A Great Book About The Buckleys

A Great Book About The Buckleys

In April I read this memoir about William Buckley's family. William Buckley was the publisher of the National Review and a staunch conservative republican. He came from a family of twelve children. His mother was from New Orleans and was German. His father was Irish Catholic who lived for some time in Mexico while searching for oil. This memoir is written by the youngest Buckley son, Reid Buckley who creates this memoir while he and most of his siblings are either in their 80's or already deceased. I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir which covers all of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is like a trip down memory lane.

I laughed myself silly when I read Reid's version of what happened one time to his mother and favorite aunt when they went to confession at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City. His mother got a penance of 1000 Our Fathers and his aunt got a penance of 1000 Hail Marys. Reid states in the book that both ladies were already in their 80's and had probably not committed a sin in over twenty years but still went to confession all the time. Reid goes on to tell how the ladies contacted another priest at St. Patricks to find out why they each got such a large penance. Well, as Reid so eloquently relates in the book when the second priest goes to the confessional he discovers that a drunk Irish lay person has snuck into the confessional booth to hear confessions and dole out penances. What a funny story.

Sadly William Buckley died just when his brother's memoir was about to be published. I think a lot of you would enjoy reading this book.