Christopher Taylor Buckley (born September 28, 1952) is an American author and

political satirist Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

. He also served as chief speechwriter to Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. He is known for writing ''

God Is My Broker ''God Is My Broker'' () is a satirical book written by Christopher Buckley and John Tierney, published in 1998 by Random House which parodies self-help books, such as those of Deepak Chopra, whose works are particularly singled out. The protag ...

'', '' Thank You for Smoking'', ''

Little Green Men Little green men is the stereotypical portrayal of extraterrestrials as little humanoid creatures with green skin and sometimes with antennae on their heads. The term is also sometimes used to describe gremlins, mythical creatures known for cau ...

'', ''The White House Mess'', ''

No Way to Treat a First Lady ''No Way to Treat a First Lady'' is a satirical novel by Christopher Buckley, first published in 2002. The novel follows the trial of Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, a fictional First Lady accused of murdering her husband, the President of the United ...

'', ''Wet Work'', '' Florence of Arabia'', ''

Boomsday Boomsday was an annual fireworks celebration that took place on Labor Day weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was the largest Labor Day firework show in the United States, and was considered a top attraction in the region. The event was held on ...

'', ''

Supreme Courtship ''Supreme Courtship'' is a 2008 novel by Christopher Buckley, which tells the story of a ''Judge Judy''-style TV judge nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States. Plot summary After several failed attempts to seek Senate approval for ...

'', ''Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir'', and ''The Judge Hunter''.

Early life and education

Buckley is the son of writer and '' Firing Line'' host

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

and

Patricia Buckley Patricia Aldyen Austin Taylor Buckley (July 1, 1926 – April 15, 2007) was a Canadian-American socialite, noted for her fundraising activities. She was the wife of conservative writer and activist William F. Buckley Jr. and the mother of write ...

. After receiving a classical education at Portsmouth Abbey School, Buckley worked his way around the world as a deckhand on a Norwegian tramp freighter. He graduated ''cum laude'' from Yale University in 1976.

Career

He joined the staff of ''Esquire'' magazine in 1976 and seven months later was promoted at age 24 to managing editor. In 1980 he returned to sea aboard an American ship and made eight mid-winter transatlantic crossings between U.S. Gulf ports and North Sea ports in England and Germany. The experience was the basis for his first bestselling non-fiction book, ''Steaming to Bamboola: The World of a Tramp Freighter'', published in 1982. In 1981, he moved to Washington, D.C. to become chief speechwriter to Vice President

George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...

. His first bestselling novel, ''The White House Mess'', published in 1986, was a satire on White House office politics and political memoirs. In 1989, Malcolm S. Forbes hired Buckley to start up a supplement to Forbes magazine. Buckley was editor-in-chief of ''Forbes FYI'', later ''Forbes Life'', from 1990 to 2007. His 20 books have been published in 16 languages. His novel ''Thank You For Smoking'' was adapted to the screen and directed by Jason Reitman.

''National Review''

In summer and fall 2008, Christopher Buckley wrote the back-page column for '' National Review'', the conservative magazine founded by his father. In October 2008, Buckley wrote a column endorsing Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, choosing to have it published in '' The Daily Beast'' to avoid backlash from ''National Review'' readers. After many ''National Review'' readers and contributors still expressed their displeasure, Buckley resigned from that publication. The ''Beast''s title for his endorsement, "Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama", was found by many of his father's friends and supporters to be offensive, particularly as it appeared shortly after his father's death. Buckley disavowed the choice of title, although he continued to occasionally write for the ''Beast''.

Personal life

Buckley first marriage was to Lucy Gregg, the daughter of Donald Gregg, who served as assistant to Vice President Bush for national security affairs and later as United States Ambassador to South Korea. Buckley and Gregg have two children, Caitlin and William, born in 1988 and 1991, respectively. In 2000, Buckley's son, Jonathan, was born to former Random House publicist Irina Woelfle. Buckley and Gregg divorced in 2011. In 2012, he married Dr. Katherine "Katy" Close, a physician. She has four children.

Bibliography

Satirical novels

* ''

: A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7½ Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth'' (1998) (written with John Tierney)

Political satire

* ''The White House Mess'' (1986) * '' Thank You for Smoking'' (1994) * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2002) * '' Florence of Arabia'' (2004) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * ''They Eat Puppies, Don't They?'' (2012) * ''Make Russia Great Again: A Novel'' (2020)

Historical satire

* ''The Relic Master'' (2015) * ''The Judge Hunter'' (2018)

Films based on novels

* '' Thank You for Smoking'' (2006) (Directed by

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian-American actor and filmmaker, best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno'' (2007), '' Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young Adult'' (2011), and '' Ghostbusters: ...

, Screenplay also by Reitman) * ''Little Green Men'' (In development) (Screenplay by Sean Bates and Gregory Mackenzie) * ''Boomsday'' (In development) Screenwriters Ron Bass and Jen Smolka have adapted the novel into a screenplay. Tom Vaughan was set to direct the film in early 2011 for GreeneStreet Films and Das Films

Travelogues

* ''Steaming to Bamboola – The World of a Tramp Freighter'' (1983) * ''Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital'' (2003)

Other

* ''Theophilus North'' (introduction) * ''If These Walls Could Talk'' (contributor) * ''101 Damnations'' (contributor) * ''Islands: A Treasury of Contemporary Travel Writing'' (contributor) * ''Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker'' (contributor) * ''Disquiet, Please! More Humor Writing from The New Yorker'' (contributor) * ''The New Yorker Book of Political Cartoons'' (introduction) * ''Ray Bradbury: The Stories of Ray Bradbury'' (introduction) * ''Our Man in Havana, by Graham Greene'' (introduction) * ''Bright Pages: Yale Writers, 1701-2001'' (contributor) * ''Mirth of a Nation'' (contributor) * ''The Faber Book of Smoking'' (contributor) * ''The New Yorker Book of Money Cartoons'' (introduction) * ''Another Sage of Baltimore'' (contributor) * ''True Prep'' (contributor) * ''Catch-22: 50th Anniversary edition'' (introduction) * ''The Best American Travel Writing'' (contributor) * ''Moby-Dick'' (afterword) * ''The Seven Deadly Virtues'' (contributor) * ''Wish You Weren’t There'' (contributor) * ''Once a Catholic'' (contributor) * ''The Best American Nonrequired Reading'' (contributor) * ''Backward and Upward: The New Conservative Writing'' (contributor) * ''Legend: Frank Sinatra and the American Dream'' (contributor) * ''Sex and God at Yale'' (introduction) * ''The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails'' (introduction) * ''Thank You For Smoking: The Shooting Script'' (introduction) * ''Now What? Essays on Life After Trump'' (contributor) * ''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)
Description

Hachette (Biographical) * '' But Enough About You: Essays'' (May 6, 2014)
Description

preview
Simon & Schuster * ''Postscript: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011''

References

External links

*
Author's Official Website

NadaPress.com The Home of Buckley Prose
*

PBS interview by David Brancaccio.
Novelist Buckley, Smoking Out the Self-Righteous

Christopher Buckley – National Book Festival
Library of Congress
Christopher Buckley audio interview about ''Losing Mum and Pup''
*
''In Depth'' interview with Buckley, May 3, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Christopher 1952 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American agnostics American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American military personnel of the Vietnam War American political journalists American sailors American satirical novelists American satirists Buckley family Former Roman Catholics Living people Military personnel from New York City Military personnel from New York (state) New York (state) Republicans Novelists from Connecticut Portsmouth Abbey School alumni United States Merchant Mariners William F. Buckley Jr. Writers from Stamford, Connecticut Yale University alumni