Brothers No More
New York, N.Y. Doubleday, 1995. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 24 cm. [8], , 294, [2] pages. Minor DJ soiling. Minor edge soiling. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual and conservative author and commentator. In 1955 Buckley founded National Review, a magazine that stimulated the conservative movement in the late-20th century United States. Buckley hosted 1,429 episodes of the public affairs television show Firing Line (1966–1999), the longest-running public affairs show in US television history with a single host, where he became known for his distinctive Transatlantic idiolect and wide vocabulary. Buckley wrote God and Man at Yale (1951) and more than fifty other books on diverse topics, including writing, speaking, history, politics, and sailing. His works include a series of novels featuring fictitious CIA agent Blackford Oakes. He also penned a nationally syndicated newspaper column. Buckley called himself either a libertarian or a conservative. George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement, said in 2008 that Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century. For an entire generation, he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary contribution to politics was a fusion of traditionalist conservatism and classical liberalism; it laid the groundwork for the rightward shift in the Republican Party exemplified by Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. The passage of two WWII veterans on to Yale, romance, diverse achievements, Vietnam, business venture, associated larceny, and then to ultimate disaster. This is a novel of men and women caught between the force of history and the power of their own desires.
Derived from a Kirkus review: A stylish entertainment that allows the ever-elegant Buckley to poke wicked fun at, among other targets, the moral legacy of FDR. Henry Chafee and Daniel Tracy O'Hara served together as US infantrymen in WW II Italy. Although Henry's nerve failed during an assault on German lines, Danny covered for him, and an ambiguous bond was formed. After the war, Henry (the industrious son of a widowed librarian) and Danny (a privileged grandson of the late President Roosevelt) room together at Yale; here, the one earns a reputation as a fearless student athlete, while the other majors in wine, women, and song. Then, on a summer holiday abroad, Danny is shaken down by a Riviera ponce. With Henry's help, he recovers incriminating photos from the would-be extortionist, but, unbeknownst to his friend, Danny also kills the importunate blackmailer. Back in the States, the lads graduate and go their separate ways, Henry to Time magazine as a reporter and Danny into the hotel business. They remain close, though, because Danny marries Henry's lovely, devoutly Catholic sister, Caroline. Meanwhile, as Danny climbs the corporate ladder and yields to financial as well as fleshly temptations, hard-working Henry makes a name for himself as a foreign correspondent in Vietnam, where he repeatedly proves his physical courage. Then Danny's long, tall sister Lila learns her brother is an embezzler and forces him not only to make restitution but to quit his executive post. To escape subsequent exposure, the hard-drinking philanderer commits another murder. Henry eventually brings Danny to book back in southern France, where he's been interviewing Georges Simenon on unsolved cases the Belgian novelist uses as material for his mysteries. A tony tale of crimes and punishments. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: WWII, Yale University, Vietnam War, Honor, Betrayal, Courage, Fiction, Novels, Murder, Embezzlement, Extortion, Journalism, Cowardice, Blackmail, Philanderer, Georges Simenon, Mysteries, Henry Chafee, Daniel Tracy O'Hara
ISBN: 0385477945
[Book #79555]
Price: $25.00