Living It Up with National Review
by Priscilla L. Buckley
Category: Political Science

In an affectionate and hilarious memoir of her forty-three years at National Review, Priscilla Buckley takes her readers behind the scenes at the magazine that came to define American conservatism. With her brother William F. Buckley leading a brilliant but highly combustible cast of characters, she recounts the adventures and antics of the intellectuals, writers, and statesmen who built the most formidable movement in contemporary politics.Miss Buckleys insiders account of daily life at National Review includes anecdotes that will become part of the folklore of conservatism: the scandalous origins of the Willmoore Kendall Memorial Couch, Arthur Schlesingers prize donkey, and NRs own version of the Pentagon Papers, to name a few. Her privileged perch had its advantages and drawbacks: Miss Buckley worked with many of the leading journalists and politicians of the past half-centuryNR attracted the young George Will, Joan Didion, and Dinesh DSouza, among others. She also constantly contended with the more exotic species in the conservative zoo (remember the fluoridation controversy?).Interspersed with these winsome tales are accounts of the Buckley clans outdoor adventures that rank with the best travel writing: hot air ballooning, white-water rafting, and huntinglots of hunting.As National Review celebrates its fiftieth birthday, Miss Buckleys memoir of family and work, patriotism and faith, pranks and laughs, will charm American conservatives through the anniversary year and for years to come.