Rating: 
Summary: A big boring read!
Review: "The CEO of the Sofa" is structured into 12 monthly instalments - sort of stream of (un)consciousness essays - from the world according to P J O'Rourke. You may have come across O'Rourke before......he's a one-off, the world's only funny Republican ! And this book is, often if not consistently, very funny. We get his trademark satire and cynicism on a huge range of topics. And if it is true that much humour is about probing for and exploiting frailty, O'Rourke is a comic master. He claims "I just make fun of things". This is an uncharacteristic understatement - he is pathologically unsympathetic, and relentless in his pursuit of what he perceives to be weakness or pretence. And that includes a lot. As he confesses, "everything is bugging me, I'm at that stage of life" and, he should add, apparently rather enjoying it too ! India, religion, talentless 15-minute-of-famers, wine-tasting, for example, all come under his scornful gaze. Neither is he averse to turning the sights on himself. Indeed, he is unapologetically lazy, witness a driving lesson for his godson in the depth of winter, which consists merely of a catalogue of excuses to stay in - that's the real key to good bad-weather driving ! But it's when he enters the realm of politics that O'Rourke starts to really let rip. Often, this is through his alter ego, The Political Nut, who, coincidentally, calls round the moment Democrats (or alcohol) appear on the scene. Although he is "a Cro-Magnon republican of long standing", in truth his party is that of the extreme libertarians. He is against intereference in any shape or form, reserving his most savage blows for the UN and Democrats - Hillary Clinton, especially, would clearly get a `warm welcome' at the O'Rourke household. He abhors also both the bleeding hearts and those people who put themselves in positions where hearts bleed for them. How selfish these people are, being so feeble as to cause the government to levy taxes from the likes of him to support their weakness ! Some of his most hilarious moments are reserved for what he would consider to be forced correctness in any form. Ever heard of the Task Force of Bias-Free Language for the Association of American University Presses ? Imagine how they get both barrels ! In the end, he refuses to be tied down by any recognised -isms which impinge on his freedom. In fact, he doesn't believe in the political world at all - I guess Republicanism is just the closest he can find to a non-political party. "The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, devised a method by which our republic can take 100 of its most prominent numbskulls and keep them out of the private sector where they might do actual harm". He does have some basic tenets - "there is no human liberty without property rights...and...you own you, your efforts, what you do" - but, beyond that, everything is fuel for his indignation. Despite having little sympathy with his espoused values, I still found the book an extremely entertaining and provocative commentary of the early 21st century (US-centric) world. Despite the constant onslaught, there is a strong sense of tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecation which makes O'Rourke very appealing rather than very arrogant. For example, despite all the bluster, he is completely in awe of his wife and small children, accepting that they are the ones who really get things done - he's just the guy watching TV and scribbling notes in the corner. All in all, highly recommended. Incidentally, the 12 month period covered by "The CEO of the Sofa" runs to August 2001 - I wonder what chapter 13 might have looked like ? Now read "Stupid White Men" for the alternative worldview......
Rating: 
Summary: Right-wing satire of the highest order
Review: "The CEO of the Sofa" is structured into 12 monthly instalments - sort of stream of (un)consciousness essays - from the world according to P J O'Rourke. You may have come across O'Rourke before......he's a one-off, the world's only funny Republican ! And this book is, often if not consistently, very funny. We get his trademark satire and cynicism on a huge range of topics. And if it is true that much humour is about probing for and exploiting frailty, O'Rourke is a comic master. He claims "I just make fun of things". This is an uncharacteristic understatement - he is pathologically unsympathetic, and relentless in his pursuit of what he perceives to be weakness or pretence. And that includes a lot. As he confesses, "everything is bugging me, I'm at that stage of life" and, he should add, apparently rather enjoying it too ! India, religion, talentless 15-minute-of-famers, wine-tasting, for example, all come under his scornful gaze. Neither is he averse to turning the sights on himself. Indeed, he is unapologetically lazy, witness a driving lesson for his godson in the depth of winter, which consists merely of a catalogue of excuses to stay in - that's the real key to good bad-weather driving ! But it's when he enters the realm of politics that O'Rourke starts to really let rip. Often, this is through his alter ego, The Political Nut, who, coincidentally, calls round the moment Democrats (or alcohol) appear on the scene. Although he is "a Cro-Magnon republican of long standing", in truth his party is that of the extreme libertarians. He is against intereference in any shape or form, reserving his most savage blows for the UN and Democrats - Hillary Clinton, especially, would clearly get a 'warm welcome' at the O'Rourke household. He abhors also both the bleeding hearts and those people who put themselves in positions where hearts bleed for them. How selfish these people are, being so feeble as to cause the government to levy taxes from the likes of him to support their weakness ! Some of his most hilarious moments are reserved for what he would consider to be forced correctness in any form. Ever heard of the Task Force of Bias-Free Language for the Association of American University Presses ? Imagine how they get both barrels ! In the end, he refuses to be tied down by any recognised -isms which impinge on his freedom. In fact, he doesn't believe in the political world at all - I guess Republicanism is just the closest he can find to a non-political party. "The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, devised a method by which our republic can take 100 of its most prominent numbskulls and keep them out of the private sector where they might do actual harm". He does have some basic tenets - "there is no human liberty without property rights...and...you own you, your efforts, what you do" - but, beyond that, everything is fuel for his indignation. Despite having little sympathy with his espoused values, I still found the book an extremely entertaining and provocative commentary of the early 21st century (US-centric) world. Despite the constant onslaught, there is a strong sense of tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecation which makes O'Rourke very appealing rather than very arrogant. For example, despite all the bluster, he is completely in awe of his wife and small children, accepting that they are the ones who really get things done - he's just the guy watching TV and scribbling notes in the corner. All in all, highly recommended. Incidentally, the 12 month period covered by "The CEO of the Sofa" runs to August 2001 - I wonder what chapter 13 might have looked like ? Now read "Stupid White Men" for the alternative worldview......
Rating:
Summary: P.J. Bombeck
Review: "All comedies end in marraige, or is it the other way around?" Witness the domestication of the original Republican Party Reptile as he holds forth on life with his children with the same self-centered satisfaction he's skewered in his contemporaries for years. While it's not his best, P.J. on a bad day still gets more stars than Dick Morris on his best. Probably prettier women, too. Otherwise, it's a pretty honest compilation piece which ends, ominously enough, with a revisit of India and Pakistan in August, 2001.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliance mixed with belligerence
Review: A rather uneven effort by O'Rourke. It lacked the cohesiveness of message found in Parliament of Whores. Certain chapters were delightful (the wine tasting chapter, most notably), but others were simply grating. One fully expects a humorous lambasting of liberals in PJ's books, but his attack on Hillary Clinton was unusually mean-spirit and entirely devoid of humor. Also, his decision to focus so much much on 'It Takes A Village' seems extremely dated. How long had he sat on that essay? Eight years?
Rating:
Summary: Not one of his better efforts....
Review: After all the brilliant books to come from the pen (word processor?) of O'Rourke, this comes as a bit of a disappointment. It is a disjointed effort - while it contains a lot of O'Rourke's usual wit, there isn't the cohesive theme you find in many of his other books. He rambles around, recording conversations with his assistant or teenage nephew for much of the book. There is his biting lampooning of the bad and not-so-great, and many salient points are made; but very often the humour feels contrived. Perhaps this is a book that needed just a little more spit and polish.
Rating: 
Summary: Still reading it
Review: Although I haven't finished reading it yet, I wanted to say that I find it to be a funny and enjoyable read. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.
Rating:
Summary: A big boring read!
Review: An friend recommended I read anything by P.J. O'Rourke, so I purchased CEO of the Sofa, since it sounded like a fun title. Boy was I wrong! This guy O'Rourke is just plain boring, whiny, and unfunny! Save your money and rent Caddy Shack instead.
Rating:
Summary: PJ O'Rourke's latest
Review: As any conservative or Libertarian can tell you, we needed a sense of humor to survive the last few years of the Clinton Administration and luckily, a few brave humorists like PJ O'Rourke were there to provide it. O'Rourke's latest book, the CEO of the Sofa, is a collection essays covering the end of 2000 and the first few months of 2001. O'Rourke presents them in a slightly new format that will probably catch his fans off guard. In an hommage to Oliver Wendell Holmes' The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, O'Rourke's essays are worked into a fictional narrative that details the opinions and reactions of O'Rourke's skeptical wife, his children, his generation Xish (or is that Yish) assistant, the Democrats next door, the Political Nut who Lives Around Here, and others. Through these asides, O'Rourke paints himself as a somewhat befuddled, middle-aged ex-Hippie trying to make his way through a world that's started to move past him. Personally, I enjoyed these experiments though I know that several other O'Rourke regulars did not. It's a matter of taste, really. It does somewhat lessen the sting of some of O'Rourke's barbs to then read about his inability to use the internet and I don't think it would be wise for him to continue this format as I really don't see what else he can do with it. Still, as a one-time experiment, it makes for an interesting read and it doesn't change the fact that his critique of modern American politics and politicians remains as hilarious and sharp as ever. Highlights include his analysis of the United Nations, his recap of the impeachment trial, fairy tales rewritten for Democrats, and his examination of whether or not Hillary Clinton is actually secretly very stupid. Other highlights include a wine tasting excursion with Christopher Buckley and an essay on celebrities O'Rourke has never heard of. As always, O'Rourke's barbs will warm the heart of anyone who could bring themselves to believe that Bill Clinton was actually the leader of the Free World. As others have stated, the book's experimental nature probably makes it prohibitive to people who are new to O'Rourke's style of writing and humor but if you're a fan of PJ O'Rourke's, you'll find much to enjoy in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Suffers from an artificiality uncharacteristic of O'Rourke
Review: At his best, P.J. O'Rourke is rib-splitting hilarious at the expense of that mishmash of bad thinking that passes for modern liberalism. Unfortunately, O'Rourke is not at his best in _CEO of the Sofa_, which I attribute to the artificiality of trying to mimic the urbane 19th-century style of humorous writing found in _Autocrat of the Breakfast-table_. While this kind of thing can be funny for a few pages, it is next to impossible to maintain successfully to book length.
If you are unfamiliar with O'Rourke, I would suggest starting with either _Parliament of Whores_ or _Eat the Rich_ rather than _CEO of the Sofa_. If you are already an O'Rourke fan, then you will want to read _CEO of the Sofa_ mostly for completeness.
Rating:
Summary: It should have worked
Review: But it didn't. The conceit just did not cohere. The passion, the clarity, the wit were all on the back burner. Even the great P. J., everyone's favorite right-wing fascist (i.e. non-Democrat), has his off days and this was one of them. All is not lost, however. I recently finished a long piece of his about Egypt which was in top form so I am confident in his next book he will be back in his game. But until then . . . oh, well.
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