Notes & Asides

Dear Mr. Buckley:

Knowing that you, as an Augustan and a conservative of fine pedigree, have mastered the art of self-discipline, I write to you for guidance: I am a recent graduate CBA in English—as Russell Kirk has informed you, that’s a Bachelor of Attendance, who now works nightly as a washboard player—that’s a musician, not a laundryman. Now on my night off each week I stage an all-night reading marathon to prepare for the Graduate Record Examination on which they (the unknown testers) are likely to ask one anything, except why literature is written and read. But dammit, you sidetrack me: I find your books and magazine more interesting than Swinburne or Whitman. So, I ask your opinion:

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William F. Buckley Jr.

Dear Mr. Buckley:

Knowing that you, as an Augustan and a conservative of fine pedigree, have mastered the art of self-discipline, I write to you for guidance: I am a recent graduate CBA in English—as Russell Kirk has informed you, that’s a Bachelor of Attendance, who now works nightly as a washboard player—that’s a musician, not a laundryman. Now on my night off each week I stage an all-night reading marathon to prepare for the Graduate Record Examination on which they (the unknown testers) are likely to ask one anything, except why literature is written and read. But dammit, you sidetrack me: I find your books and magazine more interesting than Swinburne or Whitman. So, I ask your opinion: