No Way to Treat a First Lady: A Novel | 
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
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: Washington, D.C.
Amazon.com Review
Christopher Buckley is not so much a novelist as a free-ranging satirist looking for targets. In Thank You for Smoking it was big tobacco and earnest reformers; in God Is My Broker it was business and religion; and in No Way to Treat a First Lady, it's the entire legal profession, not to mention the Washington establishment. The novel opens with the President of the United States returning to the conjugal bed after an illicit Lincoln Bedroom romp with the Streisandesque Babette Van Anka. His wife, the long-suffering Beth McMann, promptly clocks him with a Paul Revere spittoon. Several hours later he dies. "Lady Bethmac," as the First Lady is immediately dubbed by the media, is put on trial, and the resulting media circus gives Buckley lots of opportunity for nicely observed skewerings of legal culture. "Judge Dutch creaked forward in his chair. This is the source of the aura of judges: they have bigger chairs than anyone else. That and the fact that they can sentence people to sit in electrified ones. It's all about chairs." He gets in some neat neologisms--a lawyer performs a "credibilobotomy" on a witness--and sends up the pretensions of law TV: at a roundtable discussion, the guest from Harvard Law is invited "to provide gravitas and to shift uneasily in his seat when the other guests said something provocative." Buckley's Trial of the Millennium is so far-fetched that it seems entirely possible. --Claire Dederer
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Customer Reviews:
• Nobody Slams Them Better 30 June, 2008
What can you say about a book that includes both O.J. Simpson and J.J. Bronco? Or a Lady BethMac set upon by Agent Woody Birnam? Or a Hollywood activist who doesn't know the difference between the West Bank and an ATM?
And hey, the Steuben ashtray makes a second appearance in Mr. Buckley's writing.
Though the broad outline of this book is the media frenzy surrounding the murder trial of a First Lady accused of murdering her husband, this book takes massive swipes at America's September 10 celebrity culture.
Hysterically funny stuff.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2YIMB2LF7HH1C
• Hoping For A Great Plot. At Least It Has Humor. 30 May, 2008
This book moves right along. It has some punch -- you'll read along, and then burst out laughing. Christopher Buckley has a quick sense of humor. It's not high literature, but it's great for an airplane read.
So, the first lady is Beth MacMann... her husband is a sort of a John McCain, POW survivor, president crossed with a womanizing Bill Clinton president. (Book written in 2002) Beth MacMann is ... sexy, hot-tempered, smart.
When the president dies, the first lady stands accused of murder. Her defense attorney is an old flame. Their repartee is good -- reminiscent of Nelson DeMille in Plum Island or the Gold Coast.
The ending was fairly predictable, but there were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, and I liked it.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A13G1TKIKHGV3F
• Great Satire, Good Reading 14 November, 2008
Christopher Buckley's No Way to Treat a First Lady is both a legal mystery and a satire on several institutions that have abused the trust of the American people: lawyers, leaders of our country who have engaged in sexual misconduct/the people who enable their misconduct, and the national security organizations with their questionable loyalties. There are laugh-out-loud moments, the characters are well-done, and the trial is out of this world. I didn't quite fall in love with the book, but definitely enjoyed the read.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2OA0Z8UJOEA86
• Buckley Eviscerates A Certain Presidential Power Couple 06 September, 2007
This book is a riot. The ever delightful Buckley details what happens when philandering President Ken MacMann (not based on any recent presidents) dies after being hit by a silver Paul Revere spittoon thrown by edgy, lawyer First Lady Beth Tyler MacMann (bearing no resemblance to any recent first ladies) after being caught sneaking back into their White House bedroom at 2:30 a.m. from the Lincoln Bedroom, where he was building a bridge to 21st century Hollywood donations with actress, singer, activist and serial Lincoln bedroom visitor Babette Van Anka. (She's not based on any real characters, either.)
As he's found dead in the morning, his forehead bearing the reverse imprint "Revere" where the spittoon hit him, Beth MacMann is charged with assassinating her husband. She turns to the nation's top trial lawyer, Shameless Boyce, who also happens to be the fiance she dumped to marry MacMann a quarter century before in law school.
In the ensuing Trial of the Millenium. Boyce successfully chips away the government's case, until his client insists on testifying - to rehabilitate her image so that she can later run for office - and all hell breaks loose.
If you ever suffered from either Clinton or OJ fatigue (or, likely, both), you won't be able to put down this delicious satire. With the finest of literary scalpels, Buckley eviscerates politicians, TV-trial commentators, spin managers, jury analysts, Hollywood activists, preening superlawyers and mostly the once and seemingly future occupants of the White House.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1TWH3KD5YJQHM
• Buckley Is King Of Political Satire For A Reason... 22 October, 2008
Given the current political crap going on, this was really nice... sometimes you hear that fact is funnier than fiction, but I dunno, this was very very funny. Buckley is probably the best political satire fiction writer I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
The sad part? I can totally see some of these things happening for real - *laugh*
- Reviewed by customer ID: AG2YXYIQ8TLTA
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