But Enough About You: Essays (58 page)

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Authors: Christopher Buckley

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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.

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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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Index

“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

Ambrose, Stephen,
256
,
299

American Heritage Dictionary
(Buckley),
255

Amis, Martin,
224
,
228
,
230

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

Balzac, Honoré,
10
,
330
,
334

bankers: outrage at,
188
–90

Bartz, Carol,
422
,
423
,
424
,
425

Behan, Brendan,
92
,
93
,
96

Benchley, Robert,
2
–3,
303
,
381
,
387
,
395

Berlin Wall,
434
–35,
434
n

bib, lobster,
62
–64

Biden, Joseph,
21
,
401
,
424

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

book tours,
5
–6,
210
,
211
,
215

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

Bradbury, Ray,
7
,
8
,
266
–74

Braveheart
(movie),
39
,
41
,
90
,
433

Brinkley, Douglas,
218
,
265
,
297
,
298
,
299

Brown, Tina,
250

Brún, Garech a,
91
–92,
93
–94

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

Buffett, Warren,
82
,
404
,
405

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

Carter, Jimmy,
384
,
419

Castro, Fidel,
295
,
412
,
435

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

China,
164
–65,
237
–40

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

Clinton, Hillary,
27
,
174

Cold War,
28
–31,
237
,
305

college rejection letters,
359
–62

comedy.
See
humor

Comford, Alex,
233
,
234
–36,
268

Congdon, Tom,
197
–99

Conrad, Barnaby
III
,
426
–27

Conrad, Joseph,
8
,
15
,
34

corpse, Lenin’s,
400
–403

crank: Buckley as suburban,
54
–56

Croz, Michel,
45
–46,
47
,
50
–51,
52
,
53

Cruise, Tom,
42
,
280
,
309
–10

da Vinci, Leonardo,
253
,
350
–51

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

Derek, Bo,
269
–70,
274

Diana (princess of Wales),
141
,
217
,
225
,
278
–80,
406

Dickens, Charles,
151
,
330
,
348

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

Duyckinck, Evert,
316
,
319

e-mail: how to write witty,
394
–400

Easter Island: Buckley’s trip to,
142
–45

Einstein, Albert,
291
,
395

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

Esquire
magazine,
221
,
265

faux pas,
383
–91

Fernbrook
(freighter): Buckley’s adventures on,
15
–17

50th birthdays,
43
–54

Firing Line
(TV show),
215
,
225

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

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