Stories
Christopher Buckley is a very funny man. I know this not just because I’ve read a few of his books, which generally “kept me in stitches” (whatever that means), but also because I actually spent much of an evening with him a few weeks ago. He’d come to Berkeley to do a “reading” from his newest book, They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?, and somehow I’d been invited to introduce him to the audience of about 150 people who were there to hear him. I managed to coax out two or maybe three laughs during my introduction and the questions I later posed. He elicited — oh, maybe 600. Because this was no “reading.” Like the consummate pro he is, he didn’t actually read from the book. He simply talked extemporaneously and, later, answered questions from the audience. The man is an accomplished stand-up comedian.
The White House Mess was written and published during the Reagan Administration, after (or perhaps during) Buckley’s turn as chief speechwriter for Vice President George H. W. Bush. The book masquerades as a White House memoir – a send-up of life inside the White House that focuses on the travails of the First Famly and on the high stakes feuds among their staff. The plot revolves around an old-fashioned Marxist-Leninist coup in Bermuda, the First Son’s missing hamster, a young First Lady who aches to become a Hollywood star again, a parody of a weak-kneed and wholly unsuited Democratic President, and a collection of snobs, misfits, and alcoholics who, somehow, manage to hold down jobs in the White House. Oh, and by the way: the title refers to the dining facilities, which are called the “mess” because they’re run by the Navy.
If the foregoing paragraph hints that The White House Mess is a parody of Democratic politics, consider that hint confirmed here. Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, Jr., of National Review fame, is indeed a Republican (even though he endorsed Barack Obama in 2008).They Eat Puppies, Buckley’s latest novel, was hysterically funny. (You can read my review of it here.) The White House Mess was his first. The fact that I did NOT find it hysterically funny but only occasionally so is no doubt the result of Buckley’s writing having matured as a writer from 1986, when Mess was published, to 2012, when Puppies saw the light of day. It’s also true, of course, that the latest book dealt with fresh material that reflected today’s reality, while the earliest one deals with a time that many readers could view only as ancient history. And, of course, I’m a Democrat.
(From www.malwarwickonbooks.com)
Christopher Buckley is a very funny man. I know this not just because I’ve read a few of his books, which generally “kept me in stitches” (whatever that means), but also because I actually spent much of an evening with him a few weeks ago. He’d come to Berkeley to do a “reading” from his newest book, They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?, and somehow I’d been invited to introduce him to the audience of about 150 people who were there to hear him. I managed to coax out two or maybe three laughs during my introduction and the questions I later posed. He elicited — oh, maybe 600. Because this was no “reading.” Like the consummate pro he is, he didn’t actually read from the book. He simply talked extemporaneously and, later, answered questions from the audience. The man is an accomplished stand-up comedian.
The White House Mess was written and published during the Reagan Administration, after (or perhaps during) Buckley’s turn as chief speechwriter for Vice President George H. W. Bush. The book masquerades as a White House memoir – a send-up of life inside the White House that focuses on the travails of the First Famly and on the high stakes feuds among their staff. The plot revolves around an old-fashioned Marxist-Leninist coup in Bermuda, the First Son’s missing hamster, a young First Lady who aches to become a Hollywood star again, a parody of a weak-kneed and wholly unsuited Democratic President, and a collection of snobs, misfits, and alcoholics who, somehow, manage to hold down jobs in the White House. Oh, and by the way: the title refers to the dining facilities, which are called the “mess” because they’re run by the Navy.
If the foregoing paragraph hints that The White House Mess is a parody of Democratic politics, consider that hint confirmed here. Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, Jr., of National Review fame, is indeed a Republican (even though he endorsed Barack Obama in 2008).They Eat Puppies, Buckley’s latest novel, was hysterically funny. (You can read my review of it here.) The White House Mess was his first. The fact that I did NOT find it hysterically funny but only occasionally so is no doubt the result of Buckley’s writing having matured as a writer from 1986, when Mess was published, to 2012, when Puppies saw the light of day. It’s also true, of course, that the latest book dealt with fresh material that reflected today’s reality, while the earliest one deals with a time that many readers could view only as ancient history. And, of course, I’m a Democrat.
(From www.malwarwickonbooks.com)
March 17, 2009
The White House Mess by Christopher Buckley (pp. 224)
One of Buckley’s earliest novels is a clear miss. While microscopic bits of the satirical style that makes his later novels such fun are evidenced in this work, they are few and far between. This may be because the material is just too close to his personal experience as a White House aide. The main character, Herb Wadlough, is a long time friend and now advisor to the President. The White House Mess is supposed to be a personal memoir of his experience behind the scenes.
In attempting to provide both humor and color into the crazy details of the behind the scene goings on in the White House, Buckley starts his anecdotes long winded, rarely gives a payoff, and doesn’t tell us anything in the process. We’re often confused as to whether the material is supposed to be funny. We don’t know what characters to like or dislike. And when we think we may know, the story roughly jumps to another topic. The chapters themselves often involve topics so mundane you are left to wonder whether the topic was a sanitized inside joke that lost any possible meat in Buckley’s translation from real life to the absurd.
The concept has potential and room to soar, but like the title, this book is just a mess.
The novel’s redeeming value is showing us the early glimpses of a great satirist and encouraging all would-be writers that even the greats started off on rough footing. Though watching that lesson in action is more painful than fun.
One of Buckley’s earliest novels is a clear miss. While microscopic bits of the satirical style that makes his later novels such fun are evidenced in this work, they are few and far between. This may be because the material is just too close to his personal experience as a White House aide. The main character, Herb Wadlough, is a long time friend and now advisor to the President. The White House Mess is supposed to be a personal memoir of his experience behind the scenes.
In attempting to provide both humor and color into the crazy details of the behind the scene goings on in the White House, Buckley starts his anecdotes long winded, rarely gives a payoff, and doesn’t tell us anything in the process. We’re often confused as to whether the material is supposed to be funny. We don’t know what characters to like or dislike. And when we think we may know, the story roughly jumps to another topic. The chapters themselves often involve topics so mundane you are left to wonder whether the topic was a sanitized inside joke that lost any possible meat in Buckley’s translation from real life to the absurd.
The concept has potential and room to soar, but like the title, this book is just a mess.
The novel’s redeeming value is showing us the early glimpses of a great satirist and encouraging all would-be writers that even the greats started off on rough footing. Though watching that lesson in action is more painful than fun.
October 20, 2013
Spoof political memoir written in 1986. The world was monumentally sane then, comparatively speaking, so one feels this barely scratched the surface of the genre. But hilarious in its limited way.
April 18, 2022
A witty political romp!
I have read several of Buckley’s books and this one did not disappoint. There is sarcasm and then there is Buckley sarcasm, and while I enjoy both, I must admit my leaning towards the latter as the belly laughs are that much better, and who couldn’t use a good belly laugh these days?While this may seem like nit picking to some, my only beef with Mr. Buckley is his overuse of those $5.00 words. Sure, a well-placed bon mot or three is certainly acceptable, but there are far too many of them for my taste. When you look up a word and the definition starts with archaic, you’ve gone too far. But, I will definitely not let that stop me from future belly laughs!
I have read several of Buckley’s books and this one did not disappoint. There is sarcasm and then there is Buckley sarcasm, and while I enjoy both, I must admit my leaning towards the latter as the belly laughs are that much better, and who couldn’t use a good belly laugh these days?While this may seem like nit picking to some, my only beef with Mr. Buckley is his overuse of those $5.00 words. Sure, a well-placed bon mot or three is certainly acceptable, but there are far too many of them for my taste. When you look up a word and the definition starts with archaic, you’ve gone too far. But, I will definitely not let that stop me from future belly laughs!
January 24, 2023
An amusing political satire set during the 80s, specifically the administration of President Thomas Tucker, who falls between Reagan and Bush Sr. It's definitely a blast from the past in a good way — landlines, typewriters, and relatively civil politics. The opening of the book starts off with Reagan refusing to leave the White House which, 35 years later, feels prescient, though I want to emphasize it's silly and not violent. A fun look back at more innocent times.
August 4, 2017
Until last November, I'd have laughed this book off as comedy fiction, but actually this is almost a portentous novel with some parallels to the current US administration.
It reminds me a little of the Adrian Mole books, in that the narrator is naive and not entirely honest with himself, but that is no bad thing as the Adrian Mole books were also good fun.
It reminds me a little of the Adrian Mole books, in that the narrator is naive and not entirely honest with himself, but that is no bad thing as the Adrian Mole books were also good fun.
March 20, 2018
Christopher Buckley has written any number of satirical books. Most of them can be fairly classified as "quite droll".
This one stands out from the pack in that it doesn't cause wry chuckles, but actual laughter.
It is, in a word, fun.
Absurdity is piled upon absurdity with enthusiasm and joy.
This one stands out from the pack in that it doesn't cause wry chuckles, but actual laughter.
It is, in a word, fun.
Absurdity is piled upon absurdity with enthusiasm and joy.
July 3, 2018
I have to admit - I only got through about two thirds of this. I found it mostly amusing, with the occasional chuckle out loud and one or two loud guffaws. Then it kept on going, and became tedious. It seemed to keep just missing the acerbic wit and keen insight that I expect from Christopher Buckley.
November 3, 2018
Buckley perfectly captures the feel and tone of the typical Washington memoir. His sardonic sense of humor is more witty than funny, but I laughed out loud at several situations. It's told more as a series of remeberances rather than a linear plot, but once I got into the flow of storytelling, I enjoyed it.
August 5, 2019
The "humor" in this book did not age well. A lot of the jokes rest entirely on the assumption that the reader will find minorities, women, and gays as inherently funny as the reader. If you don't, there's not much to laugh at.
December 27, 2021
Boy does Christopher Buckley have his finger on the pulse of Washington D.C! And boy is it dysfunctional AND absolutely hilarious!!! You will laugh from the start to the finish! Another fantastic book by Christopher Buckley!! Top book of the year!!!!
October 24, 2023
I suspect this book was a lot funnier back in the day it was written. These days it just felt too tediously spot on. There were some witty moments and it is all in good fun, but not Buckley's best.
January 2, 2024
I finished it - that’s about all I can say.
The author attempted humor many times - but failed on most tries. The book was dry - but after a certain point, I was set on finishing it.
I love political fiction. I can’t say the same for this book.
The author attempted humor many times - but failed on most tries. The book was dry - but after a certain point, I was set on finishing it.
I love political fiction. I can’t say the same for this book.
August 13, 2017
now's a good time to read about fictional presidents...
May 27, 2018
I think I might have enjoyed this more if I didn’t suspect some of the same insanity was currently going on
February 3, 2019
I normally love Buckley’s work, but I could not get into this. It was boring, to be honest.
September 14, 2019
Fairly short read. Hard to ignore the "casual" racism and sexism sprinkled throughout. I kept waiting for the story to pick up. It did not. For me, anyway.
January 6, 2021
Nothing like sticking it to the Swamp
So on point, so true, unlike DC itself. As a retired fed, long may Buckley use his sharp satire! Carry on, brother!
So on point, so true, unlike DC itself. As a retired fed, long may Buckley use his sharp satire! Carry on, brother!
Read
February 22, 2023Iconic
January 2, 2024
O lectura care te face sa mai dai încă cateva pagini mereu🤭📄
June 11, 2024
Weakest Buckley book I've read, but also one of his earlier ones.
December 26, 2020
This is not Buckley's best, but it is still worth reading. Since it begins in an alternate history with Reagan refusing to leave the White House (he is lured out still wearing his pajamas), that makes the book very timely now. The book is an account by a narrator who is the new president's chief of staff, illustrating the kind of nonsense I think we all know is life inside the Beltway and at the White House.
July 31, 2010
Inauguration Day 1989: President-elect Tucker's limousine pulls up at the White House to escort President Reagan to the ceremonies. But what greets the incoming president is his first situation of "extreme criticality": Reagan is still in his pajamas. His back is bothering him. He's tired. He just doesn't feel like moving today. In fact, he doesn't; think he'll want to move until spring...So begins Thomas Nelson Tucker's Presidency. And so begins this riotously funny addition to the long line of White House memoirs written by everyone from the jantitor to the head of the Security council in every administration we care of dare to remember. This blow-by-blow of the presidency of Thomas Nelson Tucker (a.k.a. TNT) is told by one Herbert Wadlough, personal Assistant to the President and Deputy Chier of Staff (not to mention former employee of the Boise, Idaho accounting firm of Dewey, Skuem, and Howe), whose domain within the White House is its mess-by which is meant its kitchen...at least for the moment. Because President Tucker (once he's able to rout Reagan) is headed for the history books for all the wrong reasons.
Among the ruffled feathers in Tucker's cap that Wadlough apprises us of : Operation Open Door, through which the President has the chance to meet the dirt-under-the-fingernails ordinary people (though some have rather extraordinary habits)...the Citadel incident in which the presidential bomb shelter malfunctions, with dire (and clausterphobic) consequences for Chancellor Schmeer of Germany...the summit meeting with Castro, who, more than anything is thrilled to meet the First Lady (a former almost-soft-porn star): he's seen all her movies.And those are only a few of the highlights. Herb Wadouht also keeps us abreast of he smaller, more intimate moment that make up ths Presidency: bizarre religious conversations in TNT;s family...the unnerving manifestations of Vice President "Bingo" Reigeluth's lack of concern for the Pesident's safety...the continual battles among the White House staff for precious access to the President-who's got it, who hasn't, how Herb himself loses it several times, and how he regains it permanently while slipping down the face of a rock on an island off the coast of Maine...And finally, Herb gives us the unexpurgated lowdown on BUPI, the revolutionary party of Bermuda, whose attemped takeover of the U.S. military base there (they've already captured all the golf courses, hotels, and sweater factories) triggers Presdient Tucker's most amazing idea..The scenes of TNT's reign unroll, and with them an unrelenting parade of catastrophes, calamitous coincidences, disaterous faux pas, monumental incompetence, and all manner of bad luck and worse planning. But our intrepid narrator (bouyed by his wife Joan's constant injections of meat loaf and solicitude never let's his emotions get the best of him ("Things Sticky", he writes in his diary when the U.S. negotioator in Bermuda crisis is kidnapped), as we are treated to his deadpan desciptions and hysterically level-headed interpretations of the truly inspired-nonpartisan- hilarity that constitutes this particualar White House Mess.
Among the ruffled feathers in Tucker's cap that Wadlough apprises us of : Operation Open Door, through which the President has the chance to meet the dirt-under-the-fingernails ordinary people (though some have rather extraordinary habits)...the Citadel incident in which the presidential bomb shelter malfunctions, with dire (and clausterphobic) consequences for Chancellor Schmeer of Germany...the summit meeting with Castro, who, more than anything is thrilled to meet the First Lady (a former almost-soft-porn star): he's seen all her movies.And those are only a few of the highlights. Herb Wadouht also keeps us abreast of he smaller, more intimate moment that make up ths Presidency: bizarre religious conversations in TNT;s family...the unnerving manifestations of Vice President "Bingo" Reigeluth's lack of concern for the Pesident's safety...the continual battles among the White House staff for precious access to the President-who's got it, who hasn't, how Herb himself loses it several times, and how he regains it permanently while slipping down the face of a rock on an island off the coast of Maine...And finally, Herb gives us the unexpurgated lowdown on BUPI, the revolutionary party of Bermuda, whose attemped takeover of the U.S. military base there (they've already captured all the golf courses, hotels, and sweater factories) triggers Presdient Tucker's most amazing idea..The scenes of TNT's reign unroll, and with them an unrelenting parade of catastrophes, calamitous coincidences, disaterous faux pas, monumental incompetence, and all manner of bad luck and worse planning. But our intrepid narrator (bouyed by his wife Joan's constant injections of meat loaf and solicitude never let's his emotions get the best of him ("Things Sticky", he writes in his diary when the U.S. negotioator in Bermuda crisis is kidnapped), as we are treated to his deadpan desciptions and hysterically level-headed interpretations of the truly inspired-nonpartisan- hilarity that constitutes this particualar White House Mess.
February 20, 2017
All the President's mens.
October 31, 2012
It's not often I suggest books to my parents that aren't about the Civil War. Outside the Civil War we don't share the same tastes. But this book is deliciously hilarious. Anyone who has any interest in reading at all should absolutely love this book and then highly recommend it to all people everywhere.
The fact that Buckley was once involved in White House affairs and hits upon some serious truths about politics and White House politics only lends the story deeper humor. You'll often read this futuristic satirical memoir (the book was written in 1986, but the main character, Herb, writes as if his White House stint ended in 1992. The made up president beat George Bush, senior, in the 1988 election, which is funny in itself. I wonder if The White House Mess was, in a roundabout way, intended to get Bush elected...?) thinking that it is a real story. In a terrifyingly strange way, all the events in this book could have happened... and do happen regularly. Again, that adds a real charm to the story.
I recommend this book very highly. Also, reading this book might teach Americans that electing a president is only one small part of being a citizen in a democratic country. There's often very little that the President can do.
I laugh a lot anyway, but you can bet I was laughing out loud regularly while reading. Sometimes I had to put the book down and give in to uproarious laughing.
The fact that Buckley was once involved in White House affairs and hits upon some serious truths about politics and White House politics only lends the story deeper humor. You'll often read this futuristic satirical memoir (the book was written in 1986, but the main character, Herb, writes as if his White House stint ended in 1992. The made up president beat George Bush, senior, in the 1988 election, which is funny in itself. I wonder if The White House Mess was, in a roundabout way, intended to get Bush elected...?) thinking that it is a real story. In a terrifyingly strange way, all the events in this book could have happened... and do happen regularly. Again, that adds a real charm to the story.
I recommend this book very highly. Also, reading this book might teach Americans that electing a president is only one small part of being a citizen in a democratic country. There's often very little that the President can do.
I laugh a lot anyway, but you can bet I was laughing out loud regularly while reading. Sometimes I had to put the book down and give in to uproarious laughing.
January 17, 2016
The White House Mess by Christopher Buckley
2-1/2 stars rounded to 3
Positioned as a memoir by Herbert Wadlough from within the Democratic Tucker administration, the fictional successor to President Reagan, the political satire revolves around a foreign policy crisis, a struggling marriage, and political in-fighting.
Son of National Review's William Buckley and staff writer to George H Bush, Christopher Buckley certainly understands the world inside the loop to pull off a political satire book. The book opens with a quibbling Ronald Reagan who doesn't want to vacate the White House. However, this is the funniest part of the book. That's disappointing because for anyone who spends any time in DC like I do it is easy to recognize the grains of truth that all great satire is rooted in. But, more surprisingly, is if you have ever read Buckley's other work or heard him speak, he is a truly funny guy. For some reason this book falls very flat. I don't know why. It shouldn't. I don't know if it is because he has matured as a writer from this debut attempt or if the book seems dated even a bit contrived given his political leaning and the seemingly obvious parallels to Clinton - a sex scandal, a strained marriage, and no-good-for-nothing brother- even though the book was published prior to the Clinton administration. It may be that the book is simply dated. Either way it was a bit of a disappointment for me.
2-1/2 stars rounded to 3
Positioned as a memoir by Herbert Wadlough from within the Democratic Tucker administration, the fictional successor to President Reagan, the political satire revolves around a foreign policy crisis, a struggling marriage, and political in-fighting.
Son of National Review's William Buckley and staff writer to George H Bush, Christopher Buckley certainly understands the world inside the loop to pull off a political satire book. The book opens with a quibbling Ronald Reagan who doesn't want to vacate the White House. However, this is the funniest part of the book. That's disappointing because for anyone who spends any time in DC like I do it is easy to recognize the grains of truth that all great satire is rooted in. But, more surprisingly, is if you have ever read Buckley's other work or heard him speak, he is a truly funny guy. For some reason this book falls very flat. I don't know why. It shouldn't. I don't know if it is because he has matured as a writer from this debut attempt or if the book seems dated even a bit contrived given his political leaning and the seemingly obvious parallels to Clinton - a sex scandal, a strained marriage, and no-good-for-nothing brother- even though the book was published prior to the Clinton administration. It may be that the book is simply dated. Either way it was a bit of a disappointment for me.
September 12, 2008
After completion of this novel, I look forward to reading "Thank you for Smoking," finally. I have had so many terrible experiences with the book to movie, movie to book disparity, that I had been loath to put myself into such a potentially painful situation again. I had never read any of Buckley work prior to this, so the only information I had to go on was how much I liked the movie adaptation of "Thank you."
Speaking of the book to movie translation process, with all it's hazards, I feel that this novel would not translate as seamlessly or as marketably as "Thank you." I espouse this opinion due to the comparative subtlety of the narator, and his potential to be less recognizable to the general public. His halarity lies in his staid, old fashioned, and at times, old-biddy-esque point of view, and self important attitude. His defining characteristic is his verbose, indulgent manner of speaking, a portrait of a kind of political & absurd David Edelstein. Given the reception that I personally have recieved at times, (i.e. "you, like, use too many words when you are talking") I think there is massive potential for the character to fall flat with a film audience.
Speaking of the book to movie translation process, with all it's hazards, I feel that this novel would not translate as seamlessly or as marketably as "Thank you." I espouse this opinion due to the comparative subtlety of the narator, and his potential to be less recognizable to the general public. His halarity lies in his staid, old fashioned, and at times, old-biddy-esque point of view, and self important attitude. His defining characteristic is his verbose, indulgent manner of speaking, a portrait of a kind of political & absurd David Edelstein. Given the reception that I personally have recieved at times, (i.e. "you, like, use too many words when you are talking") I think there is massive potential for the character to fall flat with a film audience.
May 30, 2013
I read Buckley for the snark, and this delivers. A novel pretending to be a memoir of a Chief of Staff to a fictionalized President...it begins with the new President and his 'people' going to the White House to pick up President Reagan for the Inauguration. But Reagan doesn't want to leave. He likes it here...he's sick. He'll be better in the spring.
Herbert Wadlough is a little man, and he sees life in the White House as a little man would -- full of petty revenges, useless chores, back-biting and damage control. He's a CPA at heart and his story shows a lack of understanding of the scope of his own story. Quite the feat to pull off.
Wadlough, along with everyone else working in the White House, has had his eye on a memoir from day one. He includes quotes from his diary which are as hilarious in his self-importance and basic misunderstanding of the world as they are enlightening. I especially loved how he tried to refute OTHER memoirs with his own explanations.
Fast and funny...not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, but with that razor-sharp insight that makes Buckley so entertaining.
Herbert Wadlough is a little man, and he sees life in the White House as a little man would -- full of petty revenges, useless chores, back-biting and damage control. He's a CPA at heart and his story shows a lack of understanding of the scope of his own story. Quite the feat to pull off.
Wadlough, along with everyone else working in the White House, has had his eye on a memoir from day one. He includes quotes from his diary which are as hilarious in his self-importance and basic misunderstanding of the world as they are enlightening. I especially loved how he tried to refute OTHER memoirs with his own explanations.
Fast and funny...not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, but with that razor-sharp insight that makes Buckley so entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews