Living It Up with National Review

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 Buckley’s insider’s account of daily life at National Review includes anecdotes that will become part of the folklore of conservatism: the scandalous origins of the office’s Memorial Couch, Arthur Schlesinger’s prize donkey, and NR’s 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-century—NR attracted the young George Will, Joan Didion, Garry Wills, David Brooks, and Paul Gigot, 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 clan’s outdoor adventures that rank with the best travel writing: hot air ballooning, white-water rafting, and hunting—lots of hunting.

As National Review celebrates its fiftieth birthday, Miss Buckley’s memoir of family and work, patriotism and faith, pranks and laughs, will charm American conservatives through the anniversary year and for years to come.