Florence of Arabia: A Novel | 
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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.
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Customer Reviews:
• C. Buckley Does It Again 09 June, 2008
As usual, Christopher Buckley continues to entertain with his novels. The Protaganist is a kick and the story has many twists and turns. I give it 4 of 5 stars as there are even better CB stories out there.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3C8UG1BOYZZMX
• Superb Satire! 02 April, 2008
I picked up 'Florence of Arabia' because of an interest in Middle East politics and because I was a big fan of the 'Thank You for Smoking' Movie. I have since read several of this author's works.
The thing about Chrisopher Buckley that is so appealing, in my opinion, is the seeming effortlessness with which he writes. Everything, including all of the work that I'm sure required much research, just flows. It flows so well, in fact, that none of it passes over my head.
The Middle East is not the most cut-and-dried of regions in the world. The political and geo-political mess (Iraq War notwithstanding) over there is so idiosyncratic that most people could not - and probably would not - write such a subversive bit of fiction about it.
And yet Buckley pulls it off without breaking a sweat. On its ear, the set-up for the novel just seems untouchable: an American agent going to a Middle Eastern country to bring about freedom by creating a feminist television station (Believe me, it's much better than my description). In that respect, the author creates a lush and controversial novel without infuriating one side of the political spectrum or the other.
Buckley's characters are zany without breaking the boundary of caricature, and each carries with him/her a great number of quirks and anomalies that are either endearing or off-putting. If you enjoy witty political humor that is by no means light, then pick up a copy of 'Florence of Arabia' or any other of Christopher Buckley's works.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2AUZFB3DKD944
• Wickedly Funny 21 January, 2008
Buckley has a wicked, twisted, irreverant and occasionally scatalogical sense of humor. This was the perfect book to read after "A Thousand Splendid Suns." "Florence" clensed the pallate, as wine lovers are wont to say.
Set in a fictional kingdom in the Middle East, the book is a satire of the oil-rich Arabs, caught between the old, fundamental religion and the fleshpots and other lures of western culture. It revolves around an American woman, bent on freeing Arab women from chop-chop of hands and heads, starting a TV station that is nothing like what the emir had authorized.
One reviewer says this is insulting to Arabs. That's what satires do--insult. They poke fun and fun is usually rather insulting. I laughed out loud several times while reading this. I needed that after the last book I read set it a Muslim country.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3AD071UEP20WS
• Funny And Controversial 24 February, 2008
If you liked "Thank you for Smoking", you'll love this book. Chris Buckley's biting wit is here with a vengeance, complete with skewering of the "wasabi" arabs. I don't see Hollywood ever making this movie - too many death threats.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2TWRDR7TXI127
• A Fun, Funny Read! 20 April, 2008
It is rare that a writer can make a credible political/cultural statement with a book and be ACTUALLY funny at the same time. Mr. Buckley achieves this in Florence of Arabia. His style has you smiling throughout. The story begins with comic-strip level characters and thinly veiled fake names for real-life places and things and progresses through plot twists and developments not classic in stature but worthy of "really good TV" status. the humor makes it a really good, fun read. Buckley makes his points about corruption, discrimination, and human suffering in the middle east without being overbearing. I would buy more of his books.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1MO6LWUD7JYWV
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