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Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography
Here is a unique collection of fifty years of essays by William F. Buckley, Jr. chosen to form an unconventioanl career as the consevative writer par excellence.
594 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2004
46 people are currently reading
717 people want to read
About the author
William F. Buckley Jr.
183 books336 followersWilliam Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American author and conservative commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing style was famed for its erudition, wit, and use of uncommon words.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
November 9, 2014
Buckley is one of the few authors whose writing is capable of making anything, anything at all, interesting to the reader. This literary autobiography, as he entitled it, is a delightful overview of the thoughtful man's life, from childhood to his leaving the helm of National Review and preparing to embark upon a final sailing trip around the world with his son. I miss Mr. Buckley, having loved reading his work since I was in middle school, but this brings him back with all of the wit and liveliness, to say nothing of effortlessly elegant turn of phrase, for which he was loved by so many.
June 6, 2018
"Miles Gone By" by William F. Buckley Jr. is a collection of his essays from over 50 years. He said that “it is material that he brought together with an autobiography in mind using articles, books and his newspaper columns”.
Buckley’s diverse mix of his life-loves, history that includes his youth growing up, his impressive and interesting friends, love of sailing, love of language, music and skiing, are all puzzle pieces in getting to know him better. It would be easy to overlook the uniqueness of this life by labeling the author as mostly reflecting a political point of view.
A favorite chapter was “God and Man at Yale A controversy revisited.” In 1950 this book was considered very controversial in it’s defense of individualism, religion and capitalism. He discussed the 25th anniversary edition of the book where he wrote a comprehensive introduction for the book.
The essays retell the stories that many Buckley followers know well.
In the final chapter “Thoughts on a Final Passage” he likens his life to a voyage not really knowing where it would lead in another 5 years of retirement. He said that “you are moving at racing speed, parting the buttery sea as with a scalpel, and the waters roar by, themselves exuberantly subdued by your powers to command your way through them.” More on this author and book at Web Site www.connectedeventsmatter.com
Buckley’s diverse mix of his life-loves, history that includes his youth growing up, his impressive and interesting friends, love of sailing, love of language, music and skiing, are all puzzle pieces in getting to know him better. It would be easy to overlook the uniqueness of this life by labeling the author as mostly reflecting a political point of view.
A favorite chapter was “God and Man at Yale A controversy revisited.” In 1950 this book was considered very controversial in it’s defense of individualism, religion and capitalism. He discussed the 25th anniversary edition of the book where he wrote a comprehensive introduction for the book.
The essays retell the stories that many Buckley followers know well.
In the final chapter “Thoughts on a Final Passage” he likens his life to a voyage not really knowing where it would lead in another 5 years of retirement. He said that “you are moving at racing speed, parting the buttery sea as with a scalpel, and the waters roar by, themselves exuberantly subdued by your powers to command your way through them.” More on this author and book at Web Site www.connectedeventsmatter.com
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July 30, 2020I picked this up at random because I liked the title and have vague, favorable feelings for Buckley as a person. I honestly expected it to be very boring, but I can't put it down. It is really funny and engaging and wonderfully written. My husband says it is ok that I am sort of falling for Buckley now because he is a) brilliant and b) dead. EDIT: I originally began reading this book and wrote this review back in 2011. Not sure why these books are generating in my feed again. I never finished it. And Buckley is fascinating and a great writer, but no getting around that he’s pretentious. 2020 Alexandra is not in love.
June 21, 2021
This collection of essays, read by the author, made for pleasant company. Born into a generous and loving family, WFB2 made good use of his gifts and had a wonderful time. Speaking from the mountain top of his unique and lofty perspective, he talks of literature, politics, sailing, skiing, and the making and keeping of friends. To me, it says "go and do likewise."
April 13, 2021
This is a collection of essays by perhaps the eminence grise of the conservative movement in America for well on 50 years. Subjects range from his 'privileged' (when the word actually meant something) upbringing, family (10 children!), his many sailing adventures, skiing (with Milton Friedman!), travel (including a wonderful essay on Lourdes), famous personalities he encountered, his books, and even political dabbling (including a run for NYC mayor in 1965). Buckley was renowned for his dry wit, incisive analysis and wide-ranging vocabulary. It is all on display here minus his interesting accent and priceless expressions. There is a long and interesting chapter on his first and perhaps most impactful book, 'God and Man at Yale' (Regnery, 1951). The near hysterical opprobrium the book elicted from the so-called elite of that period is brilliantly recounted in his essay on the book written on the 25th anniversary of its publication. The entire reaction was a not-too distant foreshadowing of the rampant cancel culture and censorship that today threatens to extinguish all forms of conservative thought and dissent from the PC 'narrative'. The transition of the mainline American University system from places of relatively free thought and debate into the increasingly monolithic philosophy espoused so widely today, was already well under way in 1951 but of course denied frantically by Buckley's critics. The highlight of the book for me however, came on page 332 where he mentions a certain Kevin Corrigan, a 'Regnery official' (a Chicago-based publishing company) and their adventure together hawking conservative books in 1952 near Milwaukee. My Dad would have been all but 26 y.o. that year and a new father in January. He and Buckley were contemporaries, very close in age and certainly political and religious beliefs, both conservative and staunch Roman Catholics. Apparently they were fairly close friends at one point and I recall my mother mentioning Buckley coming over to their apartment I think it was in Winnetka, IL in the early 1950s. Many years and miles ago, how fast they go by.
August 18, 2008
The style here struck me as an informal conversation with a friend on the front porch rather than the formal discourse required of a book. The writing was light, if that is possible for Buckley but certainly Buckley, and yet he left the polemics for a different time and place. The chapters were all at once heartfelt, humble and enthusiastic; evident throughout too was his innate goodness, humor and basic good nature.
The book is a collection of 50 essays from early childhood, his first bestselling book as a college senior “God and Man at Yale” -- now God and Man in Heaven – through all of his life adventures of work, friends, colleagues, sailing, music etc, etc. He often made references of his fondness for reading, which I found really neat, and his struggles to find the time in his busy schedule – 70 speaking engagements a year plus his magazine, talk show, etc – to read. He was a man of intellectual and physical élan, of constant motion and action.
I thoroughly enjoyed these essays and whenever my spirits may flag all that is required to “repristinate my fires” is go back and read more of his writing.
The book is a collection of 50 essays from early childhood, his first bestselling book as a college senior “God and Man at Yale” -- now God and Man in Heaven – through all of his life adventures of work, friends, colleagues, sailing, music etc, etc. He often made references of his fondness for reading, which I found really neat, and his struggles to find the time in his busy schedule – 70 speaking engagements a year plus his magazine, talk show, etc – to read. He was a man of intellectual and physical élan, of constant motion and action.
I thoroughly enjoyed these essays and whenever my spirits may flag all that is required to “repristinate my fires” is go back and read more of his writing.
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August 6, 2013'In short, Miles Gone By is an autobiographical aperitif when what we should have had is the whole roast. Bill Buckley insists that he will not write a real autobiography—is it out of modesty, or is it out of a post molestam senectutem fatigue? A part of the autobiography of John Dos Passos exists in the posthumous publication of his letters. But a full Dos Passos autobiography would have told us much that has not been said about the literary world of the 1920s and the Spanish Civil War. Autobiographical accounts are part of the endless rendition of our divina commedia. And so, though there is much that is good and memorable to read in this volume, and a reminder of what was once before indited, it is not the “literary” account of a man and his life that the cover alleges.'
Read the full review, "Recounting the Miles," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
Read the full review, "Recounting the Miles," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
February 25, 2011
This is another one where I had the privilege of reading the book and then interviewing the writer, Buckley, on the phone for a profile I was writing of him at the time. No matter what your politics, it's hard to resist enjoying the workings of a brilliant mind. And that's what you get in "Miles Gone By." Buckley is alternately very personal, brilliant, humorous and scathing in indictments of what he considers lazy thinking and outmoded ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him and reading his book.
August 18, 2008
Mr. Buckley calls this a "literary" autobiography and I expect he is accurate in his definition. However, this is just a series of reprinted articles and in some cases, chapters of previously published works. I read it in paperback with no CD. I love his wit and his sailing writing and had hoped for something new. It is kind of a "best of" for those who don't want to read Airborne or Atlantic High or other works which may be out of print.
November 6, 2012
Has its moments. Profiles, especially of Whitaker Chambers, are memorable and provide a framework for buckley's insights. Much drift in between in this loosely connected book. The sailing section itself seems to go on forever without adding much. I wonder what would have happened had Buckley started from scratch and spent his considerable powers shaping sentences and scenes to invite us into his life. Rewarmed columns don't quite do that.
March 18, 2020
I loved reading this book, and of course my internal voice as I did so was WFB's! I bought this book when it first came out, I think back in 2004, and that edition came with an audio CD with the author narrating various excerpts. I used to listen to it in my car as I drove to school, and my younger brother would groan! My favorite anecdote was the first on the CD, when his sister, Patricia, didn't wave to FDR at her riding competition. "I thought you didn't like him."
October 20, 2013
The essays of William F. Buckley Jr. have received much acclaim from leading journalists and conservatives. I am fond of his thoughts and views; however his very extensive flowing vocabulary and high-brow elitist writing style is a bit over the top for me.
July 2, 2018
I am not a conservative, but I love William F. Buckley. His insights are worth hearing.
This semiautobiography is organized as a collection of essays and textual fragments gathered from his long and illustrious career. Some of the bits are more interesting than others, but the sheer scope of the material, combined with a firm editorial hand, makes for an epic journey without much extra fluff.
I said without much. Were I blessed with any interest in sailing, I would have given this book five stars. The passion comes through, but so does the obsession. Like the ocean itself, it's too big for its own good, skipper. I'd say skip it.
My favourite bits include the recollections of his childhood and adolescence, the intriguing saga of the divisive university politics at Yale, the passionate love letter to wine, the transcript of the famous Panama debate with Reagan, the copious pages of political and literary gossip, and the amusing asides on a dozen trivialities enlivened with wit and irony. All of it is served with honey; on nigh every page you can taste the sweet and unswerving devotion, by Mr. Buckley, to mastering the peculiar manners, the power and the vocabulary of the English tongue.
Buckley is no saint. While I loathe his Catholic mysticism and warmongering apologetics, there is no conservative I'd rather have around today. He was never anything less than idealistic. He was deadly precise in his reactionary fervour and always honest in his dealings, which gave progressives some healthy target practice - and a good model to emulate on the other side.
Being dangerous enough to be taken seriously is already an impressive, lasting legacy, but this is not the best engraving on his tombstone. No. Buckley's greatest contribution, I believe, was his cultivation, by word and deed, of the power of reasoned debate. He showed us that there is no controversy that cannot be made more tolerable by being placed on the Firing Line. Without "frenemies" like him to keep us straight, the endangered art of civility will sink to the sea with the Titanic and Atlantis.
This semiautobiography is organized as a collection of essays and textual fragments gathered from his long and illustrious career. Some of the bits are more interesting than others, but the sheer scope of the material, combined with a firm editorial hand, makes for an epic journey without much extra fluff.
I said without much. Were I blessed with any interest in sailing, I would have given this book five stars. The passion comes through, but so does the obsession. Like the ocean itself, it's too big for its own good, skipper. I'd say skip it.
My favourite bits include the recollections of his childhood and adolescence, the intriguing saga of the divisive university politics at Yale, the passionate love letter to wine, the transcript of the famous Panama debate with Reagan, the copious pages of political and literary gossip, and the amusing asides on a dozen trivialities enlivened with wit and irony. All of it is served with honey; on nigh every page you can taste the sweet and unswerving devotion, by Mr. Buckley, to mastering the peculiar manners, the power and the vocabulary of the English tongue.
Buckley is no saint. While I loathe his Catholic mysticism and warmongering apologetics, there is no conservative I'd rather have around today. He was never anything less than idealistic. He was deadly precise in his reactionary fervour and always honest in his dealings, which gave progressives some healthy target practice - and a good model to emulate on the other side.
Being dangerous enough to be taken seriously is already an impressive, lasting legacy, but this is not the best engraving on his tombstone. No. Buckley's greatest contribution, I believe, was his cultivation, by word and deed, of the power of reasoned debate. He showed us that there is no controversy that cannot be made more tolerable by being placed on the Firing Line. Without "frenemies" like him to keep us straight, the endangered art of civility will sink to the sea with the Titanic and Atlantis.
August 16, 2020
William F. Buckley, Jr. is a fascinating character. In some ways, he and Martin Luther are two of the most fascinating characters to me in the past 500 years.
They have some similarities.
I realize this can be an odd statement on the surface, considering that Buckley was Catholic while Martin Luther castigated the Catholic Church’s doctrine.
However, both came from a relatively elite and educated background and family for their times.
Both started a movement that pushed back against the groupthink of their time. But also both in a way helped preserve something. Luther revealed the Catholic Church’s false teaching and helped preserve the concept of salvation through Christ alone through faith alone.
Buckley helped preserve a concept on which our country was founded: conservatism and limited government.
Both seemed like revolutions, but they were really preserving something that had seemed to have been overlooked and forgotten.
Buckley is often referred to as the founder of the modern conservative movement. He’s been credited for heavily influencing President Ronald Reagan (by Reagan himself). He founded National Review in 1955 and began the public affairs show Firing Line in 1966. (Ronald Reagan said he was a Democrat the first time he picked up a copy of National Review.)
So with that in mind, I began reading his autobiography “Miles Gone By” with interest, hoping to see a bird’s eye view of how he influenced conservatism and America.
But that’s not what I got. I did not sense a person who was dedicated to show the big picture or who was trying to show how he had a major place in history. On the contrary, this was clearly a man who loved the minutiae of life. The first time I started to read it, I got bored and stopped because he spent a lot of time talking about his childhood and equestrian endeavors.
I always considered topics regarding horse riding and sailing as elitist. I grew up as a child of missionaries, so sports that involve as much disposable income as horse riding and sailing seemed the thing of rich people.
No doubt, Buckley grew up as an elite. His parents sent him to private school, spent good money on tutors to teach him music, proper diction, language, and so on. Relatively little in his autobiography is said about politics growing up.
He goes into great detail when talking about sailing and his other hobbies. He remembers specifics, and he utilizes that private-school educated language, diction, and vocabulary that his parents invested for him.
His writing and word choice is precise and exquisite. He was often praised as well as criticized for his vast vocabulary. (There’s a chapter in there just about his vocabulary.)
He stops to take time to vividly describe details of his life. He is always stopping to smell the roses.
Here is one gem in which he describes celebrating Christmas on a sailing excursion:
“The girls were working on the decorations, and by the time the sun went down we had a twinkling Christmas tree on deck and twinkling lights along the canvas of the dodger. The whole forward section was piled with Christmas gifts and decorations, and when we sat down for dinner, with three kerosene lights along the supper table, the moon beamed, lambent, aimed at us as though we were the single targets of the heavens.”
The entire book “Miles Gone By,” which is a collection of essays by Buckley over the years, is packed full of great writing. Every sentence is comprised of words carefully chosen, punctuation that weaves thoughts together splendidly, and verbs that are perfect for the occasion. Most of us will need a dictionary nearby when reading Buckley. It’s hard to take in and read in its entirety. Trying to read Buckly is like trying to keep pace with Michael Jordan while playing basketball one-on-one. It’s exhausting, but you stand in amazement the whole time.
His writing is an art form if its own. Some parts remind me slightly of C.S. Lewis, but Lewis does not use anywhere near the vocabulary that Buckley does.
Toward the end, Buckley starts to discuss the conservative movement. After I waited patiently as he recounted his sailing expeditions, upbringing, and other endeavors, he finally mentions what I had been waiting for: talks of the conservative movement.
He reviews how Barry Goldwater runs as a true, pure conservative — not one of those Rockefeller Republicans — in 1964 … and is promptly creamed by Lyndon Johnson. Then 16 years later Ronald Regans is swept into office, then wins about as solidly in 1984 as Goldwater lost in 1964.
Buckley discussed some work in directing money toward conservative issues, but even there doesn’t discuss it much.
As I read I continue to imagine Buckley today and how he would fit in with the current conservative movement and Republican Party.
It’s hard to imagine it. The current party doesn’t seem overly conservative. It certainly does not seem elitist, especially not in the age of Donald Trump. Even though Donald Trump is a billionaire, he doesn’t seem elitist.
Buckley, who was a Yale graduate and New York City resident, was well known as being calculated, well articulate, and academic.
And perhaps that is where his appeal comes from. By coming across as an elite, he was the ultimate rebel. Liberals are constantly branding conservatives as being from backward, rural areas. Universities and academic establishments are known for being monolithic in their liberal values.
Buckley pushed back against the groupthink of academic back in 1951 when he wrote “God and Man and Yale.”
Perhaps by showing that he is an elite and an academic who can rub shoulders with Ivy Leagues and remain a pure, untarnished conservative, he shows that he is the ultimate anti-establishment and the ultimate rebel.
But perhaps he would not fit in today’s culture because he took time to enjoy the minutiae of life. Our world of Twitter and memes seems to often focus just on political events in a hit-and-run fashion. Today’s culture seems to always be in a hurry, rushing and chasing, yet never arriving anywhere nor catching anything. Today’s culture also seems to be about soundbites and quick fixes, it never fixing anything and never persuading anyone.
That was not Buckley’s way. He would take the time to sit down and have a conversation with someone he disagreed with. Not a debate, mind you; a conversation.
As a society, collectively we today would not have time for someone like Buckley. However, perhaps individually we can learn something from him about how we can stop to smell the roses.
They have some similarities.
I realize this can be an odd statement on the surface, considering that Buckley was Catholic while Martin Luther castigated the Catholic Church’s doctrine.
However, both came from a relatively elite and educated background and family for their times.
Both started a movement that pushed back against the groupthink of their time. But also both in a way helped preserve something. Luther revealed the Catholic Church’s false teaching and helped preserve the concept of salvation through Christ alone through faith alone.
Buckley helped preserve a concept on which our country was founded: conservatism and limited government.
Both seemed like revolutions, but they were really preserving something that had seemed to have been overlooked and forgotten.
Buckley is often referred to as the founder of the modern conservative movement. He’s been credited for heavily influencing President Ronald Reagan (by Reagan himself). He founded National Review in 1955 and began the public affairs show Firing Line in 1966. (Ronald Reagan said he was a Democrat the first time he picked up a copy of National Review.)
So with that in mind, I began reading his autobiography “Miles Gone By” with interest, hoping to see a bird’s eye view of how he influenced conservatism and America.
But that’s not what I got. I did not sense a person who was dedicated to show the big picture or who was trying to show how he had a major place in history. On the contrary, this was clearly a man who loved the minutiae of life. The first time I started to read it, I got bored and stopped because he spent a lot of time talking about his childhood and equestrian endeavors.
I always considered topics regarding horse riding and sailing as elitist. I grew up as a child of missionaries, so sports that involve as much disposable income as horse riding and sailing seemed the thing of rich people.
No doubt, Buckley grew up as an elite. His parents sent him to private school, spent good money on tutors to teach him music, proper diction, language, and so on. Relatively little in his autobiography is said about politics growing up.
He goes into great detail when talking about sailing and his other hobbies. He remembers specifics, and he utilizes that private-school educated language, diction, and vocabulary that his parents invested for him.
His writing and word choice is precise and exquisite. He was often praised as well as criticized for his vast vocabulary. (There’s a chapter in there just about his vocabulary.)
He stops to take time to vividly describe details of his life. He is always stopping to smell the roses.
Here is one gem in which he describes celebrating Christmas on a sailing excursion:
“The girls were working on the decorations, and by the time the sun went down we had a twinkling Christmas tree on deck and twinkling lights along the canvas of the dodger. The whole forward section was piled with Christmas gifts and decorations, and when we sat down for dinner, with three kerosene lights along the supper table, the moon beamed, lambent, aimed at us as though we were the single targets of the heavens.”
The entire book “Miles Gone By,” which is a collection of essays by Buckley over the years, is packed full of great writing. Every sentence is comprised of words carefully chosen, punctuation that weaves thoughts together splendidly, and verbs that are perfect for the occasion. Most of us will need a dictionary nearby when reading Buckley. It’s hard to take in and read in its entirety. Trying to read Buckly is like trying to keep pace with Michael Jordan while playing basketball one-on-one. It’s exhausting, but you stand in amazement the whole time.
His writing is an art form if its own. Some parts remind me slightly of C.S. Lewis, but Lewis does not use anywhere near the vocabulary that Buckley does.
Toward the end, Buckley starts to discuss the conservative movement. After I waited patiently as he recounted his sailing expeditions, upbringing, and other endeavors, he finally mentions what I had been waiting for: talks of the conservative movement.
He reviews how Barry Goldwater runs as a true, pure conservative — not one of those Rockefeller Republicans — in 1964 … and is promptly creamed by Lyndon Johnson. Then 16 years later Ronald Regans is swept into office, then wins about as solidly in 1984 as Goldwater lost in 1964.
Buckley discussed some work in directing money toward conservative issues, but even there doesn’t discuss it much.
As I read I continue to imagine Buckley today and how he would fit in with the current conservative movement and Republican Party.
It’s hard to imagine it. The current party doesn’t seem overly conservative. It certainly does not seem elitist, especially not in the age of Donald Trump. Even though Donald Trump is a billionaire, he doesn’t seem elitist.
Buckley, who was a Yale graduate and New York City resident, was well known as being calculated, well articulate, and academic.
And perhaps that is where his appeal comes from. By coming across as an elite, he was the ultimate rebel. Liberals are constantly branding conservatives as being from backward, rural areas. Universities and academic establishments are known for being monolithic in their liberal values.
Buckley pushed back against the groupthink of academic back in 1951 when he wrote “God and Man and Yale.”
Perhaps by showing that he is an elite and an academic who can rub shoulders with Ivy Leagues and remain a pure, untarnished conservative, he shows that he is the ultimate anti-establishment and the ultimate rebel.
But perhaps he would not fit in today’s culture because he took time to enjoy the minutiae of life. Our world of Twitter and memes seems to often focus just on political events in a hit-and-run fashion. Today’s culture seems to always be in a hurry, rushing and chasing, yet never arriving anywhere nor catching anything. Today’s culture also seems to be about soundbites and quick fixes, it never fixing anything and never persuading anyone.
That was not Buckley’s way. He would take the time to sit down and have a conversation with someone he disagreed with. Not a debate, mind you; a conversation.
As a society, collectively we today would not have time for someone like Buckley. However, perhaps individually we can learn something from him about how we can stop to smell the roses.
November 16, 2015
“Miles Gone By” is a good, but somewhat disorienting, book. It’s disorienting, first, because it’s disjointed—while divided into chapters covering different topics, it’s actually composed entirely of previously published pieces, without any attempt to knit them together coherently, in time or theme, as would be usual in an autobiography. The result isn’t bad, it’s just different, and that’s disorienting.
But the book is also disorienting for another reason. It is very much a book about people, not issues or events. And the people in it—political, literary, academic, etc.—are generally spoken of in the present tense, because they were very much “of the moment” when each piece in the book that mentions them was written, from the 1950s onward. A more typical autobiography looks backward, and places each person, whether implicitly or explicitly, in his time. At every point in “Miles Gone By,” it is the eternal present.
What results is a sense of disorientation, because, for the most part, these people who figure so significantly in the book, as colossi of their time—are forgotten. Oh, sure, they’re not all totally forgotten, though some are. But they don’t matter anymore, except, perhaps, in the memories of aging Baby Boomers. And many of them mean nothing at all, for those who knew them are all dead, and they are little different to most of us than most of the famous men of Lincoln’s time.
Let’s just pick a few names. Richard Abplanalp. One of Richard Nixon’s closest friends, or so Wikipedia tells me in a short entry. He invented the modern aerosol valve and is introduced as someone well-known. Walter Cronkite—sure, people know generally who he was, but despite what aging hippies may tell you, he is not relevant to today (and in retrospect, Cronkite was a vain, over-rated, silly, pernicious man). Adam Clayton Powell. Who was he, exactly? Wikipedia is your friend. John Kenneth Galbraith, apparently the Paul Krugman of his time, and forgotten as Krugman will be. John Lindsay, miserably failed and largely forgotten mayor of New York City (and his even-more-forgotten opponent, Abe Beame). And on and on, a long march of faded men.
Of course, there are exceptions to this obscurity—Presidents appear, and there appear, naturally given Buckley’s professional career, many highly relevant conservative figures, though they, of course, are also unknown to today’s larger culture. But certainly Whittaker Chambers is a much more important historical figure than Walter Cronkite or Adam Clayton Powell, regardless of who is remembered by more people at this remove.
That doesn’t mean these people shouldn’t be in the book. My point is that the organizational structure of the book does not weigh these people as they would be weighed in a normal autobiography, and that disorients the reader. The book works as time capsule and as a way to understand what Buckley thought and emphasized, by his choices. It is just strange to read. Not bad. Just strange.
As L.P. Hartley said, the past is a foreign country. It is a shame there is nobody like Buckley now. But there could not be. Buckley, as were the players in his book, was a creature of his time. And that was a time when serious people ran the country, who were expected to justify themselves to God and man by cogent and logical argument. Failure to do so would make you a laughingstock, not a martyr. Appealing to the supposed “privilege” of your opponent in lieu of reasoning would have gotten you a blank stare or, more likely, a well-deserved fist to the face, followed by psychiatric treatment. Today, the dominant voices in our culture look at the shoulders of giants, and instead of climbing them to stand on them, instead demand they be torn down as symbols of oppression, privilege and imperialism.
This denouement is because we let come to power bands of aging hippies, disciples of Alinsky and interested in power, not reason, whose logical and inevitable endpoint (for now—it can get worse) is Obama. That descent, combined with the coarsening of American popular culture, where the base interests and desires of the free-spending and ever-more-numerous members of the lower classes dictate that the focus and spending be on myriad atrocities like reality TV, the Kardashians and rap “music,” leaves no room for the leadership of intelligent public intellectuals, particularly when they are wealthy and borderline pretentious, like Buckley. Too bad.
True public intellectuals are now disfavored regardless of the political view of the public intellectual. Really, what public intellectuals are there today who are known outside of very narrow circles, or who have power? (Hacks like Paul Krugman and other members of the NYT editorial team are not public intellectuals, whatever they may think.) For example, today’s conservatives are not Buckley or Chambers, or any of the others mentioned in “Miles Gone By.” They mostly lack any philosophical depth, and are either shallow populists (any TV conservative) or deeper men focused on the pugilism the times require (Breitbart, dead now; Schlichter). Sure, there are some deep thinkers in the public eye today (Douthat, Dreher)—but that the former is a voice crying in the wilderness and the latter spends his days planning mass conservative withdrawal from society merely proves my point. Today, Donald Trump is known and has power, and like the demagogue Cleon in ancient Athens, he intends to use it, and not with prudence. The recent documentary “Best Of Enemies,” showcasing the TV debates of Buckley and Gore Vidal, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, shows this clearly. The debates were mainstream TV, shown every night to the entire network audience. The masses would not watch that now, and if they did, it would be to criticize without understanding the players and their styles. The march toward “Idiocracy” continues, and Buckley would not fit, as every word of this book shows.
Oh, of course, the writing in “Miles Gone By” is excellent. The stories are engaging, and despite that the people mostly no longer matter and are barely remembered, interesting (though Buckley’s unapologetic pursuit of the pursuits of the wealthy grates in today’s egalitarian mode). The book is worth reading, but, sadly, reading it is like viewing a fly in amber—a limpid, frozen memory of a time beyond reach.
But the book is also disorienting for another reason. It is very much a book about people, not issues or events. And the people in it—political, literary, academic, etc.—are generally spoken of in the present tense, because they were very much “of the moment” when each piece in the book that mentions them was written, from the 1950s onward. A more typical autobiography looks backward, and places each person, whether implicitly or explicitly, in his time. At every point in “Miles Gone By,” it is the eternal present.
What results is a sense of disorientation, because, for the most part, these people who figure so significantly in the book, as colossi of their time—are forgotten. Oh, sure, they’re not all totally forgotten, though some are. But they don’t matter anymore, except, perhaps, in the memories of aging Baby Boomers. And many of them mean nothing at all, for those who knew them are all dead, and they are little different to most of us than most of the famous men of Lincoln’s time.
Let’s just pick a few names. Richard Abplanalp. One of Richard Nixon’s closest friends, or so Wikipedia tells me in a short entry. He invented the modern aerosol valve and is introduced as someone well-known. Walter Cronkite—sure, people know generally who he was, but despite what aging hippies may tell you, he is not relevant to today (and in retrospect, Cronkite was a vain, over-rated, silly, pernicious man). Adam Clayton Powell. Who was he, exactly? Wikipedia is your friend. John Kenneth Galbraith, apparently the Paul Krugman of his time, and forgotten as Krugman will be. John Lindsay, miserably failed and largely forgotten mayor of New York City (and his even-more-forgotten opponent, Abe Beame). And on and on, a long march of faded men.
Of course, there are exceptions to this obscurity—Presidents appear, and there appear, naturally given Buckley’s professional career, many highly relevant conservative figures, though they, of course, are also unknown to today’s larger culture. But certainly Whittaker Chambers is a much more important historical figure than Walter Cronkite or Adam Clayton Powell, regardless of who is remembered by more people at this remove.
That doesn’t mean these people shouldn’t be in the book. My point is that the organizational structure of the book does not weigh these people as they would be weighed in a normal autobiography, and that disorients the reader. The book works as time capsule and as a way to understand what Buckley thought and emphasized, by his choices. It is just strange to read. Not bad. Just strange.
As L.P. Hartley said, the past is a foreign country. It is a shame there is nobody like Buckley now. But there could not be. Buckley, as were the players in his book, was a creature of his time. And that was a time when serious people ran the country, who were expected to justify themselves to God and man by cogent and logical argument. Failure to do so would make you a laughingstock, not a martyr. Appealing to the supposed “privilege” of your opponent in lieu of reasoning would have gotten you a blank stare or, more likely, a well-deserved fist to the face, followed by psychiatric treatment. Today, the dominant voices in our culture look at the shoulders of giants, and instead of climbing them to stand on them, instead demand they be torn down as symbols of oppression, privilege and imperialism.
This denouement is because we let come to power bands of aging hippies, disciples of Alinsky and interested in power, not reason, whose logical and inevitable endpoint (for now—it can get worse) is Obama. That descent, combined with the coarsening of American popular culture, where the base interests and desires of the free-spending and ever-more-numerous members of the lower classes dictate that the focus and spending be on myriad atrocities like reality TV, the Kardashians and rap “music,” leaves no room for the leadership of intelligent public intellectuals, particularly when they are wealthy and borderline pretentious, like Buckley. Too bad.
True public intellectuals are now disfavored regardless of the political view of the public intellectual. Really, what public intellectuals are there today who are known outside of very narrow circles, or who have power? (Hacks like Paul Krugman and other members of the NYT editorial team are not public intellectuals, whatever they may think.) For example, today’s conservatives are not Buckley or Chambers, or any of the others mentioned in “Miles Gone By.” They mostly lack any philosophical depth, and are either shallow populists (any TV conservative) or deeper men focused on the pugilism the times require (Breitbart, dead now; Schlichter). Sure, there are some deep thinkers in the public eye today (Douthat, Dreher)—but that the former is a voice crying in the wilderness and the latter spends his days planning mass conservative withdrawal from society merely proves my point. Today, Donald Trump is known and has power, and like the demagogue Cleon in ancient Athens, he intends to use it, and not with prudence. The recent documentary “Best Of Enemies,” showcasing the TV debates of Buckley and Gore Vidal, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, shows this clearly. The debates were mainstream TV, shown every night to the entire network audience. The masses would not watch that now, and if they did, it would be to criticize without understanding the players and their styles. The march toward “Idiocracy” continues, and Buckley would not fit, as every word of this book shows.
Oh, of course, the writing in “Miles Gone By” is excellent. The stories are engaging, and despite that the people mostly no longer matter and are barely remembered, interesting (though Buckley’s unapologetic pursuit of the pursuits of the wealthy grates in today’s egalitarian mode). The book is worth reading, but, sadly, reading it is like viewing a fly in amber—a limpid, frozen memory of a time beyond reach.
June 23, 2019
A wonderful compendium of Buckley's considerably literary achievements. He is a lovely and variegated writer with interesting things to say about most subjects. There was too much sailing here for me, but beyond that Buckley's literary flare, his considerable ability to turn a phrase, and his playful sense of humor are alone worth the price of admission. That he's also the most formidable American conservative intellectual of the second half of the 20th Century makes for an especially entertaining read.
June 7, 2024
A series of essays on Buckley's favorite topics and biographical episodes in his zany life, Miles Gone By is the closest we'll get to an auto-biography. It also serves as a great introduction to him as a sailor, a novelist, a politician, and a family member in addition to the Editor of National Review and host of Firing Line. Recommend you actually listen on Audible as he personally narrates it, which is a treat. For weeks I've commuted with him, listening to his stories and perspectives as if he were sitting next to me, and it has been endlessly fascinating.
February 19, 2025
Absolutely outstanding prose. Mr. Buckley never disappoints I could not put this book down. If you want to keep Bill Buckley busy give him an airplane, a horse or a yacht. Masterful writer simply one of the best. Buckley lived an adventures life. He maintained his relationships and his Catholic faith. What a blessing to read this book. Curious how he manages to recount finer details of various events in the book.
May 11, 2023
If you want to know about Buckley, this is probably not the book. If you want to know what Buckley thought about Buckley this may be a start. My next read of his is to be “Nearer, My God.” Frankly, given the big deal he made of religion in “God and Man at Yale” I feel cheated in his having given that dimension such short shrift in this work.
February 22, 2021
Better than a traditional biography. Known for his wit and intellect, This book provides a sampling of his knowledge and experience ranging from writing, to sailing, to singular, extraordinary adventures...all told in his inimitable style.
July 10, 2021
This book is just like what another reviewer said that even if you don't agree with him even if you're not interested in the subject like sailing, it's just a wonderful book and he makes every single aspect interesting and compelling to read. One way or another, this is a great book.
August 28, 2024
A collection of essays. Some are far more interesting, like the ones relating to NR and its writers such as Whittaker Chambers, or Buckley's mayoral campaign. Others, like those related to sailing and vacations, I found myself skipping.
August 1, 2017
A book of published essays about Buckley and his friends. A little heavy on sailing articles, but if you like WFB, this book is full of treats.
December 29, 2018
This is a good read when you are looking to better your grammar or increase your vocabulary. At times it can be a bit dry, as many of the essayist's subjects are from a time well past.
December 4, 2022
This. Was. So. Good.
July 22, 2023
I enjoyed this biographical book, of the writings of William F. Buckley, Jr. I enjoyed that the difficult-words issue was less present in this book than in others he wrote. The humor was great!
July 18, 2024
96/100
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August 16, 2025
As someone who would not be too opposed to receiving a face tattoo of William F. Buckley Jr., this was a pure delight: heart, mind, humor, clarity, humility, and some of the best prose out there.
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December 18, 2025I found it a bit like "War and Peace".... I had the same inclination to skim the sailing bits as I did the war bits of Tolstoy... But there is much to interest (even in the sailing bits.)
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