| View Larger Image | Florence of Arabia: A Novel | Paperbackby Christopher Buckley (Author)
| List Price: | $13.95 | | Price: | $11.16 | | You Save: | $2.79 (20%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Random House Trade Paperbacks | | Page Count: | 272 Pages | | Publication Date: | September 13, 2005 | | Sales Rank: | 29,808th |
|
FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780812972269
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
|
EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The bestselling author who made mincemeat of political correctness in Thank You for Smoking, conspiracy theories in Little Green Men, and Presidential indiscretions No Way to Treat a First Lady now takes on the hottest topic in the entire world–Arab-American relations–in a blistering comic novel sure to offend the few it doesn’t delight.Appalled by the punishment of her rebellious friend Nazrah, youngest and most petulant wife of Prince Bawad of Wasabia, Florence Farfarletti decides to draw a line in the sand. As Deputy to the deputy assistant secretary for Near East Affairs, Florence invents a far-reaching, wide-ranging plan for female emancipation in that part of the world.The U.S. government, of course, tells her to forget it. Publicly, that is. Privately, she’s enlisted in a top-secret mission to impose equal rights for the sexes on the small emirate of Matar (pronounced “Mutter”), the “Switzerland of the Persian Gulf.” Her crack team: a CIA killer, a snappy PR man, and a brilliant but frustrated gay bureaucrat. Her weapon: TV shows.The lineup on TV Matar includes A Thousand and One Mornings, a daytime talk show that features self-defense tips to be used against boyfriends during Ramadan; an addictive soap opera featuring strangely familiar members of the Matar royal family; and a sitcom about an inept but ruthless squad of religious police, pitched as “Friends from Hell.”The result: the first deadly car bombs in the country since 1936, a fatwa against the station’s entire staff, a struggle for control of the kingdom, and, of course, interference from the French. And that’s only the beginning.A merciless dismantling of both American ineptitude and Arabic intolerance, Florence of Arabia is Christopher Buckley’s funniest and most serious novel yet, a biting satire of how U.S. good intentions can cause the Shiite to hit the fan.From the Hardcover edition. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 37 reviews)
|
Never a dull moment by Monique Rousseau (Houston TX)  5 Stars
July 14, 2009
What an imagination Chistopher Buckley has to come up with this premise for a novel! A television station broadcasting subversive messages to a barely disguised Middle Eastern country full of repressed women. What happens as the women watch this show full of "cooking and homemaking hints" is an absolute roller-coaster ride. You don't want to miss this smart and hilarious farce.
| |
Comic gem tinged with anger and sorrow over Middle East sexism - but still comic by Scott Schiefelbein (Portland, Oregon United States) 5 Stars
June 21, 2009
Christopher Buckley ("Thank You for Smoking," "Boomsday") has had me laughing out loud in public while reading his books. His combination of sarcasm, satire, and political savvy make his books required reading for anyone who considers himself a student of current affairs or politics. Hypocrisy rules the day in Buckley's universe and provides a target-rich environment for his rapier-sharp pen.
With "Florence of Arabia," Buckley takes on the Middle East's pathetic treatment of women and the world's even more repulsive response to it. Buckley is writing with more rage with "Florence" than is apparent in his other novels, where he seems to be motivated more by rueful sadness. Here, Buckley knows we are talking about the humane (or lack thereof) treatment of over half the population of a massive region of the world - this is Buckley's "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not taking it anymore!" moment.
The titular Florence is Florence Farfaletti, a proud Italian woman still semi-reeling from her marriage to a crown prince of Wasabia (a "Wasabi"). Wasabia is a semi-fictional country in the Middle East that is both oil-rich and run by ultra-orthodox mullahs who believe that the only time a woman should be heard is while she's being publicly whipped for some transgression (like fleeing a burning building without wearing a veil). Florence is shocked into action by the execution of a friend who is married to a big player in the Wasabi royal family because she drove a car. She proposes using feminism to bring stability to the Middle East.
As a member of the State Department, this proposal a) gets her demoted and b) attracts the attention of a super-secret cabal within the U.S. government that puts unlimited resources at Florence's command to do just what she wants. Soon, Florence is in charge of a new channel broadcasting across the Middle East from Matar, the Switzerland of the Middle East (basically the land of the fat rich and happy because they are the only pipeline for Wasabi oil to the rest of the world).
But things don't stay calm for long as the conservative, sexist leaders of the Middle East fight back against Florence's crusade (and I don't use that word lightly). Florence leaps from frying pan to fire and back again as she sparks a revolution.
Unlike some of Buckley's other comic novels, this revolution produces dead bodies. This is dark yet funny stuff. Buckley keeps things as light as he can (I personally loved his reference to Volume XXI of Henry Kissinger's memoirs, entitled "Years of Genius"), but it's clear that he's writing this novel for more than just its comic possibilities.
This is a darn good book for anyone who has thought about the Middle East. It doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but it asks a lot of the right questions. And it will have you laughing to boot. Grab a copy.
| |
The most entertaining novel I've read for quite some time by Adam Mantell 5 Stars
March 24, 2009
As in other media, creating bona fide comedy is a challenge. So I'm happy to report that "Florence of Arabia" is the funniest book I've read in many years. Buckley uses his vast command of the English language masterfully to depict events in a lovingly crafted and engrossing satire of Middle Eastern, American, and European politics. The characters are distinct and their interactions are amusing. Buckley does an excellent job providing his protagonist, Florence Farfalleti, with depth, intelligence, humor, and integrity. Nor does he shy away from describing the visceral situations that create high drama in Florence's adventure. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes literature, current events, and falling off his chair with laughter.
| |
Great, quick read by M. Carnahan (Jerusalem)  4 Stars
February 18, 2009
We read this book for our book club in Jerusalem. It was a fascinating book! The writing was very interesting and he kept your interest for the entire book. Christopher Buckley is a humorous writer and has a great writing technique. Can't wait to read his other books!
| |
Absurdity in an Abaya by Wendy L. Trimboli (Omaha) 4 Stars
January 19, 2009
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 the most misogynistic corner of the planet via a woman's Arabic TV station. This is a station where anchorwomen in abayas trip over things on screen because they can't see past a one degree angle of incident. The true life consequences of what will happen to the aforementioned abaya'd women who urge their audiences to mail-order books on woman's rights "packaged for your privacy and protection" are not particularly humorous, and Buckley is realistic enough to recognize this. Actually, "Wasabi" regime's reaction to the woman's movement is pretty bloody, and soon Florence is watching the outspoken women around her get arrested, stoned and beaten to death...
This book surprised me in both its hilarity and its brutality, reminding me that even though it is satire, it still rings plausible with respect to the current state of woman's rights in the Middle East today. I did enjoy Buckley's faux-political history lessons (like "Let's Put Iraq Here and Jordan Over Here: Drawing Borders in the Middle East"), but the "love story" element did not quite work for me--gratuitous, unemotional sex. Overall, worthwhile for the snappy commentary, but not without its flaws.
| |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| No Way to Treat a First Lady: A Novel
by Christopher Buckley (Author)
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, the ambitious First Lady of the United States (and known in the tabloids as “Lady Bethmac”), is on trial for the death of her philandering husband, and the only man who can save her is the boyfriend she jilted in law school—now the most shameless defense attorney in America. Published to rave reviews, No Way to Treat a First Lady is a hilariously warped love story for our time set in the funniest place in America:...
| 
| The White House Mess
by Christopher Buckley (Author)
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.
| 
| Little Green Men: A Novel
by Christopher Buckley (Author), Random House Inc. (Author)
The strange land of Washington, D.C., is teeming with aliens, politicians, and other bizarre life-forms. Beltway insider and stuffy talk show host John Oliver Banion finds his privileged life turned topsy-turvy when he is abducted by aliens from his exclusive country-club golf course. When he is abducted a second time, he believes he has found his true calling and, in the most pasionate crusade of his life, demands that Congress and the White House seriously investigate the existence of...
| 
| Thank You for Smoking: A Novel
by Christopher Buckley (Author)
Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies–in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?
| 
| Supreme Courtship
by Christopher Buckley (Author)
President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the guts to reject her -- Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation's most popular reality show, Courtroom Six.
Will Pepper, a straight-talking Texan, survive a confirmation battle in the...
|
|
|
