‘They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?’ by Christopher Buckley: B (80%) – Aggregate Book Review

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Fiction, Politics, Rated B, Review

‘They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?’ by Christopher Buckley
B Above Average (80%)	Summary of the Reviews:
	A satire concerned with avoiding war with China, most found the book pretty humorous, though a main issue was that the politics of the book already feel dated, as the story takes place in the Bush era and the political climate has already changed immensely.
	ISBN: 978-0446540971, Pages: 335

Fiction \| Politics \| China \| Satire
THE BOOK JACKET: In an attempt to gain congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist “Bird” McIntyre teams up with sexy, outspoken neocon Angel Templeton to pit the American public against the Chinese. When Bird fails to uncover an authentic reason to slander the nation, he and Angel put the Washington media machine to work, spreading a rumor that the Chinese secret service is working to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile in China, mild-mannered President Fa Mengyao and his devoted aide Gang are maneuvering desperately against sinister party hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han. Now Fa and Gang must convince the world that the People’s Republic is not out to kill the Dalai Lama, while maintaining Fa’s small margin of power in the increasingly militaristic environment of the party. On the home front, Bird must contend with a high-strung wife who entertains Olympic equestrian ambition, and the qualifying competition happens to be taking place in China. As things unravel abroad, Bird and Angel’s lie comes dangerously close to reality. And as their relationship rises to a new level, so do mounting tensions between the United States and China Read an excerpt View this book on Amazon

Alida Becker – New York Times Sunday Book Review
+	[…]Christopher Buckley’s latest uproarious political farce[…]

Michael Moynihan – Wall Street Journal
~	“They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” feels both prescient and a step behind the political times.

Jess Walter – Washington Post
~	Soon, the plot is carried by news stories and meetings — hardly ever a winning strategy for a fiction writer.

Sara Bynoe – The Globe and Mail
+	Buckley’s humorous take on serious issues such as China’s treatment of Tibet, America’s financial dependency on China, and gun-toting flag-wavers are what make this book worth the read.

Rowan Kaiser – A.V. Club
+	Although They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? isn’t particularly subversive, or especially funny, it still has an old-fashioned charm.

Mike Glenn – Houston Chronicle
+	Did I mention that this is a comedy? “They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” is a funny, funny book.

Kay Dyer – NewsOK.com
+	[As] the title might suggest, there is a lot of humor to be digested.

Michael Magras – Bookreporter.com
~	Some of the humor this time, however, seems old.

Jan Stuart – San Francisco Chronicle
+	Buckley is an equal-opportunity lampooner with an arrow in his quiver for everyone.

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Tags: Buckley, Bush era, China, satire