Christopher Buckley

Cloud Memoir is a collection of Christopher Buckley's longer poems, his most wide-ranging and serious work built with a symphonic structure—theme, variation, recapitulation trilled with speculative formations, its this/but that, its faith-and-doubt. Rarely did/do the grey cells and the music of experience organize themselves into quick dramatic or pithy movements. These beautifully structured longer poems provide both the metaphysical and putative room to move.Tomorrow, no doubt, more of us will come from the Midwest for favorable exchange rates, the ruins and the partial restorations of romance; we'll believe without question and so run no risk from the church. But there's a new inquisition here, sectarian as the old—it takes us away from lunch under bright umbrellas and unsettles conversation over drinks along the Via Veneto; this red brigade would kneecap half the glove to get their way. So maybe it's as you say— after all there is no real evidence.

Buckley manages to have one foot In the physical muck and tenderness of the world and the other foot planted among the stars and galaxies of the universe.... -Peter Everwine

Star Journal is a selection of poems from Christopher Buckley's twenty previous collections, from 1980-2014.Past praise from Philip Levine: "The poems are modest, straight forward, intensely lyrical and totally accessible. . . . This is a humble poetry of great truths and profound emotions that never overstates its concerns for the events both in and above the world. It rewards countless readings and never betrays itself."—Ploughshares

Christopher Buckley's "hilarious, bawdy, and irreverent frolic of a tale" about a sixteenth-century relic hunter and the artist Albrecht D rer who conspire to fabricate Christ's burial shroud reads "like Indiana Jones gone medieval" (USA TODAY).The year is 1517. Dismas is a relic hunter who procures "authentic" religious relics for wealthy and influential clients. His two most important patrons are Frederick the Wise and soon-to-be Cardinal Albrecht of Mainz. While Frederick is drawn to the recent writing of Martin Luther, Albrecht pursues the financial and political benefits of religion and seeks to buy a cardinalship through the selling of indulgences. When Albrecht's demands for grander relics increase, Dismas and his artist friend D rer fabricate a shroud to sell to the unsuspecting noble. Unfortunately D rer's reckless pride exposes the trickery, so Albrecht puts Dismas and D rer in the custody of four mercenaries and sends them all to steal Christ's burial cloth (the Shroud of Chamb ry), Europe's most celebrated artifact. On their journey to Savoy where the Shroud will be displayed, they battle a lustful count and are joined by a beautiful female apothecary. It is only when they reach their destination they realize they are not alone in their intentions to acquire a relic of dubious legitimacy. "A rollicking good time, Christopher Buckley has transported his signature wit and irreverence from the Beltway to sixteenth-century Europe in The Relic Master" (GQ). This epic quest, "as rascally and convivial as any that Mr. Buckley has written" (The Wall Street Journal), is filled with fascinating details about art, religion, politics, and science; Vatican intrigue; and Buckley's signature wit "holds the reader till the very last page" (The New York Times Book Review).

An extraordinary wide-ranging collection of essays with "distinctive wordplay and quirky opinions...Christopher Buckley is good company whether you're looking for two quick pages and a smile, or want to linger" (The New York Times Book Review).Christopher Buckley, like his terrific volume But Enough About You, contains multitudes. Tackling subjects ranging from "How to Teach Your Four-Year-Old to Ski" to "A Short History of the Bug Zapper," and "The Art of Sacking" to literary friendships with Joseph Heller and Christopher Hitchens, he is at once a humorous storyteller, astute cultural critic, adventurous traveler, and irreverent historian. Reading these essays is the equivalent of being in the company of a tremendously witty and enlightening companion. Praised as "both deeply informed and deeply funny" by The Wall Street Journal, Buckley will have you laughing and reflecting in equal measure. This is a rare combination of big ideas and truly fun writing.

Holy Days of Obligation, the third part of Christopher Buckley's memoir trilogy is a book about place and vocation. Set primarily in Santa Barbara and Montecito in the 1950s and 60s, among the woods and natural elements all around him, in the residue of light lifting from soda fountains, movies, surf boards, and old Chevrolets, the narrator of these crisp essays finds his consciousness forming a faith in the power of "place" and in the work of art.

His 20th collection of poetry, Back Room at the Philosophers’ Club evidences Buckley’s continued and rightfully-earned place in American letters.

Herman Melville's thrilling nautical adventure—a timeless allegory and an epic saga of heroic determination and conflict. At the heart of Moby-Dick is the powerful, unknowable sea—and Captain Ahab, a brooding, one-legged fanatic who has sworn vengeance on the mammoth white whale that crippled him. Narrated by Ishmael, a wayfarer who joins the crew of Ahab’s whaling ship, this is the story of that hair-raising voyage, and of the men who embraced hardship and nameless horrors as they dared to challenge God’s most dreaded creation and death itself for a chance at immortality. A novel that delves with astonishing vigor into the complex souls of men, Moby-Dick is an impassioned drama of the ultimate human struggle that the Atlantic Monthly called “the greatest of American novels.” With an Introduction by Elizabeth Renker and an Afterword by Christopher Buckley

In an attempt to gain congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist "Bird" McIntyre teams up with sexy, outspoken neocon Angel Templeton to pit the American public against the Chinese. When Bird fails to uncover an authentic reason to slander the nation, he and Angel put the Washington media machine to work, spreading a rumor that the Chinese secret service is working to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile in China, mild-mannered President Fa Mengyao and his devoted aide Gang are maneuvering desperately against sinister party hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han. Now Fa and Gang must convince the world that the People's Republic is not out to kill the Dalai Lama, while maintaining Fa's small margin of power in the increasingly militaristic environment of the party. On the home front, Bird must contend with a high-strung wife who entertains Olympic equestrian ambition, and the qualifying competition happens to be taking place in China. As things unravel abroad, Bird and Angel's lie comes dangerously close to reality. And as their relationship rises to a new level, so do mounting tensions between the United States and China.

In an attempt to gain Congressional approval for a top secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist "Bird" McIntyre and sexy Neo-Con wonkette Angel Templeton start a rumour that the Chinese secret service is trying to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Their outrageous scheme provokes a series of crises involving the White House, the CIA, and a strangely sympathetic and vulnerable Chinese president, with both countries veering perilously towards war.Buckley has drawn his most convincing and outrageous characters to date: Bird, failed novelist of amusingly awful Clancy-esque thrillers; Angel, combination Anne Coulter and Ayn Rand; Bird's demanding, equestrian wife, Myndi; Bewks, his feckless but endearing Civil War re-enactor brother; the mild-mannered Chinese President Fa and his devoted aide Gang, manoeuvring desperately against sinister Politburo hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han. Blending the skewering genius of Thank You For Smoking with Dr. Strangelove's dark comedy, They Eat Puppies Don't They? has something to offend -- and amuse -- everyone.Praise for Christopher Buckely: "One of the funniest writers in the English language." Tom Wolfe."A Benchley with WordPerfect." John Updike."An effervescent joy." Joseph Heller.

Christopher Buckley investigates the large, unanswerable questions that have dogged humanity since the Beginning. Often the seascapes along the California coast toss their debris of ontological doubts upon the shores of his writing . . . uncertainties concerning God, the human condition, the limits of our knowing, and the universe.Buckley’s poetry provides readers with the constant blending of beautiful language and stirring content. Full of emotion, Varieties of Religious Experience promises to deliver meaningful messages.

In an attempt to gain congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist "Bird" McIntyre teams up with sexy, outspoken neocon Angel Templeton to pit the American public against the Chinese. When Bird fails to uncover an authentic reason to slander the nation, he and Angel put the Washington media machine to work, spreading a rumor that the Chinese secret service is working to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile in China, mild-mannered President Fa Mengyao and his devoted aide Gang are maneuvering desperately against sinister party hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han. Now Fa and Gang must convince the world that the People's Republic is not out to kill the Dalai Lama, while maintaining Fa's small margin of power in the increasingly militaristic environment of the party. On the home front, Bird must contend with a high-strung wife who entertains Olympic equestrian ambition, and the qualifying competition happens to be taking place in China. As things unravel abroad, Bird and Angel's lie comes dangerously close to reality. And as their relationship rises to a new level, so do mounting tensions between the United States and China.

In twelve months between 2007 and 2008, Christopher Buckley coped with the passing of his father, William F. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement, and his mother, Patricia Taylor Buckley, one of New York's most glamorous and colorful socialites. He was their only child and their relationship was close and complicated. Writes Buckley: "They were not - with respect to every other set of loving, wonderful parents in the world - your typical mom and dad." As Buckley tells the story of their final year together, he takes readers on a surprisingly entertaining tour through hospitals, funeral homes, and memorial services, capturing the heartbreaking and disorienting feeling of becoming a 55-year-old orphan. Buckley maintains his sense of humor by recalling the words of Oscar Wilde: "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness." Just as Calvin Trillin and Joan Didion gave readers solace and insight into the experience of losing a spouse, Christopher Buckley offers consolation, wit, and warmth to those coping with the death of a parent, while telling a unique personal story of life with legends.

President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the guts to reject her -- Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation's most popular reality show, Courtroom Six. Will Pepper, a straight-talking Texan, survive a confirmation battle in the Senate? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? And even if she can make it to the Supreme Court, how will she get along with her eight highly skeptical colleagues, including a floundering Chief Justice who, after legalizing gay marriage, learns that his wife has left him for another woman. Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule.

Now in paperback, the extraordinary and sweeping memoir of one of the most revered families in America--the Buckleys. The Buckley name is synonymous with a unique brand of conservatism--marked by merciless reasoning, wit, good humor, and strong will. Self-made oil tycoon William F. Buckley, Sr., of Texas, and his Southern belle wife, Al ise Steiner Buckley, of New Orleans, raised a family of ten whose ideals would go on to shape the traditionalist revival in American culture. But their family history is anything but conventional. Begun in Mexico, and set against a diverse international background, theirs was a life built on self-reliance, hard work, belief in God, and respect for all. It is no wonder the family produced nationally recognizable figures such as columnist and commentator William, Jr., New York Times bestselling satirist Christopher, and New York senator James. With charm and candor, youngest son Reid, himself the founder of the Buckley School of Public Speaking in South Carolina, tells the enormously engaging and entertaining--and sometimes outrageous--story of a family that became the mainstay of right-wing beliefs in our politics and culture. An American Family is an epic memoir that is sure to appeal to conservatives, liberals, and moderates alike.

In twelve months between 2007 and 2008, Christopher Buckley coped with the passing of his father, William F. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement, and his mother, Patricia Taylor Buckley, one of New York's most glamorous and colorful socialites. He was their only child and their relationship was close and complicated. Writes Buckley: "They were not - with respect to every other set of loving, wonderful parents in the world - your typical mom and dad." As Buckley tells the story of their final year together, he takes readers on a surprisingly entertaining tour through hospitals, funeral homes, and memorial services, capturing the heartbreaking and disorienting feeling of becoming a 55-year-old orphan. Buckley maintains his sense of humor by recalling the words of Oscar Wilde: "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness." Just as Calvin Trillin and Joan Didion gave readers solace and insight into the experience of losing a spouse, Christopher Buckley offers consolation, wit, and warmth to those coping with the death of a parent, while telling a unique personal story of life with legends.

One of America's most hilarious novelists and bestselling author of Thank You For Smoking returns with a biting comedy about generational warfare, political shenanigans and the power of PR spin.Cassandra Devine, a charismatic 29-year-old blogger and member of Generation Whatever, is outraged over the excesses of the Baby Boomer generation and their negligent handling of the mounting Social Security debt.When she politely suggests that Baby Boomers be given government incentives to kill themselves by the age of seventy-five, it catches the imagination of millions of outraged citizens, including an ambitious senator who sees this as his ticket to becoming President.With the help of Washington's greatest spin doctor, the blogger and the politician try to ride the issue of euthanasia for Boomers all the way to the White House, over the objections of the Religious Right and, of course, the Boomers themselves, who are deeply offended by demonstrations on the golf courses of their retirement resorts...

Outraged over the mounting Social Security debt, Cassandra Devine, a charismatic 29-year-old blogger and member of Generation Whatever, incites massive cultural warfare when she politely suggests that Baby Boomers be given government incentives to kill themselves by age 75. Her modest proposal catches fire with millions of citizens, chief among them "an ambitious senator seeking the presidency." With the help of Washington's greatest spin doctor, the blogger and the politician try to ride the issue of euthanasia for Boomers (called "transitioning") all the way to the White House, over the objections of the Religious Right, and of course, the Baby Boomers, who are deeply offended by demonstrations on the golf courses of their retirement resorts.