First published 2009
Christopher Buckley faces an extraordinary year of loss between 2007 and 2008. His father William F. Buckley Jr., the influential conservative intellectual, dies first. His mother Patricia Taylor Buckley, a prominent New York socialite known for her glamour and vivacity, follows soon after. As their only child, Buckley navigates the strange terrain of hospitals, funeral arrangements, and memorial gatherings. The deaths leave him grappling with an unexpected identity: a middle-aged orphan. His parents were anything but ordinary. Their larger-than-life personalities shaped his world in ways both nurturing and complex. Buckley draws on Oscar Wilde's quip about losing parents to maintain his equilibrium during this disorienting period. He chronicles the practical chaos and emotional upheaval that follows such profound losses. The memoir captures how grief transforms even the most familiar relationships and routines. Buckley writes with characteristic wit about this most universal yet deeply personal experience of watching parents age and die.
Genres: autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: grief, middle-aged-protagonist, personal-journey
Period: 2007-2008
272 pages · Hardcover · Twelve
Content warnings: death