At the Still Point

by Carol Buckley

Chronicling her role as the youngest of ten children, Carol Buckley shares stories about her brother William F. Buckley, jr, the sudden deaths of her two sisters, her unhappy marriage, and her fight with depression

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 1996

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slight memoir by Bill Buckley's youngest daughter does not delve deeply. It has some good detail on growing up in a powerful family feeling distanced from siblings and parents. But more personal details about the author's unhappy marriages, alcoholism, depression and recovery would have made it a better read. As memoirs go, it felt quite edited by and protective of the author.

[Mark Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book, Ms. Buckley levels with the reader about her "lonliness in a large family and subsequent alcohol and drug addictions and shows you can come out of it OK. It is particularly interesting after reading "An American Family" written by her brother Reid Buckley. Two different perspectives on the same family.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting memoir of the youngest member of the influential Buckley family. Obviously unwanted and largely ignored by her elderly parents, the author's lack of malice towards them is amazing.

[Margaret Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the Still Point is an excellent book that I discovered while volunteering at my local library. The author discusses the details of her privileged yet in many ways underprivileged life. I found it fascinating, not only because she mentioned many people and places that I know well but also because she endured wildly separate lifestyles as she sought to please others in her life, until in her late middle age when, in the end, she finally was able to live her own authentic life. The memoir, in many ways a coming of age narrative, is well written and quickly read.