Occupying the heart of all good satire is a pervasive sadness that beats, barely audibly, beneath the happy noise of the surface comedy. The sadness is what lends enough gravitas to the funny to make it meaningful and potent. By this definition, Thank You For Smoking is bloody good satire.
Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for big tobacco, is living a guiltless life. He has no particular qualms with pedaling cigarettes; everyone has the right to buy and consume what they wish. That is, after all, the American Way. But while guilt may not keep Nick up at night, his job security is. His boss is tightening the screws on him, setting for Nick performance targets he can't possibly hit. The boss' hope is that Nick will fail and the boss will have a reason to replace him with a more attractive subordinate. Naylor does not just succeed at the task set before him, he succeeds to such a degree that he draws the admiring and protective attentions of the Captain, Naylor's boss's boss, a chronically ill tobacco titan who approves of Nick's initiative. This is the catalyst for the main thrust of the novel, as Nick, with the Captain's backing, proceeds to ascend in power and esteem within the company by executing a series of stunts and interviews that show the world as much courage as they do heartlessness. But when Nick is kidnapped and nearly killed by having his body covered in Nicotine patches, the good life seems to have come to an end and Nick is forced to reconsider his friends and his livelihood within the company as a battle for control over his division plays out around him.
Mr. Buckley's novel is unfalteringly clever. In connecting Nick's ascendancy to the ever-increasing outrageousness of his lies and evasions to the media about smoking and its harmful effects, he illustrates a fundamental truth of human nature, that the big lie is the best lie. Everyone believes the big lie because it's easier to believe in the big lie than it is to believe in the inconvenient truth. The big lie can make people look strong and confident and in control when the reality is markedly different. The only problem with the big lie is the fall which is inevitable and made, by dint of the accumulation of deceits, all the more harsh. What's more, we celebrate liars. By not examining their actions with the light of truth, by choosing to believe in what they are selling us, we reward their lying which only makes them continue in the fiction. This is the sadness of big tobacco's big lie. It worked for them! They knew what they were doing and they did it anyway. They played the big lie. And when it went wrong for them, when the heyday ended, they capitulated, but not before 30 years of knowingly profiting on the sickening of their consumers. Mr. Buckley shows us a dark and funny glimpse into the culture of death, into the soullessness of selling. It's a credit to his skill that we laugh and do not cry. (3/5 Stars)
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