Christopher Taylor Buckley
(born December 24, 1952) [1] is an American political satirist and the author of novels including God Is My Broker
, Thank You for Smoking
, Little Green Men
, The White House Mess
, No Way to Treat a First Lady
, Wet Work
, Florence of Arabia
, Boomsday
, Supreme Courtship
, and, most recently, Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir
. He is the son of William F. Buckley Jr. and Patricia Buckley.
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CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY TICKETS
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Life
After a classical education at the
Portsmouth Abbey School, Buckley, like his father, graduated from
Jonathan Edwards College,
Yale University in 1975, as a member of
Skull and Bones. He became managing editor of
Esquire Magazine
and later worked as the chief speechwriter for Vice President
George H. W. Bush. This experience led to his novel
The White House Mess
, a satire on
White House office politics and political memoirs. (The title refers to the White House lunchroom, which is known as the "
mess" because the
Navy operates it.)
Thank You for Smoking
is another satire, its protagonist a
lobbyist for the
tobacco industry,
Nick Naylor. He followed that with more humor about Washington in the form of
Little Green Men
, about the government agency investigating
UFO sightings. His
No Way To Treat A First Lady
has the president's wife on trial for assassinating her husband and
Florence of Arabia
is about a do-gooding
State Department bureaucrat in the
Middle East. His one serious novel,
Wet Work
, is about a billionaire businessman avenging his granddaughter's death from drugs.
Thank You for Smoking
was adapted into a
movie written and directed by
Jason Reitman, and starring
Aaron Eckhart. It was released on 17 March 2006.
Buckley also wrote the non-fiction
Steaming To Bamboola
, about the
merchant marine, as well as contributed to an oral history of
Milford, Connecticut, and is an editor at
Forbes Magazine
. Buckley has written for most national newspapers and magazines, including
The New York Times
,
The Wall Street Journal
,
The Washington Post
,
Time
,
The Atlantic Monthly
,
Smithsonian
,
US News & World Report
,
Vanity Fair
,
Vogue
,
Conde Nast Traveler
and numerous humorous essays in
The New Yorker
.
[2]
Obama endorsement
For a brief time in summer and fall 2008, Christopher Buckley also wrote the back-page column for
National Review
, the conservative magazine founded by his father. This came to an end after Buckley endorsed the
2008 Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama in October 2008. Buckley's endorsement, entitled "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting for Obama",
[3] appeared in
The Daily Beast
. He chose
The Daily Beast
to avoid complications with
National Review
. After many readers and contributors expressed their displeasure, Buckley resigned from
National Review
.
[4] [5] Buckley continues to write columns for
The Daily Beast
.
[6].
Family
He is married to Lucy Gregg Buckley with whom he has two children. He also has a son Jonathan, from a relationship with former Random House publicist Irina Woelfle.
[7]
Bibliography
Satirical novels
- The White House Mess
(1986)
- Thank You for Smoking
(1994)
- God Is My Broker : A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth
(1998) (written with John Tierney)
- Little Green Men
(1999)
- No Way to Treat a First Lady
(2002)
- Florence of Arabia
(2004)
- Boomsday
(2007)
- Supreme Courtship
(2008)
Films based on Buckley's novels
- Thank You for Smoking
(2006) (Directed by Jason Reitman, Screenplay also by Reitman)
- Little Green Men
(In pre-production; scheduled to be released in 2009) (Directed by Whit Stillman, Screenplay by Sean Bates and Gregory Mackenzie)
Travelogues
- Steaming to Bamboola - The World of a Tramp Freighter
(1983)
- Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital
(2003)
Other
- My Harvard, My Yale
(1981) (contributor, segment "Stoned in New Haven") (university biography)
- Campion: A Play in Two Acts
(1990) (written with James Macguire) (play)
- Wet Work
(1991) (novel)
- Wry Martinis
(1997) (collected humor and journalism)
- Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir
(2009) ISBN 0-44-654094-3 (Biographical)
References
- Christopher Buckley
- Greater Talent Network online biography
- Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama
- Hardball
- A little scoop on Christopher Buckley
- Christopher Buckley
- Chris Buckley's Child-Support Saga Continues