But Enough About You, Christopher Buckley
But Enough About You, Christopher Buckley
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

But Enough About You
Essays

Author: Christopher Buckley

Narrator: Bob Walter

Unabridged: 16 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/06/2014


Synopsis

An extraordinary wide-ranging collection of essays with “distinctive wordplay and quirky opinions…Christopher Buckley is good company whether you’re looking for two quick pages and a smile, or want to linger” (The New York Times Book Review).

Christopher Buckley, like his terrific volume But Enough About You, contains multitudes. Tackling subjects ranging from “How to Teach Your Four-Year-Old to Ski” to “A Short History of the Bug Zapper,” and “The Art of Sacking” to literary friendships with Joseph Heller and Christopher Hitchens, he is at once a humorous storyteller, astute cultural critic, adventurous traveler, and irreverent historian.

Reading these essays is the equivalent of being in the company of a tremendously witty and enlightening companion. Praised as “both deeply informed and deeply funny” by The Wall Street Journal, Buckley will have you laughing and reflecting in equal measure. This is a rare combination of big ideas and truly fun writing.

About Christopher Buckley

Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor, and memoirist. His books include Thank You for SmokingThe Judge HunterMake Russia Great Again, and The Relic Master. He worked as a merchant seaman and White House speechwriter. He was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on February 12, 2022

I happened to look up this book because one of you mentioned that he wrote a good essay about some writer or book I like. I think it may have been Glenn Russell in a comment thread about Our Man in Havana? At any rate, I can admit I can be fussy about who it is I read and prefer not to read, maybe l......more

Goodreads review by Steve on May 16, 2014

If you were a huge fan of The White House Mess and Thank You For Smoking and been disappointed with the books since then, this is a revelation. The truth is he just isn't as funny as he used to be. The astonishing thing is that he has become a gifted serious writer. Read his essay on Auschwitz and i......more

Goodreads review by Lcitera on June 28, 2014

I enjoy Buckley's books...they make me laugh...and I be not an easy audience. His essays, written for various sources including the NY TIMES, The DAILY BEAST, and FORBES, address a variety of topics most often written as satire; a few so serious and so well done you can feel his horror as to that wh......more

Goodreads review by Jason on May 28, 2020

I blame myself - I just got out of a Philip Roth binge and Hoopla suggested I read this; I had no idea who Christopher Buckley was. Well, 450+ pages later I'm through with this book - a collection of Andy Rooney-esque whining, travel essays about drinking a lot, obsessing over the genius of Christop......more

Goodreads review by Robert on December 17, 2017

A great gift. I will share with my wife. Incredibly funny perspective, told in the way that only Christopher Buckley can describe history and current wevents......more


Quotes

[A] dizzying display of versatility. As a longtime fan of Buckley’s comic novels (10 at last count), I came away from this book with tremendous respect — yes indeed, respect — for his ability to switch (apparently seamlessly) from one form to another, the prose enlivened by his distinctive wordplay and quirky opinions. He is good company whether you’re looking for two quick pages and a smile, or want to linger over his nuanced character assessment of his former employer, Vice President George H. W. Bush.

[O]ne of the funniest and most insightful writers in America... The word I wrote most often in my notes as I read the book was 'hilarious.'

Witty and irreverent.

Prone to benign mischief, a literary twinkle in the eye, Buckley nails his targets....

[Buckley] excels in parodies of newspaper corrections, travel tips for small-aircraft passengers, and the comedic dystopia of an imagined inaugural speech from President Donald Trump.

A geyser of comedy for three decades.

This collection of Buckley’s essays perfectly showcases and draws upon his many writerly voices… these are among his very best efforts…His thoughts are pithy, trenchant, and perspicacious, and for all that, his essays are seasoned with a light dusting of self-deprecation, the secret to this book’s exceptional charm…sublimely addicting.

Even with more than 450 pages and almost 100 essays, you’ll want more of Buckley’s astute observations of the human condition that will make you chuckle, laugh loudly or seriously consider the points made throughout the book. Read it straight through from beginning to end, or just pick it up at any point and you’ll discover what clever and invigorating writing can do for your spirit.

Enormously readable.

The great thing about But Enough About You is that if one essay is not to your liking, surely the next one will suit you. Buckley has had such a wide range of experiences in his travels, writing career, political experience, and his circle of friends that it seems he has no end of interesting anecdotes. His life is more interesting than most, and he writes movingly and brilliantly about it… You just have to admire a writer who is as comfortable writing about a visit to Auschwitz or a tribute to Joseph Heller as he is writing about his incompetence as a ski instructor for his 7-year-old son, or a fake questionnaire for vice presidential candidates.