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A compendium of quotes and riffs by P.J. O'Rourke on subjects
ranging from government ("Giving money and power to politicians is
like giving car keys and whiskey to teenage boys") to fishing ("a
sport invented by insects and you are the bait") to apps ("we need
a no-app app--let's call it a nap") to be published on what would
have been his 75th birthday. "P. J. O'Rourke was the funniest
writer of his generation, one of the smartest and one of the most
prolific. Now that he belongs to the ages, P.J. takes his rightful
place along with Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker in the
Pantheon of Quote Gods."--Christopher Buckley from his introduction
When The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations was
published in 1994, P. J. O'Rourke had more entries than any living
writer. And he kept writing funny stuff for another 28 years. Now,
for the first time, the best material is collected in one volume.
Edited by his longtime friend and member of the American Society of
Magazine Editors Hall of Fame Terry McDonell, THE FUNNY STUFF is
arranged in six sections, organized by subject in alphabetical
order from Agriculture to Xenophobia. From his earliest days at the
National Lampoon in the 1970s, through his classic reporting for
Rolling Stone in the 80s and 90s to his post-Trump, pandemic, new
media observations of recent years, P.J. produced incisive, amusing
copy. Not only did P.J. write memorable one-liners, he also
meticulously constructed riffs that built to a crescendo of
hilarity and outrage--and are still being quoted years later. His
prose has the electric verbal energy of Tom Wolfe or Hunter
Thompson, but P.J. is more flat out funny. And through it all comes
his clear-eyed take on politics, economics, human nature--and fun.
THE FUNNY STUFF is a book for P.J. fans to devour but also a book
that will bring new readers and stand as testament to one of the
truly original American writers of the last 50 years.
Told with Clive James's unassailable sense of humour and
self-effacing charm, Unreliable Memoirs is a hilarious and touching
introduction to the story of a national treasure. A million-copy
bestseller, this classic memoir is a celebration of life in all its
unpredictable glory. With an introduction by political satirist and
journalist P. J. O'Rourke. I was born in 1939. The other big event
of that year was the outbreak of the Second World War, but for the
moment that did not affect me. In the first instalment of James's
memoirs we follow the young Clive on his journey from boyhood to
the cusp of manhood, when his days of wearing short trousers are
finally behind him. Battling with school, girls, various relatives
and an overwhelming desire to be a superhero, Clive's adventures
growing up in the suburbs of post-war Sydney are hair-raising,
uproarious and almost too good to be true . . . 'Do not read this
book in public. You will risk severe internal injuries from trying
to suppress your laughter.' - Sunday Times.
A satirical guide to how to behave in today's complex world of
shifting values and social uncertainties, by the author of
Republican Party Reptile: The Confessions, Adventures, Essays (and
Other) Outrages of P.J.O'Rourke.
Called an everyman's guide to Washington (The New York Times), 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. Highly pungent
and wickedly accurate observations ... [from a] boisterous,
pedal-to-the-floor humorist. -- The New York Times Book Review
Outrageous ... It is insulting, inflammatory, profane, and
absolutely great reading. -- The Washington Post Book World A gonzo
civics book ... O'Rourke is like a trophy hunter let loose in an
unguarded zoo. -- Chicago Tribune
I think our agenda is clear. We are opposed to: government
spending, Kennedy kids, seat-belt laws, busing our children
anywhere other than Yale, trailer courts near our vacation homes,
all tiny Third World countries that don't have banking secrecy
laws, aerobics, the UN, taxation without tax loopholes, and jewelry
on men. We are in favor of: guns, drugs, fast cars, free love (if
our wives don't find out), a sound dollar, and a strong military
with spiffy uniforms. There are thousands of people in America who
feel this way, especially after three or four drinks. If all of us
would unite and work together, we could give this country. . .
well, a real bad hangover. To say that P. J. O'Rourke is funny is
like saying the Rocky Mountains are scenic-accurate but
insufficient. At his best he's downright exhilarating . . .
Republican Party Reptile is as rambunctiously entertaining as a
greased pig catching contest. If you can find a funnier writer than
P. J. O'Rourke, buy him a brandy, but don't lend him the keys to
your pickup. -- Chicago Tribune; Republican Party Reptile is
hilarious. I laughed so hard reading this book that my armchair
needs reupholstering. P. J. O'Rourke has got to be the funniest
writer going, and boy does he go. This is high-octane wit, S. J.
Perelman on acid. -- Christopher Buckley.
After decades covering war and disaster, bestselling author and
acclaimed satirist P. J. O'Rourke takes on his scariest subjects
yet--business, investment, finance, and the political chicanery
behind them. Want to get rich overnight for free in 3 easy steps
with no risk? Then don't buy this book. (Actually, if you believe
there's a book that can do that, you shouldn't buy any books
because you probably can't read.) P.J.'s approach to business,
investment, and finance is different. He takes the risks for you in
his chapter "How I Learned Economics by Watching People Try to Kill
Each Other." He proposes "A Way to Raise Taxes That We'll All
Love"--a 200% tax on celebrities. He offers a brief history of
economic transitions before exploring the world of high tech
innovation with a chapter on "Unnovations," which asks, "The
Internet--whose idea was it to put all the idiots on earth in touch
with each other?" He misunderstands bitcoin, which seems "like a
weird scam invented by strange geeks with weaponized slide rules in
the high school Evil Math Club." He closes with a fanciful short
story about the morning that P.J. wakes up and finds that all the
world's goods and services are free! This is P.J. at his finest, a
book not to be missed.
Put the country's big, fat political ass on a diet. Lose that
drooping deficit. Slim those spreading entitlement programs. Firm
up that flabby pair of butt cheeks which are the Senate and the
House. Having had a lot of fun with what politicians do, P.J.
O'Rourke now has a lot of fun with what we should think about those
politicians. Nothing good, to be sure. Best-selling humorist P.J.
O'Rourke is back with his latest political masterpiece, Don't
Vote--It Just Encourages The Bastards. Using his signature wit and
keen observational skills, O'Rourke reflects on his forty year
career as a political commentator, spanning his addlepated hippie
youth to his current state of right-wing grouch maturity. Don't
Vote--It Just Encourages The Bastards is a brilliant, disturbing,
hilarious and sobering look at why politics and politicians are a
necessary evil--but only just barely necessary. Read P.J. O'Rourke
on the pathetic nature of politics and laugh through your tears
or--what the hell--just laugh.
P.J. O'Rourke says we've worked ourselves into a state of anger and
perplexity, and it's no surprise because perplexed and angry is
what America has always been all about. This uproarious look at the
current state of the United States includes essays like 'The New
Puritanism - and Welcome to It,' about the upside of being 'woke'
(and unable to get back to sleep); 'Sympathy vs. Empathy,' which
considers whether it's better to have an idea of how people feel or
to bust their skulls to get inside their heads; 'A Brief Digression
on the Additional Hell of the Internet of Things' because your
juicer is sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your
refrigerator; and many more. A couple of extra perks include a quiz
to determine where you stand on the spectrum of 'Coastals vs.
Heartlanders' and a 'An Inauguration Speech I'd Like To Hear:' ask
not what your country can do for you. Ask me how I can get the hell
out of here. Featuring extensive coverage from the 2020 campaign
trail, this is P.J. at his acerbic best.
In the tradition of his contemporary classic Parliament of Whores,
renowned political humorist P. J. O'Rourke is back with Eat the
Rich, in which he takes on the global economy. P. J. O'Rourke leads
us on a 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, O'Rourke takes a look at the
complexities of economics with a big dose of the incomparable wit
that has made him one of today's most refreshing commentators. Now
updated with new material from the O'Rourke, fifteen years after
the original publication of his riotous first take. "O'Rourke has
done the unthinkable: he's made money funny."--Forbes FYI
"[O'Rourke is] witty, smart and--though he hides it under a tough
coat of cynicism--a fine reporter . . . Delightful."--New York
Times Book Review
From P. J. O'Rourke, best-selling author and expert bachelor, comes
a hilarious look at domestic life. Or, as P. J. puts it, This is a
book about cooking, cleaning, and housekeeping for people who don't
know how to do any of those things and aren't about to learn. In
addition to debunking popular myths about bachelors (they are in
fact not creatures known to hang around the house in silk smoking
jackets, sipping brandy from oversized snifters) P. J. offers some
useful sections on cleaning - or how best to avoid doing it: Spill
something fresh on the floor because a slippery floor is much more
like a clean, waxed floor than a stinky floor is.; Every month or
so, take the curtains down-and throw them away. Turn the lights off
if you don't want the neighbors to see what you're doing. The same
goes for slipcovers.; Don't use Drano if a toilet gets clogged.
Remembering, the toilet is a dog's idea of Perrier. And you don't
want a dog with a melted tongue.; Sheets can be kept clean by
getting drunk and falling asleep with your clothes on. In the
inimitable style that has made him one of America's most popular
humorists, P. J. provides an essential guide to the practical
business of living in the modern world and proves that Camus had it
all wrong about the myth of Sisyphus - it's not symbolic of life,
just housekeeping. To say that P.J. O'Rourke is funny is like
saying that the Rocky Mountains are scenic - accurate but
insufficient. - Chicago Tribune
Written with the same acerbic wit and infectious humor that has
made P. J. O'Rourke one of the most popular political satirists of
all time, The Enemies List will keep you howling and his enemies
scowling. From Noam Chomsky to Yoko Ono, from Peter, Paul, and Mary
(yes, they're still alive) to all the people who think quartz
crystals cure herpes, from Ralph Nader to the entire country of
Sweden, P. J. O'Rourke has created a roster of the most useless,
politically disgraceful, and downright foolish people around.
Although a rating system of S=Silly, VS=Very Silly, SML=Shirley
MacLaine was ultimately cast aside, the distinguishing feature of
the cluster of dunces presented here is silliness, not political
subversion. The Enemies List began as an article in the American
Spectator and, as readers contributed their own suggestions,
quickly grew into a hilarious and slashing commentary on
politicians and celebrities alike. Now they have been named, we
just need to figure out what to do with them. "To say that P. J.
O'Rourke is funny is like saying that the Rocky Mountains are
scenic - accurate but insufficient." - Chicago Tribune
No comedian could have written the joke this election cycle has
been. The punch line is too ridiculous (whoever the punch line is
going to be). Celebrated political satirist, journalist, and
diehard Republican P.J. O'Rourke brings his critical eye and
inimitable voice to some serious risky business. How The Hell Did
This Happen? covers the whole election process from the pig pile of
presidential candidates circa June 2015, the dreadful key primaries
and candidate debates through his come-to-Satan moment with Hillary
- 'She's the second worst thing that could happen to our nation. I
endorse her.' - to the Beginning of End Times in November. How The
Hell Did This Happen? answers the key question of the 2016
presidential election: Should we laugh or should we cry or should
we hurl? (They are not mutually exclusive.)
Over twenty years ago, P.J. O'Rourke published Holidays in Hell,
the classic travelogue that found him searching for excitement in
places like Warsaw, Managua, and Belfast. In Holidays in Heck, the
man dubbed "the funniest writer in America" by Time and The Wall
Street Journal steps into the new and slightly less dangerous
territory of the family vacation. The O'Rourke clan treks to places
as close to home as Disneyland and Washington, D.C., and as
far-flung as China, all while P.J. attempts to dissuade his wife
from shopping and keep his children entertained. His travels often
leave him wishing he were under artillery fire again. At one point,
the family takes a ski trip--to Ohio. Here, he warns his daughter
not to ski out of bounds, "because it's completely flat." Later,
during their visit to the National Museum of American History, P.J.
calls the building, "ugly in a way that's best described as built
in 1964." And one of his solo adventures takes him on a horse trek
across the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, where his route consists of
cliff faces that leave him dangling very much off of his saddle.
With new, updated material, P. J. O'Rourke covers the whole
election process from the pig pile of presidential candidates circa
June 2015, through his come-to-Satan moment with Hillary and the
Beginning of End Times in November 2016, to the current shape of US
politics. How the Hell Did This Happen? answers the key question of
the 2016 presidential election: Should we laugh or should we cry or
should we hurl? (They are not mutually exclusive.)
After decades covering war and disaster, bestselling author and
acclaimed satirist P. J. O'Rourke takes on his scariest subjects
yet: business, investment, finance and the political chicanery
behind them. Want to get rich overnight for free in 3 easy steps
with no risk? Then don't buy this book. (Actually, if you believe
there's a book that can do that, you shouldn't buy any books
because you probably can't read.) P.J.'s approach to business,
investment and finance is different. He takes the risks for you in
his chapter 'How I Learned Economics by Watching People Try to Kill
Each Other.' He proposes 'A Way to Raise Taxes That We'll All Love'
- a 200% tax on celebrities. He offers a brief history of economic
transitions before exploring the world of high-tech innovation with
a chapter on 'Unnovations,' which asks, 'The Internet - whose idea
was it to put all the idiots on earth in touch with each other?' He
pokes fun at bitcoin, and closes with a fanciful short story about
the morning that he wakes up and finds that all the world's goods
and services are free! This is P.J. at his finest, a book not to be
missed.
'P. J. O'Rourke was the funniest writer of his generation, one of
the smartest and one of the most prolific. Now that he belongs to
the ages, P.J. takes his rightful place along with Oscar Wilde,
Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker in the Pantheon of Quote Gods.'
Christopher Buckley from his introduction When The Penguin
Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations was published in 1994, P.
J. O'Rourke had more entries than any living writer. And he kept
writing funny stuff for another 28 years. Now, for the first time,
the best material is collected in one volume. Edited by his
longtime friend Terry McDonell, The Funny Stuff is arranged in six
sections, organized by subject in alphabetical order from
Agriculture to Xenophobia. Not only did P.J. write memorable
one-liners, he also meticulously constructed riffs that built to a
crescendo of hilarity and outrage - and are still being quoted
years later. His prose has the electric verbal energy of Tom Wolfe
or Hunter S. Thompson, but P.J. is more flat-out funny. And through
it all comes his clear-eyed take on politics, economics, human
nature - and fun. The Funny Stuff is a book for P.J. fans to devour
but also a book that will bring new readers and stand as testament
to one of the truly original American writers of the last 50 years.
Holidays in Hell follows P. J. O'Rourke on a global fun-finding
mission to the most desperate places on the planet, from the
bombed-out streets of Beirut to the stultifying blandness of
Heritage USA. P.J.'s unforgettable adventures abroad include
storming student protesters' barricades in South Korea,
interviewing Communist insurrectionists in the Philippines, and
going undercover in Arab garb at Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock
Mosque. 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 - a full-tilt, no-holds-barred romp through
politics, culture, and ideology. Taking a long look at Nicaragua,
P.J. asks, "Is Nicaragua a Bulgaria with marimba bands or just a
misunderstood Massachusetts with Cuban military advisors?"; has a
close encounter with a Philippine army officer he describes as
"powerful-looking in a short, compressed way, like an attack
hamster"; and concludes, "Some people are worried about the
difference between right and wrong. I'm worried about the
difference between wrong and fun."
'Whether you agree with him or not, P.J. writes a helluva piece.'
Richard Nixon P.J. O'Rourke has had a prolific career as one of
America's most celebrated humourists. But that career almost didn't
happen. As he tells it, 'I began to write for pay in the spring of
1970. To tell the truth I didn't even mean to be a writer, I meant
to be a race car driver, but I didn't have a race car.' Fortunately
for us, he had to settle for writing. From his early pieces for the
National Lampoon ('How to Drive fast on Drugs While Getting Your
Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink'), through his classic
reporting as Rolling Stone's International Affairs editor in the
80s and 90s ('Among the Euroweenies'), and his brilliant,
inimitable political journalism and analysis (Parliament of Whores,
Give War a Chance, Eat the Rich), P.J. has been entertaining and
provoking readers with high octane prose, a gonzo Republican
attitude and a rare ability to make you laugh out loud while
silently reading to yourself. For the first time Thrown Under the
Omnibus brings together his funniest, most outrageous, most
controversial and most loved pieces in the definitive P.J. reader.
P.J. O'Rourke says we've worked ourselves into a state of anger and
perplexity, and it's no surprise because perplexed and angry is
what America has always been all about. This uproarious look at the
current state of the United States includes essays like 'The New
Puritanism - and Welcome to It,' about the upside of being 'woke'
(and unable to get back to sleep); 'Sympathy vs. Empathy,' which
considers whether it's better to have an idea of how people feel or
to bust their skulls to get inside their heads; 'A Brief Digression
on the Additional Hell of the Internet of Things' because your
juicer is sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your
refrigerator; and many more. A couple of extra perks include a quiz
to determine where you stand on the spectrum of 'Coastals vs.
Heartlanders' and a 'An Inauguration Speech I'd Like To Hear:' ask
not what your country can do for you. Ask me how I can get the hell
out of here. Featuring extensive coverage from the 2020 campaign
trail, this is P.J. at his acerbic best.
P.J. O'Rourke says we've worked ourselves into a state of anger and
perplexity, and it's no surprise because perplexed and angry is
what America has always been all about. This uproarious look at the
current state of the United States includes essays like 'The New
Puritanism - and Welcome to It,' about the upside of being 'woke'
(and unable to get back to sleep); 'Sympathy vs. Empathy,' which
considers whether it's better to have an idea of how people feel or
to bust their skulls to get inside their heads; 'A Brief Digression
on the Additional Hell of the Internet of Things' because your
juicer is sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your
refrigerator; and many more. A couple of extra perks include a quiz
to determine where you stand on the spectrum of 'Coastals vs.
Heartlanders' and a 'An Inauguration Speech I'd Like To Hear:' ask
not what your country can do for you. Ask me how I can get the hell
out of here. Featuring extensive coverage from the 2020 campaign
trail, this is P.J. at his acerbic best.
A hilarious look at the aging baby boomer generation from the
author the Spectator labelled 'what happens when America does
Grumpy Old Men'. The Baby Boom - over-sized, overwrought,
overbearing, and all over the place, from Donovan to Obama. The
generation that said with a straight face, 'We are the world.'
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? Ask the
generation responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall and their
knickers. Who put their faith in the Kyoto Accord and disco. Who
dropped out of the capitalist system and popped back again in time
to cause a global financial crisis. How did the Baby Boom become
what it is and who let them get away with it?
A hilarious look at the aging baby boomer generation from the
author the Spectator labelled 'what happens when America does
Grumpy Old Men'. The Baby Boom - over-sized, overwrought,
overbearing, and all over the place, from Donovan to Obama. The
generation that said with a straight face, 'We are the world.'
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? Ask the
generation responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall and their
knickers. Who put their faith in the Kyoto Accord and disco. Who
dropped out of the capitalist system and popped back again in time
to cause a global financial crisis. How did the Baby Boom become
what it is and who let them get away with it?
The story behind the contrast and their relationship with their CIA
sponsors is one of courage, villainy, political intrigue, and
general craziness.
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