Flashbackin': An Interview with Christopher Buckley

Three and a half years ago, when I was a mere second year student at Calvin College and working as arts & entertainment editor of the school newspaper, I had the opportunity to interview Christopher Buckley. Buckley, an American author, can accurately be described as "prolific." He's a nationally recognized journalist who edits Forbes, writes for The New Yorker and countless other magazines, and authors novels and memoirs when he has the time. If you're wondering why I got to interview him, well, it still feels like it was an act of God. Believe me when I say it was the best interview I've ever experienced and I wouldn't be shocked if that remained the case for a long, long time.

Intro: Political satirist Christopher Buckley visited Calvin last month as the penultimate January Series speaker. Chimes A&E Editor Christy Gordon sat down with Buckley to discuss his varied career and the importance of a good title (or headline, as the case may be).

CG: So how do you feel about the title of your lecture, “An Afternoon with Christopher Buckley?”

CB: I think it exactly describes a 12:30 to 1:30 period. I argued for “An Early Afternoon with Christopher Buckley,” but I believe the decision went all the way to the top. I also suggested “A Morning With” or “An Evening With,” but I’m reasonably satisfied.

CG: Yeah, I found it interesting that on the posters, everybody else has a convoluted title and yours is so simple.

CB: Well, I could have used “What’s Up With Eurasia?” but that title was already taken.

CG: Well, “An Afternoon With” works. Can you pinpoint how satire became your medium of choice? Clearly, it’s not the only medium you write in.

CB: It came about sort of accidentally. I started as a fairly straightforward journalist, but I found myself reaching for what I’d call the “funny” key on the typewriter, and it just sort of happened when my first book came out. One of the reviewers referred to my “comic gift.” I saw that, and I was kind of arrested by that phrase. And I thought, “Hm, well, maybe I ought to do more with this.” Plus, it’s fun to make people laugh. And when they don’t laugh, it’s not fun. It takes a while to figure out what you’re good at. The real trick is, can you make a living on it?

CG: What’s your method for writing?

CB: Writing a book is like running a marathon. They take a while. It’s not like writing an 800 word piece, a shout and murmur for the New Yorker — that’s like a 100 yard dash. A book’s like a marathon. When you’re starting one, the thing to ask yourself is, “Do I really like this idea?” It might seem like a jolly good idea, and a funny one … is it still going to be funny or compelling eight months from now? That’s the key.

CG: In a PBS interview, you called yourself a poor man’s Jonathan Swift when the host suggested you’re the next Jonathan Swift.

CB: Yeah, I felt a little awkward.

CG: Understandably so.

CB: Well, how does that sound? “Oh, yeah, I’m the new Jonathan Swift.” You invite two million people to say, “Oh, yeah?” But it’s nice that [the interviewer] said that.

CG: It’s a clever description at the very least.

CB: Well, one thing Jonathan Swift and I do have in common … he wrote “A Modest Proposal” satirically, but he was writing very seriously, saying that this was something we needed to talk about. Now, my next book proposes that the government incentifies suicide for retiring baby boomers as a means of making Social Security solve it. I’ve already got a lot of questions, and I’m going to say, “Well, it’s my modest proposal.”

CG: I love the title of the next one: “Boomsday.”

CB: Yeah? I’m encouraged. A lot of people hear it and say, “Doomsday?” And I say, “No, it’s Boomsday.”

CG: It’s clever, yeah. I’m good at writing leads and horrible at writing titles.

CB: Oh, it’s all about writing a good book title.

CG: How do you fit humor and cleverness into writing?

CB: I think your instincts will lead you there … don’t force it. Just let it sort of percolate up. You’ll find yourself doing it unconsciously.

CG: You’ve found this over time, then, in your writing?

CB: That’s what I have. At the beginning, what you should concentrate on is writing in clear, good English. I mean, I wasn’t born a good writer. I’ve worked at it. Probably the best class I ever took was my freshman English composition course, where they’d basically say, “Just write clearly.” A lot of people don’t.

CG: So, “Thank You For Smoking” — let’s talk about the film. Oscar nominations are happening soon. How do you feel about that?

CB: It was unfortunately a very good year for movies … “Borat,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” marvelous movie.

CG: I loved that.

CB: Yeah, that’s probably the toughest competition. If we have to lose, I hope it’s to them.

CG: You’re okay with losing to “Borat?”

CB: You know, “Borat” left me with a slightly icky taste.

CG: Me too.

CB: You know, I laughed. I have to say I laughed. But there were parts I did not laugh at that I thought were cruel and condescending. It left me with a frankly metallic taste in my mouth. [Cohen] is a comic genius. But the crudity … see, the crudity of American humor, it’s gotten so crude. Now, crudity has its place, but the F-word should be used like paprika. You shouldn’t overload the dish with it. These stand up guys, you see them in person, and it’s “Hello,” “how are you,” and “goodbye.” They can’t go five seconds without saying “f---.” I don’t know where we go with it. But Borat … Borat certainly pushed that envelope.

CG: I wrote a ‘Christian critique’ for a Media Criticism class in the fall of Borat. How do you analyze that …

CB: From a Christian perspective?

CG: Right!

CB: I guess “turning the other cheek” is a theme you could work with. I must say this for “Borat:” it is a movie that makes you think. Whether or not it left us with an icky taste, it certainly gave us something to bite down on.

CG: When you wrote “Thank You For Smoking,” did you see this as something that could become a film?

CB: I write books to be books. I don’t think as I’m writing, “Oh, this would be a great vehicle for Robert Altman.” I think you get into trouble that way. I have to say, I think you can do much more with a book than with a movie. It’s great when someone comes along and makes a book into a good movie. In terms of what you can accomplish with a book, with characters and their backgrounds and their motivations, movies are terribly limited with that — which isn’t to say some movies don’t do that brilliantly. But I stand by the statement that a good novel is artistically superior to a good movie.

CG: I just saw “Children of Men.” Terrific film, terrible book.

CB: You know, there’s a Hollywood adage: “Good books make bad movies, and bad books make good movies.” I think you’d have to look at it on a case by case basis, but I kind of get it. I now appreciate the skill required to turn a book into a movie [after “Thank You For Smoking”].

CG: Were you satisfied with the film’s casting?

CB: Yes, I was very happy with the cast. I had nothing to do with it, but I thought Aaron Eckhart was very good. I was tickled with Robert Duvall, one of my favorite actors, and another one of my favorite actors, Sam Elliott, played the dying Marlboro Man … a lot of very good actors were in it for three minutes, and they brought glory to it.

CG: And William H. Macy.

CB: Oh, I just love him. When you see the movie, his funny line — I won’t give it away — he came up with it.

CG: Yeah, I … I love him. I can’t be eloquent about it. I love him.

CB: You are eloquent about it! You said, “I love him.” I doubt if William H. Macy were here he would find any objection to the way you put it.

CG: Good, good. So your novel “Little Green Men” is becoming a film next?

CB: Yeah, that’s the idea. I’ve become a little cautious with predictions. It took 12 years for “Thank You For Smoking” to become a movie. They have an actor, they have a script. But that said, I will revert to my standard way of answering questions: I’ll send you a postcard at the start of principle photography. Something’s always going to happen, though, and if you sit there by the phone, waiting for it to ring, you will become an old man as I have. But there are certain consolations to old age.

CG: You’re only two years older than my parents.

CB: You know, you start out younger than everyone, and now, I’m older than everyone.

CG: So this interview will be printed in February.

CB: Oh, so I’ll be a very distant memory if I’m even a memory.

CG: I’ll bring you back very strongly, 12 page color photo spread.

CB: You can call it, “What the heck was that about?”

CG: It has to have a great title, you know, fitting with the theme.

CB: “Buckley interview: insert title here.”

CG: I think that will suffice.