Christopher Buckley (Thank You for Smoking) holds the franchise on political satire. In They Eat Puppies, Don't They?, he takes on U.S.-Chinese relations, and leaves no wonton untouched.
Washington lobbyist "Bird" McIntyre joins forces with Angel Templeton, a sexy, in-your-face neocon, to work on gaining congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system that will cost bazillions of dollars. The idea is to strike fear in the American public so they will importune their congressmen into voting "yes" on the system.
Bird and Angel are having trouble finding a legitimate reason to slander China at the moment--when a boon comes their way in the person of the Dalai Lama, who fell ill while visiting the Pope. Bird proposes that they start a rumor that Beijing tried to kill the Dalai Lama on his way into a meeting in Rome. When asked about evidence, Bird replied: "Who needs evidence when you've got the Internet?" They feed the Washington media the sound bite, and the con is on.
Meanwhile, peaceful and harmonious Chinese President Fa has problems of his own and, in a perfect subplot, Bird's equestrienne wife, Myndi, has just earned a place on the Olympics team and the competition will take place in--wait for it--China. Competing agendas, persiflage, Angel and Bird circling each other and the whole Washington gambit combine to create yet another concoction that makes the reader laugh out loud--often. --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.