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| Author: William F. Buckley Jr.
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $17.52
You Save: $6.48 (27%)
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 20821
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 0465002420
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.92
EAN: 9780465002429
Publication Date: October 22, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Entertaining, personal, and worth returning to April 23, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
With the publication of the wonderful Florence King's Stet, Damnit! in 2003 and WFB's "Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription" in 2007, National Review books are breaking new ground in the use of profanity in titles. Which is not a field in which I would have expected them to show such leadership. But since we have Buckley's own assurance in these pages (page 33, to be precise) that "goddam," as used, is profane but not blasphemous, sensitive readers should not be troubled.
William F. Buckley's books can be categorized, broadly, in two ways: books of conservative theory and practice (his collected columns, The Unmaking of a Mayor, etc.), and what could be termed personal indulgences (Overdrive: A Personal Documentary, the spy novels, and so on). This book is unquestionably an indulgence, and people who have little patience for Buckley and his well-established personality and voice will probably find this book, as they found him, infuriating. But for those of us who had great respect for the man and enjoyed watching him perform (no slight intended by use of that word), even when we may have disagreed with him, "Cancel Your Own..." is a joy to read and a foretaste of how much we will miss him in the future.
As the subtitle indicates, "Cancel Your Own..." is made up of excerpts and highlights from WFB's long-running "Notes and Asides" column in NR. The book, like N&A itself, included selected correspondence, sent and received, memoranda, and other comments and exchanges WFB considered worth sharing with a wider audience. As you'd expect from a collection he assembled himself (with the help of researchers acknowledged in the text), it shows Buckley at his best, whether smacking down a critic with airy ease, refusing to tolerate misquotation or mistranslation, or simply conducting internal or external business.
While personal favorites of mine include his ukase on the use of the serial comma, exchanges with Eric Alterman, and a magnificent letter from my hero Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn listing no fewer than 20 errors or linguistic or cultural solecisms in Buckley's Who's on First: A Blackford Oakes Mystery most any Buckley fan will be able to come up with their own list. On the other hand, Art Buchwald's strange obsession with Hertz rental cars, which he apparently thought was funny and about which he wrote WFB frequently, I found merely tiresome.
As many of his recent obituaries noted, WFB seems to have recognized in his final years that the rightist movement he did so much to create was already in its own final years and was being replaced by a very different kind of "conservatism." So much of Buckley's work now is mostly of historic interest (who reads Four Reforms: A Program for the Seventies or United Nations Journal: A Delegate's Odyssey for contemporary relevance any more?). Perhaps ironically, it's now those "indulgences" that draw us most strongly. I think "Cancel Your Own..." is a book people will keep returning to, and justly so.
Buckley at his best..... February 3, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
While Mr Buckley and I have never agreed politically, I must state my pleasure at his delightful use of the English language.
Just finished the book... February 28, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Let me borrow an old mountain phrase and put a different spin on it....If Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription by William F. Buckley ain't one of the funniest and refreshing books you've read in a while then "grits ain't groceries".
Full of wit and insight from years of his "Notes and Asides" column, you'll find Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription to be a trip through the last half of the twentieth century. The list of notables is long.
Nuf said here.
Greatest hits January 12, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is a collection of comments and letters from the Notes and Asides section of National Review, so naturally this collection will be of most interest to long time readers of NR and Buckley fans.
I have never laughed harder in my laugh. Whether he is struggling with liberals, errors in newspapers, or conservatives who are offended by his haircut, Buckley has an unmatched wit. The book is arranged chronologically moving from the 60s until the column was cancelled in 2005.
So pick up this book, pull up to a fire place with a drink at your side, and prepare for an enjoyable trip down memory lane as you relive the unique correspondence that Buckley shared with his readers, friends, and foes.
 Bill is better than this February 5, 2008
2 out of 17 found this review helpful
I was disappointed. Some clever stuff, but most of it was mundane. I
expected better from William F Buckley.
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