O'Rourke, P. J.
Average customer rating:
- 18th Century Economics meets 21st Century satire & humor
- Worth reading but only the first half
- Little actual economics
- ORourkenomics
- On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
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On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
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ASIN: 0871139499 |
Book Description
As one of the first titles in Atlantic Monthly Press’ “Books That Changed the World” series, America’s most provocative satirist, P. J. O’Rourke, reads Adam Smith’s revolutionary The Wealth of Nations so you don’t have to. Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes—including the blockbuster sixty-seven-page “digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries,” which, “to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu.” Although daunting, Smith’s tome is still essential to understanding such current hot-topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P. J. puts his trademark wit to good use, and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.
Customer Reviews:
18th Century Economics meets 21st Century satire & humor.......2007-06-26
Adam Smith, common known as the "Father of Economics" is largely credited with providing the first, comprehensive definition of laissez-faire economic theory. For those uninterested in reading his comprehensive, if sometimes exhaustive tome, O'Rourke lightens up the heavy weight of the imminent Scotsman Smith.
O'Rourke is absolutely on par with current day affairs and succinctly applies Smith's insights from over 200 years ago to the present day. Ideas, such as those described by Smith, are never aged and O'Rourke through a deft touch of humor and modern perspective effectively illustrates the importance of Smith today, just as much as Smith illustrated his break-through insights in 1776.
Worth reading but only the first half.......2007-06-05
The first 2/3rds of this book are insightful, erudite and irreverant helping to elucidate much of Smith's ideas beyond the "invisible hand". Adam Smith remains one of the most important thinkers in the last several hundred years. It is incredibly difficult to create any theory that actually stands the test of time or is even new so understanding Smith is time well spent. O'Rourke does an excellent job of making the 18th century language of Smith more intelligible to the average person.
Unfortunately, the last few chapters are unmemorable at best and tedious at worst. The humor becomes increasingly strained and irrelevant to the subject at hand, for example, comparing Smith's early education to his daughter learning to play "Kumbayah" on the recorder. The price of reading a satirist's take on Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is that O'Rourke is not an economist and does not bring any great depth of understanding to the subject. He is far more concerned about the next clever thing that he plans to say and never really is able to deliver a proper ending to the book. It is as though he has become bored with the subject.
Economics is extremely complex entailing the analysis of thousand of pieces of often conflictory data. As a non-economist, O'Rourke asserts that Smith contradicts himself without any understanding that there are no black & white answers. Anyone who studies this subject in any depth and attempts to make sense of it, would likely be aware of the contradictions that Smith grappled with at a time when the study of economics was in its infancy.
I highly recommend the first 2/3rds of the book and suggest that readers stop reading when they find a declining return on their investment of time.
Little actual economics.......2007-05-25
Smith was a Logic and Philosophy professor in George Washington's day. This was the middle of three of his works: the first, on morals, this, and the last, never completed, on law. It attempts to explain in a qualitative way what causes prosperity, and concludes that it comes from division of labor, trade, and absence of government interference. About all that could be said in those early days.
It is more a commentary on society, with suggestions on how governments should be run, or how various classes of men should behave. So it is a perfect foil for the author, social critic extrodinaire. He mines it for Smith's interesting observations, some because they are so contrary to modern thinking, others because they are still true today. As always, it's as much about the very opinionated and highly vocabularied O'Rourke as it is about his subject, but I enjoyed it.
ORourkenomics.......2007-05-12
Worth reading. Read Heilbronen's The Worldly Philosopher's for a better short book on how economics really works.
On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World).......2007-05-09
I could never get through Adam Smith's classic with any sense of comprehension. So tedious and tangental with digressions, I had developed the opinion that his wisdom may have given impetus to the philosophy and outworking of Capititalism but it was lost on me. How wonderful that P.J. O'Rourke could distill the importance in language that I could understand. And the interpretation is funny as well. I think I have found a series (Books That Changed the World) that is worth investigating. I recommend this book for those, like myself, who have not the time or energy to wade through the archaic for the gems - and thank O'Rouke for doing so on behalf of readers who need some help in such important books.
Average customer rating:
- WHORRIBLY HUMOROUS!
- When I home school my kids, I'll have them read this for Social Studies and Government Today.
- a liberal who enjoys PJ - why not!?
- A statement that stuck in my mind and craw
- Some of the best satire around
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Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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ASIN: 0802139701 |
Amazon.com
If satirists are at their best when tussling with something they hate, then this is P.J. O'Rourke's masterpiece. He clearly hates government--and has hated it since before it was cool to do so--and for all the right reasons, too: it's clumsy, inefficient, hypocritical, greedy, and arrogant. In other words, it magnifies the faults of the poor saps who staff it. Parliament of Whores is the humorist's howl of bitter laughter at the entire bloated, numskulled mess. As befits an ex-editor of National Lampoon, nothing is out of bounds for O'Rourke. Speaking of the fabled "football"--that satchel that follows the president around 24/7--the author doubts there are really launch codes in there at all--nothing but "a copy of Penthouse and a pint bottle of Hiram Walker--a Penthouse from back in the seventies, when Penthouse was really dirty, I'll bet."
Parliament of Whores is perfect for anyone who longs to cultivate an entertaining brand of cynicism, to be "a lone voice--not crying in the wilderness, thank you, but chortling in the rec room." O'Rourke is a master at making you laugh in spite of the better angels of your nature, and the only negative thing to be said about this tour de force is that his flamethrower brand of satire leaves nothing in its wake--certainly not the suggestion of an improvement. --Michael Gerber
Book Description
P. J. O'Rourke's savagely funny and national best-seller Parliament of Whores has become a classic in understanding the workings of the American political system. Originally written at the end of the Reagan era, this new edition includes an extensive foreword by the renowned political writer Andrew Ferguson -- showing us that although the names and the players have changed, the game is still the same. Parliament of Whores is an exuberant, broken-field run through the ethical foibles, pork-barrel flimflam, and bureaucratic bullrorfle inside the Beltway that leaves no sacred cow unskewered and no politically correct sensitivities unscorched.
Customer Reviews:
WHORRIBLY HUMOROUS!.......2006-11-20
"It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money." ~ P.J. O'Rourke
Once upon a time, oh, about a year ago, I was on the john with my P.J. bottoms loitering around my ankles, and minding my own "business." I had one of my Uncle John's Bathroom Readers in my lap (Uncle John and the john were just made for each other) and I was reading a page that contained a lot of funny remarks related to politics. I noticed that the several excerpts that had been penned by one P.J. O'ROURKE elicited the greatest laughs from me, so I determined to find out just who this P.J. was and where he'd been my whole life. After a little Ammyland surfing, I purchased his book, PARLIAMENT OF WHORES.
Just last week, I was on an America West flight to Northern Nevada. At the airport, after taking everything from me that one could never commandeer an airplane with, and making me remove my belt and shoes and self-respect, the powers that be somehow let me waltz onto the plane with PARLIAMENT OF WHORES - a very dangerous book. I mean, had I begun reading aloud, I could have convulsed the pilots, the flight crew, and the air marshal with laughter and taken control of Flight #522.
Instead, I read silently to myself, and laughed out loud every thirty seconds or so. This aroused the curiosity of the woman sitting next to me who asked what I was reading. I said, "Parliament Of Whores by P.J. O'Rourke" but somehow what she heard was, "Will you tell me your life story?" So she proceeded to tell me how she had gotten married at Lake Tahoe and bred dogs for a living. Or maybe it was that she earned her bread at Lake Tahoe and had married a dog. To be honest, I wasn't paying that much attention, but merely trying to nod and smile when I thought it was appropriate, and stealing another sentence or two from O'Rourke's book every time she paused between chapters in her oral autobiography. (She did offer me her little bag of pretzels, so at least I got something from her besides an earache.)
PALIAMENT OF WHORES is P.J.'s 1991 account of a journalist's inside look at politics and how it affects American Life. And trust me, it's no laughing matter, which is exactly why we must laught at it. It's laugh or go postal, but since the postal service is tied to the federal government, it's better that we laugh. P.J. says, "I have tried to present a factual - data-filled, at any rate - account of how this government works. Which is complicated by the fact that it doesn't." But if you think a journalist should instead be writing about things that are more relevant and of greater interest to most Americans, P.J. did promise in the Acknowledgments that his next book was going to be about "Madonna's Illegitimate UFO Diet To Cure AIDS And Find Elvis."
On page 103, O'Rourke confesses that he is "a real Republican" but then adds, "unlike some current presidents of the United States I could name." That unnamed "presidents" he referred to was, of course, George H. W. Bush. Now it's his equally un-Republican son, George W. Bush who occupies The White House, proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the Bush.
But don't let the fact that P.J. is a Republican dissuade you from reading PARLIAMENT OF WHORES if you happen to be a Democrat because Ol' P.J. absolutely grills EVERYONE in this laugh-out-loud book. And why not? The federal government has taken it upon itself to warn the nation that undercooked eggs and meat are unhealthy. And is raw government any better for us? It too deserves a good grilling, and P.J. is just the chef to do it!
Now, I can't say that P.J. never misses the nail's head and hits his own thumb. For example, on page 78 he states that the Supreme Court opening a session with "God save the United States and this Honorable Court" is a clear violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution. This is surprisingly sloppy reporting coming from a man who makes his living with words. The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." And that's what the Constitution, in its entirety, has to say about religion. So, when did the Supreme Court become Congress? And since when is stating, "God save the United States and this Honorable Court" the establishment of a law? (And has anybody informed God that He is now bound by law to do these things?)
On page 119, P.J. questions the wisdom of the illegality of recreational drugs. I think keeping these chemicals out of the hands (and arms, and lungs) of as many people as possible is indeed wise. The only exception being those funny smelling "cigarettes" which my buddy at work, The Great L.C., and I agree should be treated in like manner as alcohol, for they have, if anything, even less potential for harm: Put 10 guys into a room with loud music and bottles and bottles of booze, and it's sure that before the evening is over, one (or more) of those guys will get roughed up. But put the same 10 guys into the same room with the same loud music, and replace the booze with "wacky weed" and the only things that are gonna get roughed up are bags of potato chips.
But other than these rare disagreements, I found PALIAMENT OF WHORES to be wickedly accurate and whorribly humorous. Wait'll you read the suggestions the author makes for reducing federal expenditures (O'Rourke's Circumcision and Budget Liposuction), and the way he dissects the Special Interest Groups (The Original Barrel Of Monkeys That Nothing Is More Fun Than). This thing is simply a howl from one end to the other; the funniest book I've read in a very long time. Heck, one of the funniest books I've ever read at ANY time! It's "seriously funny" like Mark Twain. And I am no more ashamed to have PARLIAMENT OF WHORES standing in my bookcase between The Declaration Of Independence and The Heritage Guide To The Constitution than I am to have Twain's ROUGHING IT standing between Saloons Of The Old West and I Married Wyatt Earp. Aw, well, you know what I mean.
In the final analysis - after his study of how our government works [sic] - O'Rourke concludes that what we suspected all along is true: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." Nevertheless, watching P.J. T.P. the U.S. is the best cry you'll ever laugh. I'll be voting P.J. for President in 2008, even though he's too smart to run... except away.
When I home school my kids, I'll have them read this for Social Studies and Government Today........2006-04-03
Now pj is an avowed republican and though I consider myself a libritarian (however it's spelled) many of the ideas in his book ring true.
From page 14:
"The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop."- and that's why I'm Liberatarian and also why my party is nolonger a party (atleast in North Carolina as of winter of 2005). And strangly I'm happy it's not a party anymore; what do parties do other than spout retorict while handing out pay-raises from my [our] money.
From page 26:
"I don't agree with the democrats? What's to disagree with? They believe everything. And what they don't believe, the Republicans do. Neither of them stands for anything they believe in, anyway.
And from this, weve built a great nation," - and this is why I have love for no party. Oh and also:
From page 19:
"Democrats are also the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of you lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it. One philosophy is not necessarily and improvement on the other, but if you want the tooth fairy to come, you've got to have some teeth under your pillow."- Governemnt being the toothfairy while the teeth are our dollars. I suppose this fairy leaves programs that work in exchange for our money. Taxes are up to 30%+ for most (more than double what we left Great Britan for) some day people are going to realize that they have no teeth left and the fairy is taking a flying sht on their heads.
In the section entitled "The Three Branches of Govenment: Money, Television and Bllsht", page 72:
A day at the Whitehouse, "...the president signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Two tousand of the disabled and their family members were invited to attend in the briolling summer heat. People in wheelchairs were yelling at the deaf to sit down and the blind were bumping the palsied with their dogs. In a crueler age some onlookers might have laughed, but we never laugh at misfortune today. In fact, we're all trying to get in on it. A White House press release claimed that forty-three million Americans 'have some form of disability.' [and that was in 1991!, when this book was published] That is one out of five people, and it can't be true unless disability to balance checkbooks is being counted. A number of other things about this legislation can't be true either. Under the new law, 'public accommodations are prohibited from discrimiation on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations.' But people with disabilities, by definition, do not have full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities and so forth. Otherwise, what disability do they have? And the bill also guarantees that there will be no discrimination in employment. Does this mean one-legged firemen [I don't necessarily agree with his use of hyperbole in argument- but it is funny]? Don't worry, the question will be equitably settled in the courts [bye bye more money, I should have been a lawyer]. Meanwhile, ill health and bad luck have been made against the law."- the handicapped that I know always want to be treated normally.
This bill should have been seen as a giant slap in the face. However, it was veiwed by the fat (yes it is a disability) the lazy (oh, my back hurts. No, I won't get a desk job or try to make money another way) and stupid (who would'a thought smoking would cause lung problems or that being an alcoholic could hamper my job skills). That is what the law did and that is who benefits the most.
In "Doing the Most Important Kind of Nothing" page 77:
"We americans are an unprincipled nation, when you come down to it. Not that we're bad or anything. It's just that it's hard for us to pay attention to abstract matters when we have so many concrete matters--cellular phones, ski boats, salad shooters, trail bikes, StairMasters, snow boards, pasta making machines, four-door sport utility wehicles, palmcorders, rollerblade skates and CD players for our cars--to occupy us. No wonder all the great intellectual concepts such as monotheism and using the zero in arithmentic come from pastoral societies where herdsmen sit around all night with nothing to do except think thing up. (Though it is a wonder more cosmologies aren't founded on scrwing sheep.)"- haha, we are a nation perpetually amused. Or in fear:
The title of one section and the quote that follows, page 107, "OUR GOVERNMENT: WHAT THE FK DO THEY DO ALL DAY AND WHY DOES IT COST SO GDDMNED MUCH MONEY?"
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamourous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."- H. L. Mencken--I need to read more of his stuff (sorry I'm new to this whole thinking thing). For hobgoblins see: generic term terrorist, see Iran, see illegal immegrants, see "the poor", see Drug users and sellers, see innercity minorities, see hippies, see conservatives, see you, see me.
On that note, page 119 "If a drug-free Ameica is such a good idea, why aren't members of the House of Representatives taking drug tests? Why isn't the U.S. Senate pissing into jars on C-Span? "Get serious" is the phrase I heard a hundred time from cops, DEA men, customs agents and people living in drug-soaked neighborhoods. I'd be talking to them and thy'd just start yelling, not at me, but just yelling."-Hate to bring up good'ol Rush L. but drugs and pills taken illegally are still "illegal drugs". However, old white men don't seem to see it that way.
"Personally, I don't think all drugs-of-pleasure should be illegal. I'm not even sure if it's much use making any of them agiangst the law. But it is one more measure of our lack of seriousness that we won't dispassionatly investigate or rationly debate which drugs do what damage and whether or how much of that damage is the result of criminalization. We'd rather work ourselves into a screaming fit of puritanism and then go home and take a pill." Righ Rush? Righ mom?
Frankly, all of them are true, especially the last chaper.
a liberal who enjoys PJ - why not!?.......2006-01-29
YES he takes some easy pot-shots at liberals and YES THIS book is about 15 years old now - but it's funny.
IT's a bit too funny. IN FACT, while laughing out loud at some of his criticims you might wonder what's so funny.
He has a few misfires, one at the USDA's number of employees being far over that of the number of american farmers - but that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows what the USDA does - especially those of us who are entomologists!
And his idea of balancing the budget is damned near something like Pol Pot might come up with - but PJ will excuse himself - he'll be the first to tell you he doesn't know anything - and that does come across rather clearly.
JUST THE SAME READ PJ - he's very good, very witty, and very acerbic. Sort of a much smarter ... well, I'm not going to invoke those idiotic radio conservatives, most of which PJ would have no use for anyway. HE jabs just as hard at dumb republicans as he does elsewhere -- and I prefer some of his other writings - especially some of his excellent foreign journalism.
In fact, his Age Wisdom beats Youth and goodlooks (or whatever) book is great. I learned to love automobile writing from him.
A statement that stuck in my mind and craw.......2005-11-20
I read O'Rourk's "A Parliment of Whores" when it first came out in hardcover in 1992.
In the latter part of the book O'Rourk made a prophetic if not profound statement that I instantly committed to memory.
Until the last five years I couldn't figure out whether the statement was a direct slap in the faces of all us whores out here or a warning of things to come, which when taken into account amounts to a slap in the face.
O'Rourk said: "Any likeminded group, acting in concert, can steal anything they want, and get away with it."
Considering this current administration and congress I now find that O'Rourk's 1992 statement was indeed a warning of things to come.
I just added in paraphase: Any likeminded group, like crooked president and congress, acting in concert, can steal anything they want, and get away with it, including taking a nation over internally."
Every expert in the field knows that the only way the United States of America can be defeated is through internal takeover.
We now have an adminizstration and congress that is so overtly and absolutely corrupt that they actually flaunt their wrongdoing in the faces of the citizenry. However "they" are begining to find out that the "get way with it" part is not quite as easy as they thought.
Thomas D. Pearson-Author:
OSAMA-His Loathing of Infidels ISBN 1-4137-3400-6
I wrote my book as an awakening for our people and our government leaders, and as a warning to terror organizations letting them know that at least a few people here in the USA knew something about how they will act and to beware treading on America.
Some of the best satire around.......2005-08-20
The Author is one of the best satirical writers of our age and this is his Masterpiece. His razor sharp penn savagely rips apart the Federal Government and lays exposed the lies and delusions that surround the idea of goverment. In an otherwise boring subject this shines forth as a very bright spot.
Average customer rating:
- Humor and logic... two great tastes that taste great together.
- Laugh and Learn
- Funny...but not convincing.
- Skewer the liberals and roast their ideas.
- Let's Get Moderate!
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All the Trouble in the World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, and Poverty (O'Rourke, P. J.)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
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Similar Items:
- Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
- Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics (O'Rourke, P. J.)
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- Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer
- Peace Kills
ASIN: 0871136112 |
Customer Reviews:
Humor and logic... two great tastes that taste great together........2005-11-25
Even those who disagree with P.J. O'Rourke's conclusions will usually tell you that his manner of expressing those conclusions is highly entertaining. O'Rourke's dry wit and bizarely appropriate analogies are absolutely hysterical. I listened to this book at the gym and had several of those "weird guy laughing at nothing" moments that can make you an outcast in a hurry.
But besides being funny, O'Rourke applies sound fundamentals of economics and history to a very logical dissection of the world around us. Being written in 1993, some of this book's examples are dated, but the logic used to analyze them is just as instructive today as it was then, and most of today's issues possess close parrallels in O'Rourke's 90s examples.
The book reads lightly, but O'Rourke traveled to Somalia, Haiti, the Amazon, Vietnam and other hot spots in writing this book - he did serious work and has a serious philosophy underlying his humor.
Give this one a read and see the world the way the politicians would rather we didn't.
Laugh and Learn .......2004-10-29
P.J. O'Rourke is the thinking man's John Stewart. Where Stewart is merely snarky and cutesy, O'Rourke has some actual working knowledge of the world, of history, and of human nature. In this book, he adroitly and hilariously skewers all of the "Henny Penny" sky-is-falling enviro-nazis who's holier-than-thou worship of nature is about to snuff out the human race. If you wonder why ideas like the Kyoto Protocol are so insane and ill-advised, read this book. If you've ever wondered about terrorist groups such as E.L.F., read this book. If you've ever had an unexplainable urge to snicker and hoot with derision whenever some earnest WASPy wannabe rasta mon tie-dyed tree-hugger begins to blather on about alar, read this book. In the midst of all of his cynicism and sarcasm, P.J. actually sheds a lot of light on some of the motivations, emotionalism, and deceptions of the far leftist enviro-whacko movement...how it is based in inaccuracy and ideological lunacy. He presents solid, well-researched facts in a way that is not dry, but delightfully pointed. This book is the archenemy of Al Gore's sci-fi thriller, EARTH IN THE BALANCE, and it blows the ex-Veep's book all to hell, and will leave the reader in tears of laughter. Check it out!
Funny...but not convincing........2003-07-08
Before I go on: Yes, I'm a liberal--I had to read this book in a English Comp II class taught by a libertarian professor.
O'Rourke's analysis, while scathingly funny, falls short of the mark due to sheer lack of evidence. His essay skewering environmentalism, for instance, provides NO scientific evidence for his claims (which was also a criticism levied by my professor). The pollution essay provides merely circumstancial evidence, and O'Rourke even admits he gave up trying to write about plague in Hatiti, and goes to talk about his visit to the black market and a voodoo shrine (which, I will admit, is terribly interesting).
Look, I think O'Rourke is hysterical. His one-liners are great, and yeah, he makes a few points. But the guy doesn't offer solid evidence, and the way he treats EVERY SINGLE liberal as a communist sympathizer is annoying.
Of course, if you do lean to the libertarian/fringe Republican side of the political spectrum then this review won't matter. For the rest of us, I give you fair warning.
It is fair to note that the book was last published in 1994, so it is rather out of date, if you are interested in purchasing it.
Skewer the liberals and roast their ideas........2003-02-18
P.J. O'Rourke gets it right. First time and everytime. I appreciate the logical perspective he puts on his selected issues. From population to pollution, he shows the liberal slant in reporting is not reality. Funny how the population of Bangladesh is frightening, but not in Fremont, California, though both places have the same density. O'Rourke has a fun writing style and a propensity to use words that makes many readers cringe as they reach for their dictionaries. The man is truely a master of his craft.
Let's Get Moderate!.......2002-11-07
Even though P.J. O'Rourke is totally a Republican, that doesn't stop me from thinking he's hilarious in a very useful way. The good thing about him is that he's a clear-thinking and rational centrist, only a little bit to the right; and since I'm a little bit to the left and try to be clear-thinking and rational, there's plenty of room for everybody with a levelheaded view. The true unheralded battle is now between extremists and moderates (forget the archaic liberal vs. conservative battle), and moderates of all stripes can enjoy O'Rourke's politics even if you disagree with some of the specifics. You don't get these kinds of insights from modern politicians, who are either extreme-right Republicans or Democrats who are amazed by the dimness of their ideas. At one point in this book, in chapter 7, he calls left-wingers "nitwits" and right-wingers "peabrains" in the same paragraph, so you know he's no extremist or stiff ideologue. He cares about both the environment and private property rights, and favors both profiteering and universal education.
This book is basically a curmudgeon's guide to the problems around the world that the politically correct care about. O'Rourke has some great insights, such as the fact that all famines are caused by politics, and that the Endangered Species Act has never saved a single species. There are some inconsistencies however, especially in the overly preachy chapters concerning the environment. O'Rourke contends that a lot of American pollution is committed by the government on federally owned lands, and proposes the vague panacea of private property rights as the solution. But later he blames Haiti's poverty on too much private and not enough public property. But his case studies in certain godforsaken locations are very illuminating - Bangladesh for overpopulation, Somalia for famine, and even the former Yugoslavia as a really bad case of multiculturalism. Except for some vague and predictable endorsements for wealth generation and responsible government, O'Rourke doesn't pretend to have the answer to the world's problems, except that they should be tackled by non-extremist minds. That sure is a refreshing viewpoint, especially from a cranky old Republican!
Average customer rating:
- Still Really Funny
- One of the funniest things in the English language
- A parody that still delivers!
- Timeless genius
- Just 'cause P.J.'s in it!
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National Lampoon's 1964 High School Yearbook, 39th Reunion
Manufacturer: Rugged Land
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Binding: Hardcover
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- National Lampoon Not Fit For Print
ASIN: 1590710126
Release Date: 2003-08-26 |
Book Description
Welcome back, graduates of the 1964 class of C. Estes Kefauver High School in Dacron, Ohio! They're all back in glorious black and white with color Magic Marker-Chuck U. Farley, Maria Teresa Spermatozoa, Purdy "Psycho" Lee Spackle, Faun Laurel Rosenberg, and, of course, Dacron's most famous son, Larry Kroger. Learn everything there is to know about Kroger's past before he became the pop-culture legend Pinto (Tom Hulce), the virgin fraternity pledge in National Lampoon's Animal House. With a hilarious "Where are they now?" addendum and a brilliantly funny new introduction by P. J. O'Rourke, the 39th Reunion Edition is sure to be the talk of the baby boomers who grew up with National Lampoon and of the new generation of comedy fans spawned by the success of The Onion.
Customer Reviews:
Still Really Funny.......2006-08-12
The planets lined up when the editors of the National Lampoon Magazine decided to create this brilliant parody of a mid-1960s high school yearbook. The names they made up are still classic, the grainy b/w pix a masterpiece, and the banal but funny text lives on.
This edition may not be an exact duplicate of the beloved softcover edition we all knew, but it's really great anyway. Enjoy!
One of the funniest things in the English language.......2004-08-27
Let's state it simply -- this is perhaps the funniest book ever published, even though the year 1964 is getting more distant all the time. Ingenious in its construction (a multi-level reconstruction of a typical high school yearbook), it is a hilarious, scathing, understanding, and even sort of poignant look at the kids of one year, one generation, in America long ago. Absolutely brilliant! (If you can find it, NatLamp also did an amazingly detailed town newspaper parody in the late 1970's that is also great.)
A parody that still delivers!.......2004-08-07
First things first: I am an admitted P.J. O'Rourke buff (the dude inspired me to start writing, which is either a good thing or bad), so I was interested to check this out. Plus, after reading Tony Hendra's book about the Lampoon and the creation of the Yearbook by Doug Kenney and O'Rourke, I decided to quit putting off my hesitancy to buying it and purchased it about two months ago. I haven't laughed as hard at anything in print since.
The context of the Yearbook is essential to understanding it; rather than just a "hey, look how crazy we were!" sort of Porky's approach, there's an underlying theme of "Animal House"-style anger at the authority structures that made social conformity and Vietnam possible. The writers had lived through the Vietnam era of the late Sixties, and they looked back in anger at the controls high school placed on them. There's real venom in these pages, if you know where to look.
But what struck me, and what made me appreciate this on the terms of being a simply good artwork, was the similarities to high school yearbooks even today. Sure, the layouts and hair/fashion styles change, but the general idea is the same: there are the popular kids, and then there's everyone else (including the "hero" of the piece, future Delta member Larry Kroeger). They all exist in the mythical Dacron, Ohio, and their school is really everybody's school. I can say, coming from a similarly awful school here in the great state of South Carolina, that nothing made me chuckle more than the laugh of recognition. I graduated in '97, yet I could identify and pick up on things that would've been true of any year (the snarky tribute to a fallen classmate, the peppy rememberence of a fallen President, the losing sports teams buoyed by a sense of "better luck next year").
The yearbook is so spot on, when I went back to my senior year yearbook I could immediately see such parallels. Our football team was(still is) a walking disaster, and little good could be said for the other sports. Our school play was just as clumsy as Dacron's "Julius Caesar", and our talent shows didn't improve much on the 'entertainment' provided by the 1964 class. It was these hilarious occurances that made me appreciate the book as simply more than a rant against the complacency of the Fifties; it was at long last a genuinely funny ghost of what it mocked.
I can't vouch for whether the "new" material takes away from the old (as this was indeed my first run-in with the parody in total), but I will say it seems a bit tame compared to what's part of the original. Plus, the "literary magazine" struck a chord, as I can remember my own sophmoric contribution to a similar publication in my high school (which sold about one copy, I believe). The "where will they be in ten years" list seemed like it could've been written by the idiots in my class, and the crude names assigned to the underclassmen (shown with the same exact photo every time) would not have been out of place in my school's tome either.
Overall, I enjoyed this far more than I imagined I would. There are obvious sight gags (the basketball team's hapless conduct had me in stiches), but the real meat is in the writing (whether or not O'Rourke can really claim a majority of the material, it seems a bit arrogant to take top billing over the late Kenney), which is dead-on. No matter when you graduated, you will recognize the figures in this book. And you will laugh your ass off, even as you cry tears of recognition.
Timeless genius.......2004-07-28
I am at a loss trying to recall another book that has ever been published that comes close to this towering achievement of humor. This thing is timeless in its genius. I first got a hold of this gem while in high school in '77-'78. I, too, had to resort to buying a used original copy on Ebay for about $120 a few years back. And now, here it is, in all its glory.
It is as funny today as it was back then. The new material is amusing, but the original stuff is the prime mover. There's just so much here, that it's difficult, if not impossible, to adequately describe this thing. Every single page has something (if not many, many things) that will make you laugh out loud, and hard. I gave my younger brother a copy a couple of weeks ago. He is still struggling to get through it (he laughs so hard he can't breathe).
I must agree that the pictures, which are impossibly funny on their own, look as though they were an afterthought in this reprint. They are, in a word, horrible. Dark at times, washed out in others. They look as though they were Xeroxed. Some pics (like the classic Spaz Leaking proudly holding his MEN sign for the Woodburning Club) are almost useless. Such a tremendous shame. I hope this problem is rectified in subsequent printings.
These shortcomings aside, the 1964 Yearbook Parody remains the book by which all other parodies or anything claiming to be humorous should be judged.
Just 'cause P.J.'s in it!.......2004-06-16
I don't care who you are, that reviewer Edward G. Nilges is funny! So, based on his recommendation, I would have had to get this book, even if P.J. O'Rourke wasn't in it. Keep up the good work Edward!
Average customer rating:
- The Place to Start with O'Rourke
- How to Get Rich: Write a Book that Says Nothing but Makes People Laugh
- funny, but don't expect to learn much!
- Libertarianism with humor
- The Finest Work he has ever done!
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Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics (O'Rourke, P. J.)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
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ASIN: 0871137607 |
Amazon.com
A conservative, prosperous, American journalist gadding around the world laughing at all the ways less successful nations screw up their economy--this might not sound like the recipe for a great read, unless you're Rush Limbaugh, but if that journalist is P.J. O'Rourke you can be sure that you'll enjoy the ride even if you don't agree with the politics. Although Eat the Rich is subtitled A Treatise on Economics, O'Rourke spends relatively few pages tackling the complexities of monetary theory. He's much happier when flying from Sweden to Hong Kong to Tanzania to Moscow, gleefully recording every economic goof he can find. When he visits post-Communist Russia and finds a country that is as messed up by capitalism as it was by Communism, O'Rourke mixes jokes about black-market shoes with disturbing insights into a nation on the verge of collapse. P.J. O'Rourke is more than a humorist, he's an experienced international journalist with a lot of frequent-flyer miles, and this gives even his funniest riffs on the world's problems the ring of truth.
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
What is it that makes one person rich and another poor? It's a tough question and not one generally suited to laughs, but P.J. O'Rourke--in the audio version of his ironic and insightful book, Eat the Rich--is a master at finding humor in the most unlikely places. Here he travels from Wall Street to Russia, Hong Kong to Cuba on an immensely entertaining quest for economic enlightenment. It's an educational journey wrapped in hilarity, which is especially enjoyable when heard in the surprisingly deep, resonant voice of the author himself. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney
Book Description
In the tradition of his contemporary classic Parliament of Whores, the man who The Wall Street Journal calls "the funniest writer in America" is back with Eat the Rich, in which he takes on the global economy. P. J. O'Rourke leads you on an hysterical whirlwind world tour from the "good capitalism" of Wall Street to the "bad socialism" of Cuba in search of the answer to an age-old question: "Why do some places prosper and thrive, while others just suck?" With stops in Albania, Sweden, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Tanzania, P.J. brings along his incomparable wit and finds hilarity wherever he goes.
Customer Reviews:
The Place to Start with O'Rourke.......2007-04-05
Barring none, this is the place for a novice P.J. O'Rourke reader to start. He has been in a slight slump as of late, but he is at his peak here. I loaned my first copy to someone who never returned it. If I lose this copy, I would buy it again.
This is O'Rourke's essay on economics, in it he analyzes why some societies work economically and why some do not, regardless of geography or access to natural resources. It has often been said that to be funny you first have to be smart. Here O'Rourke demonstrates that he knows more than a little about free market economics. He posesses keen powers of observation and an even sharper wit. His innate intelligence comes through.
How much funnier would he be had he not burned out all those brain cells in the '60s? It's not likely he could be! This one is hard to top.
How to Get Rich: Write a Book that Says Nothing but Makes People Laugh.......2007-02-05
P.J. O'Rourke manages to dizzy his audience with a tautological series of stories, comparsions, and self-defacement and then nauseatingly spews empty paragraphs. Don't know what a tautology is? Read this book, you'll figure it out.
An author either takes pride in his ignorance or banks on his authority. O'Rourke attempts to do both, the former almost always shining through the latter. Coming away, you'll feel like you learned something. Of course you did! It just took him 10 angles, 5 anecdotes, and 8 less-than-appropriate similes to convey a Macro 101 principle. If you want a good laugh, read this book. If you want someone who knows what they're talking about, keep looking
funny, but don't expect to learn much!.......2007-01-29
I actually love O'Rourke's quips (even though I disagree with most of his theories and viewpoins), and I think the book is well worth buying if you ever write, or speak in public, about matters at all related to economics (including, say, making reports or giving presentations to management): go through the book with a highlighter and small sticky bookmarks and by the time you're through you'll have a hundred funny quips to enliven your next report or presentation (only pick a couple of them for each occasion, of course!-). But you won't learn much from this book -- whether you already know a lot about economics, or just about nothing; it's just too much of a "snapshot" of specific short periods of times in various places, observed very partially and reported with much more attention to being funny than to being accurate and useful.
Libertarianism with humor.......2006-12-15
O'Rourke has a bulls-eye on free market Libertarianism and shows how it WORKS. Even if you have no affinity for politics, the tales in "Eat the Rich" will make you laugh. If you do have a passion for freedom, it will make you think.
The Finest Work he has ever done!.......2006-12-04
P J tackles the subject of economics, and does so with his own unique view of the world. The net result is this... he has taken a dry-as-dust subject uniformly hated by college sophomores and produced the FINEST teaching text ever written on economics.
If you a civilian hoping to gain even a sliver of information from your typical thinkpiece on the IMF or the World Bank, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
The combination of side-splitting humor and penetrating insight is unmatched, and I really wish he would try the same combination with other subjects.
One final caveat... DO NOT READ THIS BOOK WHILE EATING!!! You may hit the paragraph with the STONE SOUP anecdote and choke to death laughing!
Average customer rating:
- Irreverent, funny, and dated
- Now you know where Borat got his storyline!
- MUST VACATION READING -- BEHIND THE HEADLINES GREAT
- Total Classic PJ
- One of P.J.'s Best
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Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World's Worst Places and Asks, "What's Funny About This" (O'Rourke, P. J.)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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ASIN: 0802137016 |
Amazon.com
No doubt about it: P. J. O'Rourke has a bizarre sense of fun. "What I've ... been," he writes in his introduction to Holidays in Hell "is a Trouble Tourist--going to see insurrections, stupidities, political crises, civil disturbances and other human folly because ... because it's fun." Forget Hawaii or the Poconos--O'Rourke gets his jollies in places like war-torn Lebanon where he is greeted at the border by a gun barrel in his face, or Seoul, just in time for election-day violence. Wherever he goes, however, O'Rourke takes his quirky sense of humor, laser eye for detail, and artful way with words: a Philippine army officer is "powerful-looking in a short, compressed way, like an attack hamster," and the Syrian army is described as having "dozens of silly hats, mostly berets in yellow, orange and shocking pink, but also tiny pillbox chapeaux.... The paratroopers wear shiny gold jumpsuits and crack commando units have skin-tight fatigues in a camouflage pattern of violet, peach, flesh tone and vermilion on a background of vivid purple. This must give excellent protective coloration in, say, a room full of Palm Beach divorcees in Lily Pulitzer dresses."
O'Rourke's flip, sarcastic style isn't for everyone, of course; the concept that anyone could find sightseeing in the Beirut or El Salvador of the 1980s fun might prove offensive to more than a few readers right off the bat. But love him or hate him, P. J. O'Rourke knows how to tell a good story, and if you like your travel writing laced with more than a little cynicism, Holidays in Hell could be just the book you've been looking for.
Book Description
Now available from Grove Press, P. J. O'Rourke's classic, best-selling guided tour of the world's most desolate, dangerous, and desperate places. "Tired of making bad jokes" and believing that "the world outside seemed a much worse joke than anything I could conjure," P. J. O'Rourke traversed the globe on a fun-finding mission, investigating the way of life in the most desperate places on the planet, including Warsaw, Managua, and Belfast. The result is Holidays in Hell--a full-tilt, no-holds-barred romp through politics, culture, and ideology. P.J.'s adventures include storming student protesters' barricades with riot police in South Korea, interviewing Communist insurrectionists in the Philippines, and going undercover dressed in Arab garb in the Gaza Strip. He also takes a look at America's homegrown horrors as he braves the media frenzy surrounding the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Washington D.C., uncovers the mortifying banality behind the white-bread kitsch of Jerry Falwell's Heritage USA, and survives the stultifying boredom of Harvard's 350th anniversary celebration. Packed with P.J.'s classic riffs on everything from Polish nightlife under communism to Third World driving tips, Holidays in Hell is one of the best-loved books by one of today's most celebrated humorists
Customer Reviews:
Irreverent, funny, and dated.......2007-05-14
Written in the 1980's, the 3rd world political references are a bit dated but his experiences in these countries and witty, irreverent observations are still relevant and entertaining. A good, light read with some quotable quotes.
Now you know where Borat got his storyline!.......2006-11-14
I know this book goes back to when Reagan was president and the commies were one-upping one another in Siberia, but "Holidays in Hell," now more than ever, is still a freaking hysterical book!
I remember reading it after I got hooked on O'Rourke in college. I had to put the book away for the weekend, because I'd be sitting in British Lit and remember something O'Rourke said, then I'd start snickering like an extra in Reefer Madness. Dangerous book to read and try to keep your mind on anything else.
P.J. O'Rourke is a humor god, as far as I'm concerned - and as for Borat, he obviously plagerized "Holidays in Hell" for his movie!
MUST VACATION READING -- BEHIND THE HEADLINES GREAT.......2006-08-04
PJ O'ROURKE WAS AN INTERNATIONAL editor for ROLLING STONE for years-- he's a dude from Ohio who has traveled the world especially as he says the 'hell holes' -- that's why it's called Holidays in Hell...he revisits some of the war zones he's been too -- Lebanon, Panama, Post-Marcos Philippines, El salvador and then throws in a whole slew of controversial trips -- to such amazing places as Seoul, Korea, Heritage USA, At sea with the America's Cup, Africa in the 'old days' a Mexico border patrol experience, the Holyland and even Epcot Center. You must read his stuff-- he may just be one of the best writers of our time. -- This guy has an amazing droll, dark comedy sense of humor or is it irony or sarcasm? His world goes behind the scenes where we would not want to go. He sees what we might not and talks about what we would never dare to -- at least without some brewskis in us. In the preface he talks about this being a takeoff of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad-- and it is but it is also a cross between Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation and RV with Robin Williams and a bit of Updike (for the people) Steinbech for the locations/places vs spaces and the sarcasm of a Philip Roth -- and it appears to be non-fiction. Terrific read-took it on my vacation trip and it's easy to carry around and easy to read because each chapter is short -- 20-30 pages max and about one subject-- bit like a short story...yet it all flows together. No matter what happens to you -- restaurant closed, flat tire on car, plane delay, yearning for a fresh apple instead of peanuts-- it all looks like a day in the park compared to his hellish experiences. BUT THEY WILL make you laugh and think. The sad part is the headlines today read like they did 25 years ago-- so it helps us come full circle with some history on the hot spots like Lebanon and Israel and even Seoul. GREAT BOOK
Total Classic PJ.......2006-07-03
I've read everyone of PJ's books, this one is his signiture writing if there is such a thing. Its up on the night stand with Catcher in the Rye and a few others that I pick up and re-re-re read every year. Holidays in Hell is a bit dated now but still the best thing he's ever done. I wish PJ would do a 21st century version of this book. Unfortunatly it doesnt seem that he talks about his travels much anymore. Lately, some of his books are getting a bit heavy and intense to read and seem to have less of that usual built in fun. Thats OK. Thats where his heads at now I guess.. I think PJ may be turning into (or already is) a crotchity old man who likes to complain alot. He is, however, the best writer in satire journelisem there ever was. I'm always looking on the book shelves or Amazon for a new PJ.
One of P.J.'s Best.......2006-02-11
I've been a fan of P.J. O'Rourke since his days writing for National Lampoon magazine in the 1970s and first read this book when it came out back in the late 1980s. "Holidays in Hell" is made up of essays on his travels, mostly as a foreign correspondent. (I say "mostly" as some of the chapters concern his visits to American sites such as Heritage USA, Epcot Center, and the campus of Harvard University.)
Evelyn Waugh's travel writings seem to have strongly influenced O'Rourke, and "Holidays in Hell" is actually dedicated "[t]o the memory of John Courteney Boot, in Evelyn Waugh's 'Scoop'..." But O'Rourke is less snobbish and a lot funnier than Waugh.
In Korea, he notes that it is "a whole nation of people who did their homework on Friday night." In Lebanon, he comments on the different pronunciations of the word "passport" by those manning the many security checkpoints: "Bassboat." "Bizport." "Passboot." "Pisspot." In Nicaragua, he quotes Nelba Blandon, the Sandinista's Director of Censorship in the Interior Ministry: "They [La Prensa] accused us of supressing feedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it."
Despite the fact that this book is now almost two decades old, it can still be very relevant. As I write, hundreds of thousands of Muslims are marching in many corners of the World, screaming for blood, all because of some Danish cartoons. This reminded me of what O'Rourke wrote in the chapter of this book entitled "Among the Euro-Weenies": "Man to Man Arabs are the salt of the earth...but get you in a pack and shove a Koran down your pants and you act like a footlocker full of glue-sniffing civet cats."
Average customer rating:
- As funny now as it was back then
- Another Flawed Reissue!
- Great humor, but there are errors in the restoration
- Back in Print! The Funniest Parody Ever!
- Great irreverent humor
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National Lampoon's Sunday Newspaper Parody
P. J. O'Rourke , and John Hughes
Manufacturer: Rugged Land
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 1590710371
Release Date: 2004-11-16 |
Book Description
The sequel to National Lampoon’s 1964 High School Yearbook and considered the Rosetta stone of news parody, National Lampoon’s Sunday Newspaper is a cult classic of puerile genius.
--------------------------------
Dateline:
Dacron, Ohio, Sunday, February 12, 1978 (Motor Home Capital of the World)
Now in a vibrant tabloid format, the Dacron, Ohio Republican-Democrat, one of America’s newspapers, returns with a complete Sunday edition of all the news that’s unfit to print. With stories and photos that are as remarkably plausible today as they were in 1978, the Republican-Democrat is littered with grade-A-quality humor.
Including National News, Local News, and More Local News, a Sports Section, Entertainment, Television Listings, Travel, Real Estate, Gardening, Your Pet, Women’s Pages, Classified Ads, a Swillmart Discount Store Advertising Supplement, a Parade Magazine Parody, a Sunday Week Local Magazine, and Eight Pages of Comics, it will take you back in time even if you were never there to begin with.
Any fan of The Onion will discover its recipe for success–take National Lampoon’s Sunday Newspaper, rejigger the news to reflect today’s absurdity, and maintain the National Lampoon’s pitch-perfect mimicry of editorial and design. Ask any comedy writer at work today, and she or he will tell you that National Lampoon’s 1964 High School Yearbook and National Lampoon’s Sunday Newspaper are the sine qua non of written humor.
Customer Reviews:
As funny now as it was back then.......2006-03-13
The humor has stood the test of time. A great companion to the National Yearbook.
Another Flawed Reissue!.......2005-06-02
Why do the publishers of these National Lampoon reissues even bother if they are not going to do it right? One of the great things about the original National Lampoon is that they knew how to do a PARODY....That means that the object that is the PARODY should appear as if it were the object being parodied! A High School Yearbook Parody should look like a High School Yearbook, and a Parody of a Sunday Newspaper should look like a real Sunday Newspaper, not a book...that is the point...Maybe I'm too hung up on the design, but that's a major aspect of the title and the project...Also, as mentioned in other reviews, this edition has been re-typset with mistakes inherent! If you can find an original edition, trust me, you're better off in the long run paying the extra bucks...for the overall package it's much more worth it than this ugly travesty! 2 stars though, for the content!
Great humor, but there are errors in the restoration.......2005-04-10
Of course, the Dacron Republican-Democrat is an all-time classic of parody, and on that basis alone, this is well worth a purchase.
But something that hasn't been mentioned yet -- this edition has been "restored" by the folks at Rugged Land, and it's obvious that they did not have access to the original 1978 printing plates. Nearly all of the text has been re-typeset, and it's not fully 100% accurate; I found at least one place where text "went to Courier" in the typesetting process -- something that didn't happen back then. And I found a couple of typos that might not have been in the original -- I don't have my newsprint copy anymore, so it's tough to tell.
Also, most of the simpler ads have been re-typeset, but the more complex ones have apparently been scanned from an original copy of the Republican-Democrat, giving them a noisy, low-res quality that stands out painfully on these high-gloss pages. The Swillmart circular, in particular, is of particularly low reproduction quality, but still mostly readable.
Don't let these goofs stop you from buying, but be aware that you're not getting the original product.
Back in Print! The Funniest Parody Ever!.......2005-02-16
This is my favorite kind of humor. It looks like a local newspaper, divided into the usual sections. It reads like a local newspaper. But it's insanity sliced and diced in every possible way. The more you read, the more you'll find. Here's an advertisement from a local barber shop; look closely and you'll notice the special service is free ear and nose trim for senior citizens. There's an article advising how to use your golf gear to repel burglars, and which iron to select. There are comics and classified ads and movie listings and contests. If you keep reading, you'll find how the stories connect to each other to build to a higher level of absurdity. It's funny at a glance and funnier in depth.
This was originally published in newsprint in 1978, back when National Lampoon was at the height of its power. I've got the original, which has become brittle with age. Should have used acid-free paper! Anyway, this reprint is a large bound volume. It's not as realistic as the original, but it's probably more durable, and it's complete. Grab it!
Great irreverent humor.......2004-12-09
Unlike some of the other Rugged Land re-issues, this one is in softcover, which is somewhat regrettable. Still, it's a vast improvement over the original, which was on newsprint (my old copy is quite aged). It is politically incorrect (very incorrect, in fact) but wickedly funny. It pokes fun at small-town politics, along with NL favorites like Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, JFK and Jackie. A sequel to the High School Yearbook parody, all of the graduating class show up in various ways and in their 1978 professions -- Larry Kroger as a guidance counsellor, Herb Weisenheimer as a car salesman, Amana Peppridge as a porn star, etc. While some of the jokes are childish, much of the humor is laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, the humor is a bit meaner than the yearbook parody but much of it is spot-on -- particularly some of the jokes about the newspaper and local business being far too cozy. I particularly liked the City section's profile of the "Powder Room Prowler."
Average customer rating:
- shorter review
- great title, laugh out loud humor
- A Funny look back in time
- Give me a break
- I laughed out loud!
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Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Political
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Relations
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- Peace Kills
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- Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World's Worst Places and Asks, "What's Funny About This" (O'Rourke, P. J.)
- On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
ASIN: 0802140319 |
Book Description
In the spirit of his savagely funny and national best-seller Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance is P. J. O'Rourke's number one New York Times best-selling follow-up. O'Rourke runs hilariously amok by tackling the death of Communism, sanctimonious liberals, and America's perennial bad guy Saddam Hussein in a series of classic dispatches from his coverage of the 1991 Gulf War. Here is our most mordant and unnervingly funny political satirist on: Kuwait City after the Gulf War: "It looked like all the worst rock bands in the world had stayed there at the same time." On Saddam Hussein, O'Rourke muses: "He's got chemical weapons filled with ... chemicals. Maybe he's got The Bomb. And missiles that can reach Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Spokane. Stock up on nonperishable foodstuffs. Grab those Diet Coke cans you were supposed to take to the recycling center and fill them up with home heating oil. Bury the Hummel figurines in the yard. We're all going to die. Details at eleven."
Customer Reviews:
shorter review.......2006-11-29
"Give War a Chance" is a very entertaining book. The book contains a bunch of loose stories about various subjects ranging from communism, to hippies, the 1st Gulf War, how stupid the Carters were, and how evil the Kennedys were.
My favorite three chapters were:
The chapter about democracy taking over in Nicaragua.
The chapter about Dr Ruth.
The chapter about how evil the Kennedy Clan was, and is.
There were also interesting tales about the first gulf war.
great title, laugh out loud humor.......2006-08-13
The title is brilliant, his humor just right, and I always appreciate a fellow libertarian.
Mostly, his book is common sense. War is often a necessary evil that has produced more peace than anything else. Rich taxpayers and the Marine Corps do more for world peace than the 1% of Ben & Jerry's profits that are set aside for that purpose - but then that's stating the obvious, isn't it?
Plus, always relying on diplomacy is naïve, unrealistic (remember Hitler?). People are inherently evil, not good.
And I never knew that O'Rourke used to be a "long-haired peace creep" back in the 60s, although it makes him more authentic. He's been on the Other Side, so he knows what they believe firsthand, making him an excellent critic, far more knowledgable than people who have been either strict liberals or strict conservatives for their entire lives. A "reliable narrator."
A Funny look back in time.......2005-08-20
A solid and very funny look at the crazy folks of the 3rd world. I really enjoyed this man's work and his wickly funny observations about this crazy old world of ours.
Give me a break.......2005-07-30
Typical O'Rourke drivel. Heres how it goes. PJ gets Rolling Stone to pay to send him to Lebanon, Panama (circa Noriega) and some other places where they have lots of guns and bad manners and little of anything else, in the hopes that he will get drunk enough to wander out from the hotel bar, see some "bad stuff" and come up with something funny to say about it. His humor is pointed and well placed at times. Most of the time though he, merely, uses the humor to set up some libertarian screed. Heavy reliance on Cato institute,intern-toadies(who fact check, research and do the academic heavy lifting) at times gives O'Rourke the appearance of knowing his arse from a hole in the ground....do not be fooled. PJ is a Hunter Thompson wannabe, but who lacks HT'S gonads. SKIP IT.
I laughed out loud!.......2004-07-15
This book is insightful, witty, and hilarious. O'Rourke certainly has a biased point of view and glosses over any argument that would say he's wrong (while insulting his opponents, often personally and unfairly), but he makes a strong case for war, capitalism, and freedom.
Some of his comments during the 1991 Gulf War regarding the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims seem out of date given September 11, but are interesting nonetheless. I wouldn't have expected someone in the Gulf at that time to see what was coming.
He does a great job of exposing the evils of communism and extolling the virtues of fighting against tyranny. Enjoy!
Average customer rating:
- Biting, Laugh Out Loud Read
- Perverted disgusting garbage
- Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People
- Not his best
- The best guide I've ever come across
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Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People (O'Rourke, P. J.)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Essays
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- Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
- The Enemies List (O'Rourke, P. J.)
- Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World's Worst Places and Asks, "What's Funny About This" (O'Rourke, P. J.)
ASIN: 087113375X |
Amazon.com
As one of the few folks who made it out of the National Lampoon alive and writing, P. J. O'Rourke is--a comment that might please him more than most humorists--an elder statesman of American humor. While this says much about the thinness of the field, you gotta give him his props.
Modern Manners is good, early O'Rourke, a book that you can read and enjoy without being to the right of Francisco Franco. Who can resist lines such as "A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat." Or, "Don't wear a tweed jacket to work unless you expect to flush a covey of quail from behind the Xerox machine." Manners are a moving target, and some sections are in need of revision (cocaine really was a big deal, wasn't it?), but don't let that dissuade you. By and large, Modern Manners comes through admirably.
Customer Reviews:
Biting, Laugh Out Loud Read.......2007-01-15
If you enjoy the intelligent and biting humor of a Dennis Miller and the vocabulary of a George Will you will love this book. If your idea of a great satirical read is "Mad Magazine" you will enjoy this book. If you think the Als - Gore and Franken - are brilliant you will hate this book.
Perverted disgusting garbage.......2006-03-20
Reading Mr. O'Rourke's "All the Troubles in the World" gave me the impression that he is an excellent political/economics analyst with a tolerable bad streak. The fine writing in that book encouraged me to acquire some of his other work.
I was horribly repulsed by the explicit language, immature humor and overall repugnance of his guide to manners. What I had hoped would be a light poke at contemporary society so sickened me that I threw the book in the trash before I was halfway done. I regret reading even that far.
Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People.......2002-12-24
Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People written by P.J. O'Rourke is a humorus book. A book the will get you laughing and you will not spot till the end.
This is some of O'Rourke's early musings, but neverthless, it is a very funny, tongue-in-cheek way to spoof manners. As with most if not all of O'Rourke's writings you read it for the levity, flippancy, and jocularity, well you will NOT be disappointed.
Read this book if you want to get away from the serious side of life. As the frivolity takes hold, you'll find that you are more relazed after a really good chuckle.
Not his best.......2002-01-21
I am a big PJ fan but this was disappointing with a serious lack of content. Start with his best works, Holidays in Hell and Parliament of Whores; then if you really want more work you're way down to this.
The best guide I've ever come across.......2001-04-27
Fantastic book, very funny. I was a bit annoyed this edition cut down the picture at the front of the book, which were the funniest parts of the original edition (hence four stars and not five), but nevertheless a very good read.
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant Concept
- They stole my 1961 Yearbook
- Almost as good as the old version
- Classic Stuff!
- Poor quality reprint
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National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook
P.J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Rugged Land
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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Parodies
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- National Lampoon's 1964 High School Yearbook, 39th Reunion
ASIN: 1590710576
Release Date: 2005-05-31 |
Book Description
National Lampoons High School Yearbook:
First released in 1974 and a two-million-plus bestseller, National
Lampoon’s 1964 High School Yearbook is the premier property of the
most recognized brand in comedy and the perfect introduction to
Rugged Land’s new National Lampoon Books imprint.
Brief Description:
Welcome back, graduates of the 1964 class of C. Estes Kefauver High
School in Dacron, Ohio!
They’re all back in glorious black and white with color Magic Marker–
Chuck U. Farley, Maria Teresa Spermatozoa, Purdy “Psycho” Lee
Spackle, Faun Laurel Rosenberg, and, of course, Dacron’s most
famous son, Larry Kroger. Learn everything there is to know about
Kroger’s past before he became the pop-culture legend Pinto
(Tom Hulce), the virgin fraternity pledge in National Lampoon’s
Animal House.
With a hilarious “Where are they now?” addendum and a brilliantly
funny new introduction by P. J. O’Rourke, the 39th Reunion Edition is
sure to be the talk of the baby boomers who grew up with National
Lampoon and of the new generation of comedy fans spawned by the
success of The Onion.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant Concept.......2006-11-25
When this first came out, it was an amazing success.
First great conceit: printing the whole thing upside down. The "front cover" is the only page that faces the way it does; all the rest of the piece relates the back cover as the front, which is a beautifully done leatherette high school yearbook cover.
And then there's the content. It's all here - the clubs, the class clowns, the juvenile delinquents, the jocks, the cheerleaders. No one has ever topped the orginiality and satirical edge that the editors lovingly contributed to the piece.
I do agree that this reproduction is not as good as the original. I actually have an original and yes, it looks a lot better than this. But look past the print quality and enjoy the content. It's no less brilliant now than it was when it first came out in 1974.
They stole my 1961 Yearbook.......2006-10-24
I had the original and lost it. It is a work of pure genius!
I love it.It looks so much like my yearbook. And the characters are fabulous.
Almost as good as the old version.......2006-08-22
It is almost as good as the old one that I lost. I think I have grown up a bit (I hope) since then so some of the humor has lost a little of its edge. The printing quality on the new one was not as good as the original. On some pages it almost appeared that they had photocopied the original to make the new one. I still think maybe the best part is the list of names of all the underclassmen. To come up with those dozens of puns the writers must have stayed up late smoking lots of good stuff.
Classic Stuff!.......2006-07-11
I remember my roommate having the National Lampoon yearbook parody back when I was in college in the 70's, and laughing so hard I couldn't stand up. I always had it in the back of my mind over the years to back-order a copy, if one still existed, but never could find it. Ecstatic to find a re-issue. The humor in magazines like this can often seem dated years later, but not in this case. Completely side-splitting from cover to cover. Especially ground-breaking considering when it was originally published.
Poor quality reprint.......2006-02-07
This thing looks like a student got a copy of the original off eBay, scanned it in and printed it at Kinkos. Cheesy and close to illegible in parts. This seems to be the new NatLampCo mode of operation. Grave rob their own material and release poor quality reissues. Very sad, too bad. Echoes of the great read it was, but kind of like digging up Marilyn's corpse for a shag.
Authors:
- Orr, Gregory
- Orwell, George
- O'Siadhail, Micheal
- Ostriker, Alicia
- Ovid
- Owen, Wilfred
- Owens, Rochelle
- Ozick, Cynthia
- Oates, Joyce Carol
- Oates, Stephen B.
Authors
Authors