An American Family: The Buckleys

An Incredible Book!

I could not put this book down! Reid Buckley reveals to the reader in an interesting way what life was like in the early 20th century, and how those who possessed a strong constitution could achieve the ¿American Dream,¿ even after failing more than once. I laughed, I cried, I got mad, and I felt uplifted ¿ sometimes together, sometimes separately. The Buckley Family is an example of what makes this country great. I highly recommend this book.

Flows Like Milk & Honey

An American Family, The Buckleys at once feels like a comfortable trusted rocking chair and never becomes anything but one spell binding tale after another. Written in a flowing rhythm that never breaks and is annotated for further clarity, this book can be easily understood and never becomes verbose or redundant. Buckley turns the incredible into a matter of fact conversation which one might enjoy around the dinner table of any family gathering. Luckily we are invited. It is an account, spiced with humor and wit that readers will want to revisit as one would want to return to a favorite play or concert. Wisdom is often baked into this warm apple pie and readers will find in it several characters who remind them of their own families. Your TV will get a well deserved rest and your mind will feel refreshed as if taken for a late afternoon swimm. This book will become a welcome friend to keep handy.

A reviewer

I loved this book! An American Family, The Buckleys is Reid Buckley at his best. It's a lovely story. Well crafted, honest, poignant, and witty. Through his lively prose, Buckley takes the reader from the beginnings of his family through current times. All the while, treating the reader to the fascinating historical background of those nation-forming times. His lively stories of life in Sharon and Camden are priceless and are told joy, pride, and big family fun. Not only is this book worth reading, it's worth reading again and again. I simply couldn't put it down.

A reviewer

This work has no direction, and if it had one originally, Buckley has failed to follow it. It sadly is not much more than ramblings and ruminations of a sibling-rivalry runner-up. Reads like an account of a gypsy family, with no real roots. Poor kids, shunted off to boarding school to make room for the next of 10. All that aside, the atrocious editing 'or lack thereof' is unforgivable, particularly of a bunch so entrenched in the family thesaurus. There are whole paragraphs that are repeated with slight changes. And there is even the occasional incorrect grammar. Buckley relishes in thinking of himself as a Southern 'good ole boy' which is ridiculous. A few dirt-poor, ancestry-proud locals in Camden have traditionally pandered to the Nawthners, but the latter were only in residence from Christmas until June. On top of that, the Buckleys are Catholic, the only religion banned in South Carolina under colonial government. Some locals still feel that such policy was wise.

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