But Enough About You: Essays (58 page)
Read But Enough About You: Essays Online
Authors: Christopher Buckley
Special thanks—and then some—to two people who have been my professional north stars for over twenty years (one north star is good; two is even better): Jonathan Karp and Binky (née Amanda) Urban. Bless you both. Every author should be so lucky.
I have been the beneficiary of hugely talented editors over the years. To name a few to whom I owe so much: Tina Brown, Cullen Murphy, Patrick Cooke, Susan Morrison. As for family and friends who generously—and often valiantly—served as first responders: John Tierney, Gregory Zorthian, Lloyd Grove, Lucy Buckley, and my precociously talented daughter, Cat.
Special thanks and devoted love to my wife, Katy Close, without whom nothing would be worthwhile.
Finally, another large Milk-Bone to the Faithful Hound Jake, who as the author banged away, vigilantly stood guard, albeit recumbently.
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
is the pen name of Christopher Buckley.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
ALSO BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?
Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir
Supreme Courtship
Boomsday
Florence of Arabia
Washington Schlepped Here
No Way to Treat a First Lady
God Is My Broker
Little Green Men
Wry Martinis
Thank You for Smoking
Wet Work
Campion
The White House Mess
Steaming to Bamboola: The World of a Tramp Freighter
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“About the Author” paragraphs,
5
Afghanistan,
141
,
161
–63,
192
,
228
–29,
237
,
367
–69
Africa: Melocotón–Buckley trip to,
118
–24
airplanes: advisory for small,
153
–55; in Alaska,
109
–14
alarm clock: history of hotel,
146
–50
Alaska: Buckley’s trip to,
109
–14
American Heritage Dictionary
(Buckley),
255
Amtrak: “Quiet Car” on,
20
–23
Animal House
(book/movie),
275
–78,
428
apocalypse: 2000 and,
245
–48
astronauts: screening for,
365
–67
Auden, W. H.,
7
,
273
,
289
,
311
,
319
Auschwitz,
130
–39,
283
,
285
,
336
,
429
autumn: Buckley’s comments about,
37
–38
bankers: outrage at,
188
–90
Benchley, Robert,
2
–3,
303
,
381
,
387
,
395
bib, lobster,
62
–64
billionaires: history of,
76
–78
Birkenau (Auschwitz),
131
,
137
–39
birthdays, 50th,
43
–54
Blair, Dennis,
28
–31
Bloomberg, Michael,
226
body language,
306
–10
books: and turning books into movies,
39
–43
bookstores: book tours and,
6
,
210
Booth, John Wilkes,
181
–82,
184
,
186
,
292
Borowski, Tadeusz,
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
Braveheart
(movie),
39
,
41
,
90
,
433
Brinkley, Douglas,
218
,
265
,
297
,
298
,
299
Brown, Tina,
250
Buckley, Caitlin (daughter),
42
,
168
,
342
Buckley, Conor (son): Dordogne tour of,
340
–45; skiing lessons for,
357
–59
Buckley, Katy Close (wife),
23
–24,
357
,
359
Buckley, Patricia (mother),
18
,
19
,
21
,
35
,
37
,
392
,
426
Buckley, Reid (uncle),
46
Buckley, William F. Jr. (father): at Auschwitz,
139
; and Christopher’s boarding school speech,
26
; Christopher’s graduation present from,
26
; and Christopher’s introduction to Solzhenitsyn’s works,
219
; Christopher’s relationship with,
166
,
216
; death/funeral of,
225
–26,
392
; 50th birthday of,
43
; Hitchens and,
225
–26; and Lunn friendship,
50
; retirement of,
215
; scotch drinks of,
426
; as
Suzy Wong
sailboat owner,
31
; Vidal and,
223
–24; and Yale-Harvard football games,
38
Buckley family home,
17
–19
budget cuts,
370
–71
bug zapper: history of,
65
–68
Bush, George H. W.: as Andover alum,
190
; and Bawl Brigade,
166
–67; and bomb for “Afghanistan Day” speech,
161
–63; Buckley as speechwriter for,
28
–31,
159
–60,
161
–63,
167
–68,
182
; critics of,
164
–65; elections of 1988 and,
245
; George W.’s relationship with,
166
; and Pebble Beach pro-am golf tournament,
165
; Reagan’s relationship with,
159
–60,
163
–64,
166
; Regan conversation with,
425
; as “Vishnu,”
159
–67; vomiting in Japan by,
202
,
389
; in World War II,
160
–61,
164
Bush, George W.,
80
,
166
,
190
,
192
,
224
,
239
,
291
,
330
,
331
,
428
,
436
cabinet, presidential: appointments to,
191
–93
capitalists: outrage at,
188
–90
Catch–22
(Heller),
7
,
201
,
208
,
211
,
241
,
242
,
254
–61,
293
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),
30
,
75
,
162
,
164
,
169
,
368
,
372
Charles (prince of Wales),
279
,
386
,
388
,
405
,
406
,
416
Churchill, Winston,
53
,
151
,
189
,
219
,
284
,
285
,
305
,
362
,
396
,
430
–31,
436
Clancy, Tom,
39
–40
Clinton, Bill,
171
,
213
,
225
,
307
,
308
,
411
college rejection letters,
359
–62
comedy.
See
humor
Congdon, Tom,
197
–99
corpse, Lenin’s,
400
–403
crank: Buckley as suburban,
54
–56
Croz, Michel,
45
–46,
47
,
50
–51,
52
,
53
Danny (Buckley’s friend),
18
–19,
31
,
32
–34
Daugherty, Tracy,
241
,
255
,
256
,
257
,
259
de Gaulle, Charles,
327
,
332
,
386
–87
Delbanco, Andrew,
312
–13,
314
,
318
Democrats: and hotel minibar hearings,
117
;
New Yorker
cartoons about,
171
–72
Diana (princess of Wales),
141
,
217
,
225
,
278
–80,
406
Dinesen, Isak,
119
–20
directions: history of,
98
–100
dog sled race,
110
–14
Donald, David Herbert,
182
–83,
184
Dordogne, France: Buckley’s tour through,
340
–45
Douglas, Lord Francis,
49
–51,
52
e-mail: how to write witty,
394
–400
Easter Island: Buckley’s trip to,
142
–45
Eisenhower, Dwight D.,
149
,
165
,
305
,
400
,
439
Elan (Buckley friend): Matterhorn trip of,
44
–54
elitism,
189
–90
Elizabeth II (queen of England),
281
,
385
,
386
,
387
–88,
390
,
405
,
411
–12,
416
Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
219
,
252
,
395
The End of the Age
(Robertson),
245
–48
entourages,
411
–19
errors: regretting of,
80
–82
faux pas,
383
–91
Fernbrook
(freighter): Buckley’s adventures on,
15
–17
50th birthdays,
43
–54
firings, art of,
422
–25
first ladies,
179
–80
Fischer, Roger A.,
170
–71
fish tank story,
23
–25
Fitzgerald, F. Scott,
103
,
117
,
259
,
267
,
329
,
330
FitzGerald family,
94
–95
“Five Things You Really Need to Know” (Buckley),
311
football games, Yale-Harvard,
38
Forbes, Bob,
201
France: Buckley’s trips to,
329
–39,
340
–50; sex and,
233
–36; Zagat survey about,
350
–54.
See also
French Revolution; Paris, France
Frankenstein
(Shelley),
312
–13