Product Description

The strange land of Washington, D.C., is teeming with aliens, politicians, and other bizarre life-forms. Beltway insider and stuffy talk show host John Oliver Banion finds his privileged life turned topsy-turvy when he is abducted by aliens from his exclusive country-club golf course. When he is abducted a second time, he believes he has found his true calling and, in the most pasionate crusade of his life, demands that Congress and the White House seriously investigate the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs. Friends and family, meanwhile, urge Banion to seek therapy before his reputation is ruined for good.

A comic tour de force from "one of the best and surest political humorists in America" (Los Angeles Times Book Review), Little Green Men is an uproacious comedy of manners that proves once and for all that the truth is out there. Way out there.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #351613 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-01
• Released on: 2000-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060955571
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
In Christopher Buckley's hilarious fourth novel, Washington, D.C., is naturally enough a place of sex, lies, and videotape. Unfortunately for Little Green Men's pundit protagonist, John Oliver Banion, it is also the HQ of Majestic Twelve, a very, very covert government project. Since "that golden Cold War summer of 1947," MJ-12 has had a single mission--to convince taxpayers that space invaders are constantly lurking below what's left of the ozone layer. "A country convinced that little green men were hovering over the rooftops was inclined to vote yea for big weapons and space programs," the author thoughtfully explains.

But one disgruntled operative wants out. Nathan Scrubbs is fed up to the back teeth with the art of alien abduction--not to mention his cover as a Social Security flunky--so when his request for a transfer is quashed, he drunkenly decides to take it out on ubiquitous ultra-prig Banion, who happens to be on TV at the time. The ensuing high-tech kidnap, at Maryland's Burning Bush Country Club, is only one of the thousands of convulsively funny scenes in Little Green Men. Not that the novel isn't a skewed morality play of some sort: as Banion comes to believe in Tall Nordics and Short Ugly Grays, he is quickly removed from every A-list in town. But oddly enough, social and political disaster turns out to be as liberating as the finest alien probe. Let's just say that long before Banion and Scrubbs have a close encounter at the Millennium Man March on Washington, this Beltway barrel of monkeys attains a truly extraplanetary level of amusement. --Kerry Fried

From Publishers Weekly
Celebrity trials, populist bile and The X-Files get the Buckley (God Is My Broker; Thank You for Smoking) skewer in this fast-paced satire. John O. Banion is an acerbic journalist, a talk-show host, a D.C. insider?and proud of it. MJ-12 is a secret federal program (based on a real-life program of the same name) that stages alien abductions to maintain popular support for military spending and space exploration. When he is "probed" by "aliens" at a golf course, Banion becomes a true believer in UFOs. Ostracized by the D.C. establishment, he uses his TV show to organize millions of UFO cultists (the "Millennium Men"), who gather on the Mall (the "Millennium Man March") and just may bring down the government. Consistently hilarious and painfully topical, the novel can resemble a series of stand-up comedy routines; it's dense with one-liners, inside jokes, mini-exposes and tangential riffs on peripheral characters, from FBI men to Larry King. But Buckley's plot is no drawing-room farce: he envisions national catastrophes, convergences of millions of people, the stuff of big-budget disaster movies and spy thrillers. His wit-above-all style combines with his ambitious plot to flatten his characters: the few sympathetic relationships?between a refugee secret agent and his down-home fisherman protector, or between Banion and a sexy UFO crusader?seem out of place, little lumps of feeling in an otherwise smooth, cool gelatin of extended banter. By the time the climactic courtroom scenes have tied up the subplots, the novel seems both hurried and cluttered: half monologue, half screenplay. Buckley delivers the irreverent comedy his fans are looking for, but those seeking more complexity from their political fiction, or more three-dimensional characters, may feel, well, alienated. Agent, Amanda Urban. BOMC selection; film rights sold to New Line Cinema; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Mark Linn-Baker delivers a first-rate performance in this uproarious take on life inside the Beltway. John Oliver Banion, pompous Washington, DC, television talk-show host and columnist, is very proud of his powerful position on the social "A-list." Even the President of the United States must endure Banion's barbs on air and then attend a dinner party at his home later that week. However, Banion's urbane life is turned upside down when he is unceremoniously abducted and probed by aliens at his posh country club. What Banion doesn't know is that the "aliens" are really government agents who work for Majestic 12, an agency that fakes abductions in order to maintain public support for defense and space programs. Vastly different from Majestic 12's usual abductees, who are "just credible enough to spread the word but not so respectable that their testimony would precipitate urgent search for the truth," Banion galvanizes UFO believers and launches a crusade for government hearings into the alien situation. This well-written political and social satire from the author of Wry Martinis is highly recommended for all popular collections.ABeth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Hello from the world
Wow! I can't recall the last time I actually laughed out loud while reading a book. My contagious giggling actually caused my wife to suggest I read it only while alone and in an enclosed room.

Satire is best when nobody is safe and Buckley spares no one. Everyone from white trash, "X Files" buffs, politicians to the sexually dysfunctional are lampooned with utter hilarity. I dare you to read this without cracking a smile! I'll bet UFO conspiracy theorists are forming up as we speak to lynch Buckley. Always worth a smile or two, I'll never be able to look at one again without bursting out in laughter.

In an age where government scandals and cover-ups have been decidedly un-funny, this book is a welcome change. In this era in which people think that poking fun is offensive, I love the fact that Buckley pulls no punches and really goes out of his way to offend everybody! Forget politically correct, leave your cares at the door and lose yourself in a wild ride full of hilarious characters and dead pan humor.

Hysterical romp through conspiracy theories
The conspiracy theorists are right: the government is hiding something from us. According to Christopher Buckley, the big secret is this: the government is responsible for the reports of alien activity. The super-secret organisation known as MJ-12 flattens fields and abducts lonely housewives.

One night, Nathan gets fed up with his lack of advancement. Drunk, he decides to abduct John Oliver Banion, a successful political talk-show host. After the second abduction, Banion goes public with his experiences, resulting in the loss of his entire life. Banion is approached by other UFO abductees, all of whom he vaguely feels as if they're just lonely people who need some excitement in their lives. However, he can't deny his own experiences, and continues to attempt to force Congress into conducting hearings. Finally, he organises a march on Washington.

Watching the monster he has created, and disgraced from MJ-12, Nathan tries to fix the situation. He and Banion team up and take on the government's only secret.

In this book, Buckley skewers everyone from the government to UFO fanatics. Although his targets are relatively easy to take to task, his deft handling of the story has laugh-out-loud results. I devoured this book overnight. When I was finished, a friend immediately borrowed it after noticing how hard I was laughing. It is a great light-hearted read.

Good God! Is Buckley the Greatest living writer?!
Reading this book is literally stunning. If there were any justice, the hacks ought to abandon their work (or at least rewrite it through a few times) before they sling it out the door- looking at James Patterson and Dan Brown.

The prose on every page is so carefully wrought it is amazing. He captures characters, organizations and Washington dynamics with such economy, with such perfect on-the-nose phrasing it, it really is amazing. Put your finger down on any page and you will find excellence. This is the league of Wodehouse and Waugh.

The book is both amusing and enteraining and worth the purchase because the reread value will be high, but I'll be damned if you dont come away with the feeling of resentment at other popular authors who's poor craftsmanship is so clearly shown up by Buckley.

"Banion took the call.

'Jack!' Bill Stimple was the Ur-corporate relations man. Each greeting began with an exclaimation mark. When the Grim Reeper came for Bill he'd probably bray, 'Death!', and ask how his golf game was coming."