Richard Brookhiser wrote his first cover story for the renowned conservative magazine National Review in 1969, when he was fourteen, and became the magazine's youngest senior editor at age twenty-three. William F. Buckley Jr. was Brookhiser's mentor, hero, and admirer--but their relationship was, at times, a troubled one. Brookhiser remained a friend and colleague of Buckley throughout his time at the Review, however, and in Right Time, Right Place, Brookhiser tells the story of that tumultuous relationship with affection and clarity, while also providing a sparkling eyewitness account of the conservative intellectual and political ferment that Buckley nurtured and led.
Publishers Weekly
"[Brookhiser] deftly sets his personal and professional biography in a sharply observed historical and intellectual context, while sharing his deep affection for - and occasional resentment of - Buckley with compelling candor."
Kirkus Review (starred review)
"[W]onderfully conversational, occasionally confessional, frequently witty.... More than anything, though, Brookhiser reflects on his maturation as a thinker, writer and a man who for too long measured his worth against the glittering Buckley, his spiritual father, inspiration, boss and friend. Old enough now to appreciate the misunderstandings on both sides, chastened by a bout with cancer and distinguished in his own right as a historian, Brookhiser's eyes-wide-open appraisal of his mentor is deeply affectionate. Right book, right author."
Wall Street Journal
"In Right Time, Right Place, Mr. Brookhiser tells the story of his rise and fall in Buckley's world. It's an admiring, but not always flattering, portrait of the most prolific public intellectual of his time."
Washington Times
"[T]his is a beautifully written book, rich in character and anecdote, with good political reporting and a dispassionate account of Mr. Brookhiser's bout with cancer, which he handled bravely and with grace. Above all, though, it's about a young man's education and his teacher."
Rich Lowry, editor of National Review
"Richard Brookhiser has written a wonderful memoir that is a personal history of National Review and of contemporary conservativism--unabashedly honest, deeply wise, and analytically acute. Brookhiser is the prose equivalent of a fine jeweler. With his lapidary style and dazzling metaphors and erudition, he's always a marvel to read."
Lou Cannon, co-author of Reagan's Disciple
"Right Time, Right Place is a galloping good read--an honest, fast-paced, revealing memoir by one of the conservative movement's best writers. William F. Buckley emerges as a real human being, warts and all, and not just the Conservative Saint. Of course, Buckley is that, too, but he's more rounded in this book than in any other I have read."