Florence of Arabia

"You're talking to the man who put on a golf tournament in North Korea with O.J. Simpson." With his latest offering full of such zinger comments, Christopher Buckley, son of famed Conservative author William F. Buckley, takes on Islam in this one. It is not hard to figure out who is supposed to be whom in this one and the topic women's rights in Arabia is certainly a topical and fertile ground. A little too long for my tastes (just a couple of twists and turns too many), it was, nonetheless, an enjoyable listen. The reader, Carrington MacDuffie does a good, but not great job. She has trouble with all of the accents (sometimes her French and Arabic accents get muddled together), but she does a good job as the voice of "Florence". I give this one a grade of B+. Recommended, especially if you have an interest in Middle East politics.

I got this book because I enjoyed "No Way to Treat a First Lady". As I listened to it in my car, I must have gasped, sniggered, chuckled, snorted and laughed out loud often enough to make the drivers in the next lane wonder if I needed any special medication. This book is witty, entertaining, and like all the best satire, provides an all-too accurate look at some of the crimes and foibles of our past and present. The plot utterly fails to be predictable, the humor is twice as funny because you know IT REALLY COULD HAPPEN EXACTLY THIS WAY! The excellent narration on the audio version added even more to the enjoyment, as the reader had a voice for every character and there was never any doubt who was speaking. An excellent read or listen, not to be missed by those who appreciate political humor and satire.

This was a quick fun read about a US State Department employee turned Agent Provocateur (yes, the French play a role) in a thinly-fictionalized Middle East. I won't cover the plot points because I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice it that I laughed out loud when I saw the title in the "New Releases" section at B & N, read the first couple of chapters, bought it, and read it in an evening - laughing most of the way (there are some sad parts, but there are more outrageously funny ones.)

Those who do not like this satrical novel, probably take themselves and their view of the world too seriously. Christopher Buckley has the gift of taking a situation and writing about it in a compelling and entertaining way which delivers more truth than fiction, often to the discomfort of those whose toes are trod on the hardest. A character in the book, referred to as Uncle Sam, sums up the situation that has been created well into the book quite neatly when he opines: "As I recall, the mission was to empower Arab women and bring about some kind of stability in the Middle East. There were those who said, 'Are you out of your mind?' Others said, 'We've tried everything else, why not give it a shot? What harm can it do??" Ha! And how did it all turn out? With a coup detat - and how appropriate to use the French term for it - against the only stable country in the region. Not only did it not work, but it brought about the further enslavement of two point five million Arab women, along with the empwerment of a psychotic race-car driver, to say nothing of a whopping increase in Wasabi oil prices that may well determine the outcome of the next presidential election. And did I mention France getting naval bases in the Gulf? And that's far from the end of the story. It's a fun ride and done so very well. Hop on and enjoy the trip.

This story begins when Nazrah, the youngest and prettiest of the wives of the Wasabi (read Saudi Arabia here) ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Prince Bawad bin-Rumallah al-Hamooj, gets into a messy auto accident while driving under the influence. She asks for asylum, but is shipped back to Wasabi, where she tries to escape the prince's harem and is executed. This upsets or heroine, Firenze "Florence" Farfaletti, who was Nazrah's friend. Florence is The deputy to the deputy assistant secretary for Near East Affairs and she comes up with an idea to free the women of the Arab world, by starting up a satellite television channel in tiny emirate of Matar (pronounced Mutter, sound like another country in that part of the world?). She plans on educating the Arab women and showing them what they're missing out on. Her plan goes well at first and TV Matar is a huge success, but then everything goes wrong and all of a sudden Flo and her entire staff find their lives at risk as Flo figures out that she's just part of a plan in a grand scheme to alter the political landscape of the Middle East Like all of Chris Buckley's books, this one is uproariously funny while taking on a serious subject. In today's world it's not PC to poke fun at the Moslem (or any other for that matter) religion, but Buckley does, but then he pokes fun at everything. However, the true test of this and any other story is it peopled with characters we care about, will we laugh with them, cry with them, remember them after we close the pages for the final time and in "Florence of Arabia" Mr. Buckley meets and passes the test with flying colors.