Press & Media Kit
Short Bio
Buck Jones is a native South Carolinian. Since 2006 he has been living in Paris, France, with his husband and together they have a slightly spoiled dog. He is the founder of the Club Littéraire du Marais which is the largest gay writers group in Paris. An avid student of history with a soft spot for the 1960s, he loves yé-yé music, the Giulietta by Alfa Romeo, and RFK. When not writing for numerous magazines and newspapers, he can be found at any number of sidewalk terrasses in Paris, enjoying a glass of rosé and planning his next trip.
His debut novel, The Last Good Republican, will be available everywhere as of March 15th, 2022.
All inquiries for interviews and appearances should be directed via email to:
monsieurbuckjones@gmail.com
Long Bio
Buck Jones graduated cum laude from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina with a classic liberal arts degree (BARSC), the original degree offered at the creation of the antebellum institution to create Southern gentlemen. While there he studied poetry under the acclaimed poet laureate of the United States, James Dickey, as well as courses in rhetoric, Southern politics, literature, and French (which would come in handy down the road). While debatable whether his years at Carolina made him into a true gentleman, the experience proved formative and gave impetus to his passion for writing.
In 2006 he moved to Paris with his husband. He is the founder of the Club Littéraire du Marais which is the largest gay writers group in Paris, and in 2021 began publishing a quarterly literary journal from the club entitled “L’Autre Rive.” This literary review publishes a wide range of original work from acclaimed LGBTQ+ authors.
Additionally Buck Jones writes for several American gay newspapers and magazines. His influences include Gore Vidal, André Aciman, and Joan Didion.
An avid student of history with a soft spot for the 1960s, he loves yé-yé music, the Giulietta by Alfa Romeo, and RFK. When not working on his writing he can be found at any number of sidewalk terrasses in Paris, enjoying a glass of rosé and planning his next trip.
All inquiries for interviews and appearances should be directed via email to:
monsieurbuckjones@gmail.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Topics the author can discuss:
· His books (The Last Good Republican, Paris Gays Don’t Fall In Love)
· France (living in Paris as an American, becoming a French citizen, differences between America and France, French politics)
· Gay / LGBTQ topics (writer for various gay magazines, creator of a gay writers group in Paris)
In your debut novel, The Last Good Republican, you throw our notions of what is a Republican on its head. Was that your goal? Absolutely. Most people don’t realize that the two political parties evolved over decades to become the coalitions they are today. As recently as a generation ago, there were liberals who were Republicans, and there were (and arguably still are) conservatives who were Democrats. In this age of hyper-polarization it seems as if nobody is happy with the current political landscape. Ideological purity tests, coupled with structural impediments such as gerrymandering, have made it difficult for political leaders to find compromise. Political discourse has coarsened to the point that most informed voters will never even consider the arguments from the other side, much less vote for a candidate of the other party. So I wanted to provoke a response from the reader, when someone sees the title of the novel, to make them curious as to “who” is this last, good Republican, and what makes him “good.”
One of the universal themes The Last Good Republican touches upon is the struggle many of us have in finding our authentic self. In the novel, Carter Ridge presents a public image of himself that is in sharp contrast to who he is on the inside, which is like how social media amplifies a false dichotomy between our public versus our private image. Yes, I think by now after a decade of immersion in various social media environments we are all wiser to the fact that there is our on-line “reality” that we project to others, and then there is the authentic, real self that only those we are intimate with know. The gap between the two selves varies probably person to person. For instance, I have friends, or acquaintances I should say, who over-post, not just whatever it is that they are shoveling into their mouth at a restaurant, but also sharing too much about their lives.
So in the novel, which takes place in the early 1960s, my protagonist Carter Ridge projects a public image that is at odds with who he truly is and is very successful at it. But it eats away at him, slowly destroying his soul because his real self is being suffocated.
The Murdaugh murders and South Carolina are now synonymous, and illustrative of the dark political culture in the state. Your novel explores the politics of a different era but essentially not much has changed in the intervening years. I admit to being completely addicted to the “Murdaugh Murders Podcast,” yes, and am fascinated by this magnifying glass that has been put on the good ol’ boy system that is pervasive in South Carolina. So little has changed since when I was growing up in my small town, and when I worked as a legislative page in the State House while at the University of South Carolina I got to see first hand how, maybe incestuous isn’t the right word, but how mired in inertia the leadership is in the state. That is fundamentally the lesson I’ve taken from the whole sordid Murdaugh affair, that “big fish in a small pond” feel they have complete immunity to do whatever they want, at the expense of the other 99% of us.
You are an American living in France? Tell me how that came about! I am one of the few people who left the U.S. because of George W. Bush. The whole “if you hate America so much, why don’t you leave it” philosophy that was, and oftentimes still is, pervasive in what is derogatively referred to as fly-over country I took to heart. Granted, there were quite a few “pull” factors at play as well, I mean come on, it’s Paris we’re talking about. So it was a combination of both “push” — being gay during W’s 2004 reelection where we as a people, as a community, were being overtly othered and put on the ballot as red meat, was a huge factor, feeling as though I couldn’t be my authentic self outside of a dozen ZIP codes in the U.S., and the lack of universal health care to let me have serenity in my job and life, all of these were huge issues for me — and the “pull” factors were it’s Paris, it’s France, it’s Europe.
All inquiries for interviews and appearances should be directed via email to:
monsieurbuckjones@gmail.com