- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (May 3 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140249281
- ISBN-13: 978-0140249286
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.9 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #243,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
With a dotty, pajama-clad President Reagan refusing to leave the White House on his successor's Inauguration Day, Buckley has given this farce of Oval Office politics a nearly perfect beginning. Unfortunately, he uses his best shot first and the rest of the book rarely equals the wit that energizes the hilarious opening. Parodying the familiar form of the White House memoir, Buckley (author of Steaming in Bamboola, son of William F. Buckley) recounts the turbulent years of the Democratic Tucker administration, as told by loyalist Herbert Wadlough. Through this former accountant's eyes, we see the infighting that plagues the White House, the President's faltering marriage to a former starlet, and his ongoing crises, including restoration of ties with Castro andin one of the novel's smarter sectionsa Marxist coup in Bermuda. Buckley, a onetime speechwriter for George Bush, obviously knows Washington's foibles and follies, but the zest of the book's early promise is smothered by an otherwise bland performance. Literary Guild alternate. (March 24p
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
An uproarious comedy about a presidential administration totally off the rails. This fictional political memoir by the Personal Assistant to President Tucker, Herbert Wadlough, offers a unique, utterly self-serving inside view of the ill-fated Tucker administration, 1989-1993. "A brilliant satire . . . A witty, very funny, intricate spoof."--Bob Woodward.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Where to go after "Thank You For Smoking",
By Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The White House Mess (Paperback)
"Thank You For Smoking" is still Christopher Buckley's best effort to date. But if you want to know where to go *next*, I suggest this lesser-known volume rather than "Little Green Men" or "Wry Martinis." "Mess" has a psychic feel to it - written during the days of the Reagan Administration, it could just about pass as a roman-a-clef by a Clinton cabinet member.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is Christopher Buckley a secret psychic friend?,
By
This review is from: The White House Mess (Paperback)
The White House Mess is both a hilarious political satire and an amazingly accurate portrait of the first Clinton Administration. Sure, the names have been changed but anyone who followed politics over the course of the '90s will recognize the characters. Thomas N. Tucker is a so-called "Moderate Democrat" who, after a few terms as Governor of a small Republican state (Idaho, in this case), is elected President over Republican George H.W. Bush. Tucker comes to Washington with a fiercely independent wife and a staff that is an uneasy mix of cynical insiders and idealistically niave (read: stupid) campaign aides with little actual practical experience. Over the course of the next four years, Tucker finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal, has to deal with his idiot brother, fails to establish any firm policy beyond what the polls say he should do, and -- as his Presidency comes to a close -- manages to embroil American soldiers in a futile military campaign. There it is, the Clinton Administration in a nutshell. Of course, what's truly amazing isn't that Buckley managed to write a memoir of the Clinton Presidency but that Buckley did so in 1987 -- five years before anyone outside of Arkansas even knew who Bill Clinton was and certainly before anyone expected this guy to be President. (Of course, what's really funny is that when the book first came out, many critics sniped that Buckley's satire was too outrageous and had no basis in reality.)Unfairly or not, Clinton hangs over Buckley's satire and, what originally might have seemed as a simple farce, is now tinged with a certain bittersweet feel. You still laugh but its no longer a what-will-he-say-next laugh as much as its a laugh of I-Can't-Believe-This-Actually-Happened. By that same regard, when the book first came out, one of the funniest parts dealt with the difficulty of getting a senile Ronald Reagan to leave the Oval Office following Tucker's inaguration. As funny and well-written as this scene is, its no longer quite as funny with the knowledge that Reagan is -- in real life -- suffering from the late stages of Alzheimer's. However, these are all minor quibbles and they shouldn't take away from what is one of the funniest, unsung political satires of the previous century. Buckley disguises his book as the political memoir of former Tucker aide Herbert Wadlough. Wadlough, a stuffy, pompous, but well-meaning Englishman, comes across as something of a poor man's Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Buckley perfectly captures the man's moralistic yet clueless voice. As well, anyone who has read any of the recent memoirs by various Reagan and Clinton administration veterans will be amused as Wadlough continually tries to overhype his importance and present himself as something other than a rather minor cog in the government. Admitedly, its probably easier to enjoy this book if you're a conservative -- most of Buckley's barbs are reserved for the less-than-worldly liberals who surround Tucker. However, Buckley is hardly a partisan when it comes to throwing his punches. The Republican Party takes it share number of shots. Buckley is truly a bipartisan ridiculer but writes with such good-natured wit and skill that its hard to imagine any sensible person (no matter what their political alignment taking offense). This is a truly hilarious book and a must read for anyone with an interest in politics or a need for a good laugh.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prophetic Comedy,
By "lye_berry-obrien" (Eugene, OR) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The White House Mess (Paperback)
The book's hook is that it's a parody of White House politics, where the status of the characters' relationships among one another is given more importance than the issues that are being governed over. Written before an Arkansas governor won the real presidency, it's narrated by a sidekick of the [obviously fictional] Democratic Idaho governor that went on to inherit the White house for a term. Buckley does a wonderful job of telling the story with sublety - the narrator is too dignified to admit his own wrongdoings while burying his peers, who have also all written their own memoirs doing the same thing. True to the title, the President's term is embroiled with controversy, ranging from a missing hamster to a poor decision to gas an uprising in the Bahamas. There's a sex scandal involving interns, a first brother that causes some grief, and strain in the bedroom of the first lady. Can you believe it was written before Reagan left office?Recommended for anyone that can laugh at Presidential politics, political critics, or the pretensions of executive staff members.
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