Herb Nutterman, a long-time Trump Organization employee, unexpectedly becomes President Trump's White House chief of staff and finds himself entangled in Russian intrigue and leading the president's reelection campaign.
... an outrageously funny novel equal to the absurdity roiling Washington ... There’s much to choose from here, but perhaps the funniest aspect of Make Russia Great Again is how calmly Herb conveys the craziness of the Trump administration. With the unruffled decorum of a five-star resort manager, he describes all the complicated maneuvers needed to entertain a president who does not read, who cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes and who will not listen to anything but soliloquies comparing him to 'Napoleon, or God' ... There’s a Twain-like quality to this loyal naif who skewers without intending to. While Make Russia Great Again rushes along from one folly to the next, Herb’s increasingly pained efforts to see only the bright side of Trump’s reign is the joke that keeps on winning. Amid the twin economic and health catastrophes of our era, Buckley has done the impossible: Made Politics Funny Again. Laughter may not be the best medicine for covid-19, but it’s a heck of a lot better than bleach.
Christopher Buckley is at his side-splitting funniest in Make Russia Great Again, which includes lines of such pure comedic brilliance that the reader is tempted to stand and applaud like one would for a soloist at the Kennedy Center. This is what Jonathan Swift envisioned when he introduced the world to political satire ... Some might argue that satirizing this presidency is too easy. Any dime-store scribe would be equal to the challenge, but in reading Make Russia Great Again, one realizes that Buckley’s task is complicated by today’s continued lowering of expectations and standards of decency ... Once upon a time, Christopher Buckley became so disillusioned with the machinations of government that he vowed never to write another political satire. That pledge lasted nearly 35 years. Fortunately for us, he has finally stared into the abyss, plunged headfirst back into the immoral morass, and managed to Make Satire Great Again!
... funny and often hilarious ... To regular viewers of the all-breaking-news-all-the-time networks, Make Russia Great Again reads like a whispered procedural of everyday life in the 2020 White House ... Buckley takes us on a fictional roller-coaster ride of blackmail, intrigue, more blackmail and way more intrigue that rivals reality, well almost, at least at press time. And this was written before the pandemic and before the George Floyd Black Lives Matter protests. There are no masks, no marches, no TikTok-inflated rallies, [no fill-in-the-blank insanities that were not known at press time]. Their absence actually gives Make Russia Great Again an almost nostalgic appeal ... But plenty of meat is left on the carcass of the Executive Branch for Buckley to feast on. While the plot plays out, he gives some of the most brilliantly funny characterizations. In a few words he can size up, cut down and serve up slightly roasted thumbnail descriptions of people who may or may not represent purveyors of the White House Kool-Aid.
