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Jan 07, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

Using the same snarky political farce plot and character structures that he has with his other novels (Thank You For Smoking, No Way to Treat a First Lady) Christopher Buckley tackles feminism and the Middle East. Where his other novels get off to a fast start and speed through until the end, this one takes a bit more to get moving. Once it does get moving, it's entertaining but not quite as cleaver as his other efforts.

Buckley should be praised for tackling such an unfunny set of s More...

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Jul 10, 2010

MacK rated it:

Choosing a book to take with you on vacation is a tricky proposition. If you take a classic you've been meaning to read and, hate it, your restful trip turns into a High School English class . If you take an exciting new work and both your eyes and your intellect could be floored by new sites sounds and ideas that change your view of the world, or you could be so confused by what you see and hear and read that you are left with a few souvenirs and a long night of head scratching "what happe More...

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Jun 27, 2009

Wendy rated it:

The irreverent Mr. Buckley, having already thoroughly mocked lobbyists supporting cigarettes, guns and alcohol in Thank You for Smoking, turns to a subject somewhat less tapped for slapstick and satire: the Middle East.

Assistant to the assistant to the deputy of Middle Eastern Affairs, Florence Farfaletti accidentally gets mixed up in the execution of the wife of a (fictional) Middle Eastern diplomat. She is then volunteered for subsequent covert operation to bring woman's rights to More...

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Dec 23, 2009

Snotchocheez rated it:

Christopher Buckley is an amazingly talented political satirist and novelist. I believe his success stems from his vast knowledge of the machinations and the ins-and-outs of Washington DC. His story set ups (from government UFO coverups in "Little Green Men" to lobbyist corruption in "Thank You for Smoking"; his stories benefit greatly from his special insight in how things work in America's government. Even the most far-fetched tale has credibility: the reader thinks " More...

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Jul 16, 2009

Kirstin rated it:

It was good until it started to suck. Buckley's satire on Middle East policy is hilarious in the beginning and I was really starting to love the main character Florence and her attempt to promote women's rights in the Middle East. She goes to Matar (not to be confused with Qatar) and starts to cause trouble, especially in their neighboring country Wasabia (sounds like Saudi Arabia?). Then she refuses to leave even after her generous and anonymous benefactor leaves and other things happen - I kee More...

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Mar 07, 2010

Al rated it:

Maybe it's unfair to compare anything with "Thank You For Smoking", Buckley's best, but one can't help it. Florence of Arabia starts off as a broad burlesque, complete with ridiculous character and place names. I almost quit after 30 or 40 pages, but somewhere in the middle the book abruptly changes into a (more or less) serious thriller, with characters dying, tortured and all manner of evil things happening. There's still plenty of sarcasm, but the book definitely acquire More...

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Feb 21, 2011

Lani rated it:

I loved this book. I tore through it in a single day without stopping.

Buckley has a certain amount of insider knowledge to so accurately catch the lingo of DC and agencies and embassy folk and the embarrassing to-close-to-the-truth situations.

The book has a few missteps that I may be writing off as intentional send-ups of tired cliches. But generally speaking Buckley wrote a well-informed book about the social conflicts in the Middle East and the world's reaction to them. More...

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Mar 02, 2011

Veronica rated it:

I'm a big fan of Christopher Buckley and was really looking forward to this book as well. True to form, Buckley takes a current hot topic and turns it on it's ear. The chapters describing Farfaletti's television broadcasts in Matar are hilarious. Unfortunately this book turned a bit too serious in the end for me- particularly with the gruesome murder of an innocent woman. Buckley is an author I'd turn to when looking for a light, funny, "take your mind of the real world" read. Still, a More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Nancy added it

Some of his prior books were better. Florence is a state department who has a plan to resolve the matters of conflict in the Middle East by liberating its women. She writes a proposal to accomplish this incurring the wrath of her colleagues and many others in the US government. An Unknown benfactor decides to support her vision by helping to set up a TV station catering to Arab women. Florence has to live with the unintended consequences. I did not find as much humor in this book as I did More...

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Dec 03, 2010

Nancy rated it:

Buckley is certainly not reluctant to take on sensitive subjects and what could be more challenging than the politics of gender in the middle east? It takes an extremely wily and clever writer to satirize such a delicate subject---and, an even more clever man to prod his readers into thinking seriously about the subject after the snickers subside.

I enjoyed some of his other novels more (Thank you for Smoking and Supreme Courtship) but that does not mean I will not trot to the library More...

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Jul 18, 2009

Callie rated it:

Described as outrageously funny by the book jacket, I don't remember laughing at all, although I did say "ha!" a couple of times to be fair. This book tries to satirize the Middle East and American relations and it does so with a sledgehammer-like mindset. I found myself a bit bored by the book and it really didn't have anything new to say. Middle eastern women are repressed and all the men are either sex fiends or religious fanatics. A very nuanced view as you can see. I don't kn More...

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Jan 05, 2009

Stop added it

Read the STOP SMILING interview with Florence of Arabia author Christopher Buckley:

HUMOR IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL\
By Charles Haskell

(This interview originally appeared in the STOP SMILING DC ISSUE)

There are many ways of defining Christopher Buckley. He is the son of William F. Buckley Jr., the late host of Firing Line and the so-called father of modern conservatism. He is a novelist, a political satirist concocting outlandish, though eerily real st More...

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Oct 21, 2008

Clif rated it:

In the spirit of Lawrence of Arabia who freed the Arabs, so also Florence of Arabia bravely set out to free the women of the Middle East from gender injustice in an oppressive theocracy. Every sentence in this story is packed with humor, farce, irony, satire, irreverence, mockery, or exaggerated stereotype. An example of this writing style is contained in this example where the author describes a fictional country as the Middle East's preeminent "no-fun zone," unless"one's idea More...

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Apr 15, 2008

Tracey rated it:

"The remarkable thing is how well we mean, America. And yet it always turns out so -- badly."
So says "Uncle Sam" a mysterious and powerful figure who gives Florence Farfaletti, a minor State Dep't official, well-versed in Middle Eastern history & language, a chance to change history in the area by empowering women.
She has a PR wizard, a fellow State Dep't whiz (whose idol is Richard Burton), and an ex-Marine CIA hunk on her side, as well as the wife of the emir More...

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Dec 11, 2007

Kate rated it:

A shadowy arm of the US Government decides that the best way to ensure Middle East peace is to liberate the women of the kingdom of Matar, the most enlightened of the Middle East states, particularly in comparison with its neighbor, Wasabia. They enlist disgruntled State Department employee Florence Farfaletti and ask her to launch an Arab TV station catering directly to women. Allowed to pick her own crack team to launch the station, Florence enlists the help of a CIA assassin, a snappy PR man More...

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Sep 13, 2007

David rated it:

Buckley writes a Middle East spoof which winds up being a little more grim than some of his other books. It is brief, about 250 pages, and there is a lot of death and violence, possibly inevitable considering the topic.
Florence is about a woman who goes to the fictional country of Matar (pronounced “mutter”, “the Switzerland of the Middle East” ) to run a TV station to incite a rebellion among the women of neighboring Wasabia. This mission is covertly sponsored by the United States Gov More...

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Jan 01, 2012

Frederick rated it:

I listened to this on CD. Read by Carrington MacDuffie. This is the story of Florence Farfalletto. She is a State Department functionary who through a series of events finds herself in the fictional Arab country. She is assigned to create a television network for Arab women with hopes that it will liberate them and ignite a revolution. Along the way, she has to deal with Arab mullahs, exploding camels, and the backward attitudes and violence of arab society.

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Apr 09, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Quick, irreverent, and clever, but quite a few flaws. The characters were too one-dimensional for me. Admittedly characters in satire are not typically the most multi-faceted, but it had the drawback of making it difficult for me to care about what happened to them. Florence is weakest in its thriller moments. Writing action scenes does not seem to be Buckley's strength. It does have its moments, though, and I'd be interested in checking out some of Buckley's other books.

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Oct 27, 2011

Chris rated it:

2.5 stars. Buckley's gift for comic fiction is certainly on display, but that tone didn't quite fit with some of the material--e.g., the violent repression of women. I get that he's attacking repression through humor, but Buckley's comic voice is light, like P. G. Wodehouse, and that sensibility suffers by being directed toward weightier (and all too real and prevalent) topics. I liked the book on the whole, but not as much as his other books.

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Jan 12, 2009

Antisocialite rated it:

An open letter to Christopher Buckley:

Dear Mr. Buckley,
It is not necessary to make all of your female protagonists sexy. It is even less necessary to remind your readers of their sexiness every four pages.
Sincerely,
Someone who usually doesn't roll her eyes while reading your books.

PS- The unconvincing romantic subplot featuring your super sexy heroine was also lame.

PPS- There was some funny stuff in here too. More of the funny, please.

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Mar 13, 2010

Taracuda rated it:

Not my favorite Christopher Buckley book. It had some very funny lines and some biting satire, sure. Overall, though, it was outside the realm of maneuvering and spin that he creates so well.

Usually, the sides face off over high stakes, not life-or-death ones, and they battle it out in the arena of public opinion. Florence had too many deaux ex machina machine guns showing up.

It makes me want to reread Boomsday to watch Buckley spin and outmaneuver his heart out.

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Jan 06, 2009

Carolyn rated it:

Very much a guilty pleasure and not for the easily offended, but it is delightfully funny. It reminds me of the Retief series with its merciless skewering of governments and political causes. No one is safe from Buckley's sardonic humor: not the US State Department, the Presidency, the CIA, the French government, the Arab regimes, no one. I was unable to resist reading funny passages to my husband.

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Sep 12, 2011

Arindam rated it:

Taking such a sensitive topic like Middle East affairs, Chris Buckley creates another gem. Although, this book lacks the subtlety of his previous masterpiece - "Thank you for Smoking", likable characters, gripping plot and satirical ending makes up for all its deficiencies. Uncle Sam is unique - wonder who will be playing this role if ever this book is made into a movie. The ending motto - we all work for investment bankers :)

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Feb 19, 2010

Tommy rated it:

This book takes the anger many people feel about how women are treated in the Middle East and sprints with it. Although it reads as a farce, Buckley still acknowledges the dangerous realities of crossing autocratic religious and political authorities. It's first and foremost broadly satirical, but its plot isn't without a certain chilling authenticity. You'll laugh and shudder on alternating pages, and that turns out to work very well.

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Nov 25, 2008

Melody rated it:

I stumbled upon this book when William Buckley Jr. died, and one of the obituaries mentioned his son Christopher, the novelist. I got the impression that his writing was politically based, but witty and light-hearted. I liked this book well enough to finish it, but I don't expect to follow up with other titles by this author. I guess he's just not really to my taste. I'm always a little put off by books that mix humor and, say, women being stoned to death, even if the two things are separated b More...

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Aug 14, 2010

John rated it:

Not as much fun as Boomsday, as read by Janeane Garofalo, with a constant return to the serious theme of the abuse of women by men in the Middle East. But still, it's Christopher Buckley, and it's frikkin funny. The author description at the end, with its reference to a 10 1/2 hour lunch with Christopher Buckley, may have been the funniest part, but it's all entertaining, as usual.

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May 03, 2009

Mikey rated it:

A very fast, funny satire about American politics (or should I say meddling) in the Middle East. Not only is it funny, but it's also tense and dramatic, and was impossible to put down. Wrapped up a bit too nicely, especially considering the subject, and some of the pokes and jabs were a bit too easy along the way, but it's hard to hold it against such a compulsively readable book.

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Feb 08, 2010

Mainon rated it:

This is another book that for me defies easy categorization. It's part political thriller/satire, tackling real issues about fundamentalism and Islam and Middle Eastern politics, especially in the context of feminism. But that the same time it's actually very funny in parts, as though it were a nice chick-lit beach read. It's an odd combination, but it works!

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Jul 29, 2011

Matt added it

Classic Buckley. He is just phenomenal. Not his best work, its not Boomsday or Thank You for Smoking, but still great. And you just wonder how and who he skewers next. At parts I had to remember that he was satire and not real, b/c you could imagine this happening in real life.

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Jan 30, 2011

Tom rated it:

Can't quite make up my mind about this one. It is billed as being funny and there is some humor in it, but not all that much to my way of thinking. Maybe because I read it when there is so much unrest in the Middle East right now. I will try another of his novels and see if that helps.

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