Supreme Courtship

I don't necessarily connect with all of Christopher Buckley's books, but this one is required reading. It's simultaneously hilarious, biting social and political commentary, quickie legal Latin primer, and wealth of fun political factoids. I am a little tired of "sassy" female characters, but this one experiences self-doubt and makes mistakes - she's ultimately pretty human. The entire cast of characters runs through the full spectrum of humanity, from the hard-drinking Chief Justice of the USSC to the slimy, opportunistic tv producer. Really fun read, you'll laugh out loud, you'll get a new take on the ills of our political and societal systems.

Christopher Buckley's Supreme Courtship is a wonderful parody of the extent to which entertainment and politics have merged. It also pokes excellent fun of the nomination process. In the book, an Eisenhower type President gets frustrated by the Senate Judiciary Committee for rejecting all of his highly qualified justices. One justice is rejected because of a movie review he wrote in the sixth grade in which he said that To Kill a Mockingbird was a "little boring." This causes the head of the Judiciary Committee to declare he could not in good conscious appoint a justice 'who may show up to his first day on the bench dressed not in a justices robe but in a Ku Klux Klan outfit." This turns out to be the last straw for the President, who responds by nominating a TV judge - sort of a younger, hotter Judge Judy. The public loves the idea and no Senator could risk voting against her. Hilarity ensues. A fun read and excellent parody.

If you were looking for a continuation of the great man, William F. Jr., who passed away not so long ago, in the form of his brilliant son, Christopher Buckley, you would not be dissapointed. But you would get something more--while no one could accuse William F. Buckley of lacking an "edge," Christopher exceeds the understatement and throttling humor of his father, with the bright, realistic, aptly cynical humor of his masterpiece, "Supreme Courtship." While not all readers will be familiar with the corruption in government which is exceeded only by its shortsightedness, every reader will enjoy the irony and originality of Buckley's perspective and situational hysterics. Don't hesitate to read this book. Cece Whittaker, author of Bridges

Great premise. Decent execution.

If the current mess in Washington has down depressed, this will push you over the cliff. Mr. Buckley has a secret... The United States is a joke. Our Courts are in-assessable and incomprehensible to the average person. Federal Judges are priests, the courthouses temple, and lawyers acolytes. They have their own vocabulary and literature that you cannot even assess without a case subscription only available lawyers. If it’s a message you want, take this - justice doesn’t exist and you’re silly to look for it in a courtroom. Judges are human beings, even more deeply flawed than the rest of us: duplicitous, shallow, egomaniacs, that we might do better without.

This is one of Buckley's best of his many political satires, and although not written yesterday, it could have been for its relevance to today's legal politics. I have a small quibble with the seller. The audio book arrived in a flimsy plastic envelope, no padding, and the box was a bit beat up, and the covering slightly torn. One disc was slightly damaged. The seller could do way better in shipping. However, the audio book was for myself, so I kept it, and enjoyed the well narrated, hilarious book.

And it is. If Buckley-the-younger's other stuff was good, this is great. Remember when Earl K. Long, thinking about the Louisiana law what said a governor could only succeed himself once? Earl came up with an almost Einstein-like thought experiment: has asked--rhetorically, of course--"what would happen if, maybe 6 months before an election, I stepped down from being governor?" A. J. Liebling, in his wonderful book, The Earl of Louisiana, says, "Even Huey [Earl's older and far more famous brother] didn't think of that." Blaze Starr was never as good-looking as Lolita Davidovich, who played opposite Paul Newman in Blaze, but most of the history was accurate. I remember--I grew up in New Orleans and was in a very political family, so I saw it all happening in what passed for real time back in the day. President Vandercamp, bowling enthusiasm notwithstanding, inspires the opposite in his Congressional adversaries: they propose and, in Congress, pass a term limit amendment. Then it gets interesting....

A really fun read. Whether you are part of the legal and/or political community or not, this book will be a great entertainment. Some of the characters seem drawn from the current news (hmmmm.....) And some seem to be so outlandish that they MUST be based on actual people. But, the story itself is just so full-speed-ahead that you can't help but go along and cheer. Read it in a week, could have finished in a day but wanted to savor. Master storyteller at work. Highly recommended.