Priscilla Buckley is probably best known as managing editor of the conservative political journal National Review , founded by her brother, William F. Buckley Jr. But in String of Pearls , we meet young Pitts Buckley, just out of Smith, the United Press Radio News Department’s fresh and eager fledgling employee. The atmosphere in UP’s New York offices was a heady one; the journalists worked furiously but had time to play practical jokes and treasure the funny stories that haste and tension engender. With the war in Europe winding to a close, it was a demanding, sometimes heartbreaking, and always vibrant period. A few years later, the author accepted a job at the Paris Bureau of United Press. The scars of the prolonged occupation were everywhere, but for Priscilla and her friends, there were laughter and comic misadventures as well.