Customer Reviews

Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography (with CD)

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I feel that I owe a great deal to William F. Buckley Jr. for all he has taught me and the pleasure he has provided me over the past several, well, decades. While I enjoy the political discourse, and have had fun with his novels, for me Mr. Buckley's writing is at its very best when he gets personal. Read his descriptions of being on watch alone at sea, or his tribute to Whittaker Chambers, or his loving obituaries to his parents and you will know what I mean.

I have been moved by his writing about his youthful adventures, his faith, his son Christopher, computers, limousines, sailing, and music. The other thing is, Mr. Buckley is also very funny. I mean laugh out loud story telling. While Christopher Buckley's written humor is different than his father's, it is clear that there is an inherited component.

This book, "Miles Gone By" is an edited collection of previous writings about his life so we get a largely chronological understanding of his life. This is a beautifully done book and I think its rich feel, the beautiful paper, the interesting pictures that capture important and changing times, and the audio CD with the famous Buckley voice reading us brief selections from the book, all contribute to the importance of this book for those of us who have been wanting WFB to tell us about his life in bound pages.

Since all of this has been printed before, why buy the book? Simply because the editing makes the story more seamless than simply reading articles here, there, and across the pond. The writing remains fresh and a delight to read at an unhurried pace. I so much enjoyed taking my time reading the work of this self-proclaimed fast writer. I enjoy enjoying the act of reading. While I can race through technical material and that which must be read, when I get to material I want to read, such as this treasure, I want to slow down and enjoy it like a special evening with a friend.

Why Mr. Buckley enrages some folks eludes me. They cannot know his writing first hand. That he has maintained lifelong friendships with his political combatants speaks volumes about his character (and theirs) and while I do not know Mr. Buckley personally, I suspect that his legendary kindness and supportiveness is absolutely true.

What a marvelous treasure that will not only sit on my Buckley shelf with dozens of his other books, it is a life story that will also live in my soul. Mr. Buckley, please accept my deepest thanks.

"Miles Gone By" is a wonderful account of the life of a conservative icon. I must admit issue by issue I do not always find myself in agreement with Mr. Buckley and his coterie of advocates. Free markets are vital, but sometimes the public interest must play a role in things..however, that being said this book centers on WFB's life and experiences.

You may judge a book on many levels, but this being more of a biography than anything else you find yourself conflicted on how to judge a life. It is clearly evident here what made Buckley, Buckley. He lived a very sheltered life in a time where America afforded that to the richest among us. He was the product of a British education and was conducted through life by those in his church who charted his values for him. Those days are long gone in today's America, and so this account will seem foreign to so many readers. But it was status quo for much of the elite in Buckley's era.

But the humanity comes through as well. The man's love of music, his interest in human events, and despite what others may say, his dedication and just genuine hard work. This man was no slacker and he did indeed accomplish much through honest difficult work. Yes he could have bought a forum for comment, but this man clearly earned what he got in life. He excelled in writing and his love of learning. In that he is not a fossil of the last century, but a role model for Americans who still believe in the American dream. Did he have advantages others did not? Yes he did. But he used his brain and his qualities of fairplay, kindness, and sometimes skepticism to attain his position of the leader of the conservative movement in the United States. His optimism is to be commended...even during the stormiest moments of his life he believed things would work out. His vision of America reflects that. If you are at all interested in the politics of the 20th century this book is for you. Regardless of your ideology and whether you love him or hate him, Buckley is an icon.

William F. Buckley pulled precisely the right excerpts from his large store of material to give a vivid picture his extraordinary life, full of verve and that irrepressible twinkle in his eye. I have laughed, smiled, chuckled, or groaned at least once with every page. This is truly a delightful, entertaining, and brilliantly written account. It's an unusual way to "write" an autobiography, but then who would expect less than the unique from Bill Buckley?

My image of William F. Buckley has him in his "Firing Line" posture, tightly wound, legs crossed, arms folded, head back and pencil eraser resting on his lower lip. A visual metaphor that the "pen (or pencil) is mightier than the sword". Buckley the writer-thinker who, too many of us, resides on the pantheon of conservativism with Reagan, Friedman, and Hayek has assembled his autobiography, Miles Gone By, from roughly fifty articles he has written over a lifetime. This format provides an interesting portrait because this autobiography is not written by someone approaching eighty, but by a writer moving through life.

And what a life!

He writes at length of his love of the sea and the idiosyncrasies of his various yachts, skiing Utah with Milton Friedman or the Alps with Roger Moore. His unsuccessful run for mayor of New York City, and landmark book God and Man at Yale, that describes liberal (progressive, socialist) influence in the curriculum and the major stir it caused at Yale and among the chattering class. His founding of National Review, etiquette at cocktail parties and adventures in his jointly owned (with fellow students) two-seater airplane, his childhood as one of ten children living in Connecticut and Great Britain and relationship with his parents. His wit and sense of humor are throughout the book and makes it very enjoyable to read.

The psychoanalysis can be left to the biographers; in Miles Gone By, Buckley has assembled a mosaic that, as you stand back, allows you to truly appreciate the man, his principles, courage and contributions.

William F. Buckley Jr. is now in his 80's and visibly winding up his affairs of this world. National Review, the magazine of conservative opinion that he founded and led for half a century, has been turned over to newer hands. Blackford Oakes, hero of a series of spy novels, has been heroically killed off. His production of public commentary is down to a few columns per month. 2004's "Miles Gone By", subtitled "a literary autobriography", is of a piece with this process. It is a collection of essays from his writing lifetime, with items about his childhood, his education at Yale, his time in the Army, his adventures as a sailor, portraits of colleagues and friends, and a sampling of other topics.

Buckley has lived a fairly public life as an advocate for the Conservative point of view. "Miles Gone By" may therefore have no surprises for any future biographer. What the reader does find is William F. Buckley Jr at his finest, an educated and often witty observer of his world, pondering the moment and its meaning, finding delight in the skillful use of the English language. Also on display is Buckley's irreverance for the stuffy and the unsound. Highlights include a thoughtful essay on the 50th reunion of his Yale Class, a rueful account of an extended rail trip through Siberia, and brief sketches of his friendships with David Niven and Whittaker Chambers. An extended piece on "God and Man at Yale" recalls the book that started it all.

This book is highly recommended to fans of Mr. Buckley, who will enjoy this fine sampling of his work, perhaps the last to be put out by his own hand.

Thanks to this marvelous (as usual) piece the miles gone by are still with us. The CD is a nice feature for those who find the author's voice a comfort in itself. I don't know why but I find myself contrasting this favorably with W. V. Quine's "The Time of My Life". While I might occasionally read Quine's autobiography for insights on his philosophy, and find his life much like the rigorous mathematical logic of his books, "Miles" represents much more the sort of days I would imitate had they not already gone by. This is a comfortable book that leads to comfortable hours.

I'm always jealous that I can't produce the speach, book, articles that Mr. Buckley does. This book makes you really think (as did "Nearer My God", even though I'm not Catholic and would love to debate him on this issue.) This is, as usual, a wonderful trip through a wonderful mind that makes you think, or maybe rethink some of your concerns, values etc.

Miles Gone By is a peek into all aspects the extraordinary life of William F. Buckley. From his early childhood, to his sailing adventures, to the lives of the great men, women, and institutions in his life, this book has it all. If someone was going to read only one Bill Buckley book, this would be the one.

Read this book and unearth The Real Buckley: athlete, family man, world traveler, peerless intellectual, a religious soul with an inquisitive, skeptical mind-- and an insatiable appetite for adventure.

Bill Buckley became the preeminent thinker of our time while in his twenties - when he authored "God and Man at Yale". And like a fine wine ( I think he also makes this analogy!), he has only gotten better with age. This book is a remarkable journey through what has been an extraordinary life; He has seen history firsthand, lived it himself, created it by his proximity and influence over the leaders of our age. His recollections of dinner and conversation with Ronald Reagen, Grace Kelley, Roger Moore, his father, on and on, are riveting and provide glimpses of these people that have to date escaped public dissemination. He knows the powerful force he has become in American culture and thought, yet as he writes about these experiences you are struck not by arrogance, but by the humility with which he has lived his life. His humble memories belie the real and immeasureable influence he has had over our world and one is left begging for many more miles to go by in his life before he leaves us alone with ourselves. A great book, eclectic and meandering, but full of thought-provoking anecdotes and funny recollections.