Review: Little Green Men

After the famous host of a Sunday morning talk show, and Washington uber-insider, is abducted (twice) by space aliens, he becomes the pariah of the Beltway but the celebrity leader of three million UFO believers.

This set up in the hands of America's funniest political satirist is sure to be entertaining. And it is. Little Green Men is fun and funny and goes down like a bomb pop on the first hot day of summer.

My only problem with Buckley's books is that they are never as good as the first one I read. That is, I think that whichever one someone reads first will be that person's favorite, because it is so surprising to read a clever, really funny, contemporary satirical novel. The first one sticks with you. So, for me, while I find all his books to be entertaining, none will compare with Thank You for Smoking, which made me laugh out loud from cover to cover.

As a side note, it will be interesting to see if Buckley's literary star rises or falls after the kerfuffle caused by his (rather lukewarm) endorsement of Obama. He enjoyed a following among right-wingers because of his famously conservative last name and willingness to shatter some progressive icons in his books. But he may now have gotten the attention of some liberal readers.

Hmmmmmm . . . perhaps there was a method to his madness?