no, thank YOU

how do you win an argument? well, it's simple. you don't lose. this is the logic of charming nick naylor, the 'hero' in christopher buckley's "thank you for smoking", a satirical look at the tobacco industry. i highly recommend this book - it is one of the funniest and smartest books i've read in a long time.

nick naylor can walk into any room and make the crowd light up. he is witty, smooth, and compelling, and we can't take our eyes off him. he has a way of making us root for the bad guys. he is a master in the art of spin.

merriam-webster defines spin as:
a special point of view, emphasis, or interpretation (put the most favorable spin on the findings)

while i'm sure mr. o'reilly doesn't approve, naylor does indeed put the most favorable spin on the findings. he still claims that it has not been medically proven that smoking causes lung cancer. you don't know the medical history of all the cases, he argues. he makes good points. and we believe him. where are the data?

my favorite part of the book comes when naylor pays a visit to the original marlboro man. he has to convince the lung cancer ridden man to accept cash money in exchange for silence (to not badmouth the tobacco bigwigs). he amazingly spins the situation so that not only does the marlboro man take the money, but naylor has him believing that it's not a bribe.

i don't want to give too much away because i really want you all to read it. i know what you are thinking - i'll just watch the movie. trust me, i know how that goes (ahem davinci code). but in this case, the movie is just different enough, it's worth reading the book.

that said, i do recommend seeing the movie. it's a laugh-out-loud flick with an amazingly talented cast. if all else fails, it's worth it just to see adam brody steal every scene he's in from his veteran co-stars.

read the book. watch the movie. thank you for listening.