Book: They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? by Christopher Buckley
Reviewed by: Joe T.
Okay, this is a hard review to write. I want you to pick up this book and read it cold, like I did, and discover each and every joke on your own, to remember, or perhaps discover, just how funny Christopher Buckley is when he’s dealing out from a loaded deck of satire.
So, let’s try to keep it simple: A lobbyist for the defense industry and the “directrix” of the Institute for Continuing Conflict (yes, you heard that right; reading the cast of characters gave me my first laugh of the book!) team up to help their respective clients and careers by stroking a little bit of the ol’ red scare against China. Hijinks ensue. Soon the fate of the Dalai Lama, Equestrian tournaments, the Chinese leadership, and a group of Civil War reenactors are all up for grabs as the world careens towards another world war. Laughs occur on nearly every page.
The books takes as many potshots as it can, from the military-defense industry to Sarah Palin to Chris Matthews to helicopter parenting and to everything in between. To say that I enjoyed this book would be selling it short. Though I had some minor problems with the ending, it holds up as my favorite book by Buckley since Thank You For Smoking in 1994. So, I’ll quit trying to spoil your enjoyment and leave you with just one thought: If you found out that China attempted to assassinate the sweet, totally peaceful Dalai Lama with a poison extracted from a cuddly panda bear, wouldn’t you want to go to war with them?
Christopher Buckley will appear in conversation at Austin’s LBJ Library on Tuesday, May 15 6p. The LBJ Library has made a limited number of seats available exclusively to BookPeople customers. The cost to attend the event is the cost of one copy of They Eat Puppies, Don’t They, and includes a signed copy of the book. Visit www.bookpeople.com for more information.
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