Novelist Christopher Buckley in Conversation
American political satirist Christopher Buckley comes to town Tuesday, June 12 to discuss his newest novel They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
Chrisopher Buckley, son of American conservative author and founder of the political magazine The National Review, William F. Buckley, has worked as the managing editor of Esquire, a speechwriter for George H.W. Bush (when he was vice president) and currently is an editor at Forbes Magazine and contributor to various prominent national publications.
His satirical 1994 novel Thank You for Smoking was transformed into a 2005 screenplay by the same name starring Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, a smooth-talking lobbyist for Big Tobacco, who eventually sees the error of his shilling ways. Other novels by Buckley include The White House Mess, Supreme Courtship, Little Green Men and Florence of Arabia.
In Buckley’s latest effort–another droll look from an insider’s perspective on how business gets done inside the beltway–lobbyist “Bird” McIntyre, working at the behest of a defense contractor, is asked by his employer to foment anti-Chinese fervor after a proposal for the next big budget defense project fails to win congressional approval. Setting up a front organization and teaming up with neoconservative spin doctor Angel Templeton, Bird attempts to spread the rumor that the Chinese secret service plans on assasinating the Dalai Lama.
The event which features Christopher Buckley in conversation with Litquake co-founder Jane Ganahl begins at 7 pm and is $17 for members, $20 for the public and $10 for students.
