Rating: 
Summary: Face it, the guy's funny
Review: First and foremost: it is worth noting (and it pains an saddens me that this is the case) that the phrase "Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut" is the first time I have seen a three-item list with correct grammar in a book printed in America after World War II. Second, and not quite so foremost: P. J. O'Rourke is a very, very funny guy. He is completely politically incorrect, in most cases, and is therefore more than happy to pull out the jokes, puns, and other humorous concepts his more liberal colleagues have left to the dust. Third, and not really far up there on the scale, but still worth mentioning: in most ways, P. J. O'Rourke is a tremendous boon to the right-wing American. He's not afraid to take pot-shots at just about anything, including fellow members of the right (Pat Buchanan is roasted almost as often as Bill Clinton), and he's not afraid to admit his mistakes, such as endorsing Clinton in 1992. Combine those, and for most of this book you have a tremendously funny read, an almost literary roasting of such things as book tours, drinking, stupid sports, Whitewater, various makes and models of automobile, and the like. Unfortunately, it's the part that falls outside the realm of "most" that keeps this from being one of the finest political collections of the past decade. There are times when O'Rourke, who seems to be sitting right on the Libertarian partyline, veers far off to the left, and if he is to be trusted he was stuck out there in at least one case by the head of the Cato Institute (making me wonder how Libertarian they truly are), and he also has many of the strange and illogical hang-ups that keep me from ever wanting to vote Republican. He also, and he is well aware of it, asks a lot of our indulgence in the book's second section, a collection of short stories published (well, most of them) in the National Lampoon during his tenure as editor in chief there. Anyone who still wonders why I abhor the very idea of self-publishing need only read the section "The Truth About the Sixties and Other Fictions" in this book. It's shameless, awful, contorted, constipated prose, and O'Rourke is fully aware of this, and even says so in a few places. But if you skip that section, and immediately stop reading any time you find one of those places where conservatives suddenly dismiss anything relating to logic (I have often theorized it's remnants of too many drugs during the sixties), this is most definitely a worthwhile book. Both the automobile and sports sections brought forth guffaws. And if you've ever heard me guffaw, you'll know that's soemthing to stay away from.
Rating:
Summary: Face it, the guy's funny
Review: First and foremost: it is worth noting (and it pains an saddens me that this is the case) that the phrase "Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut" is the first time I have seen a three-item list with correct grammar in a book printed in America after World War II. Second, and not quite so foremost: P. J. O'Rourke is a very, very funny guy. He is completely politically incorrect, in most cases, and is therefore more than happy to pull out the jokes, puns, and other humorous concepts his more liberal colleagues have left to the dust. Third, and not really far up there on the scale, but still worth mentioning: in most ways, P. J. O'Rourke is a tremendous boon to the right-wing American. He's not afraid to take pot-shots at just about anything, including fellow members of the right (Pat Buchanan is roasted almost as often as Bill Clinton), and he's not afraid to admit his mistakes, such as endorsing Clinton in 1992. Combine those, and for most of this book you have a tremendously funny read, an almost literary roasting of such things as book tours, drinking, stupid sports, Whitewater, various makes and models of automobile, and the like. Unfortunately, it's the part that falls outside the realm of "most" that keeps this from being one of the finest political collections of the past decade. There are times when O'Rourke, who seems to be sitting right on the Libertarian partyline, veers far off to the left, and if he is to be trusted he was stuck out there in at least one case by the head of the Cato Institute (making me wonder how Libertarian they truly are), and he also has many of the strange and illogical hang-ups that keep me from ever wanting to vote Republican. He also, and he is well aware of it, asks a lot of our indulgence in the book's second section, a collection of short stories published (well, most of them) in the National Lampoon during his tenure as editor in chief there. Anyone who still wonders why I abhor the very idea of self-publishing need only read the section "The Truth About the Sixties and Other Fictions" in this book. It's shameless, awful, contorted, constipated prose, and O'Rourke is fully aware of this, and even says so in a few places. But if you skip that section, and immediately stop reading any time you find one of those places where conservatives suddenly dismiss anything relating to logic (I have often theorized it's remnants of too many drugs during the sixties), this is most definitely a worthwhile book. Both the automobile and sports sections brought forth guffaws. And if you've ever heard me guffaw, you'll know that's soemthing to stay away from.
Rating: 
Summary: Stellar! (After the first 41 pages)
Review: Having read all of P.J. O'Rourke's books, I can safely say that this was one of my favorites. Save for the first 41 pages, I was thoroughly entertained and stayed up 'til the wee hours giggling like a mad squirrel. Rip the first chapter out and it's a five-star read.
Rating:
Summary: Typical O'Rourke: humorous, informative, clever.
Review: I first discovered P.J.O'Rourke in the pages of various automotive publications. In addition to being a well-known political humorist, he is also an automotive enthusiast, as am I. This book, the second of his that I have read, is quite good once you get past the somewhat slow start. The second half of the book ("Drives to Nowhere," "Bad Sports") is wonderful. O'Rourke is a master of simile, metaphor, and analogy. Only the fiction writer Tom Robbins compares to him in this regard, in my opinion. I had my wife read a selection from the book, and she enjoyed it so much that she started reading it aloud to me. We laughed so hard our jaws hurt and our eyes teared! Whether you agree with his political bent or not, you cannot help but to enjoy the man's way with words; he is a true wordsmith. He can really "turn a phrase," as the trite expression goes. I can't wait to read more of his prose.
Rating: 
Summary: The evolution of a writer
Review: I first got into PJ O'Rourke when I started reading his book "Republican Party Reptile" and realized that I could laugh heartily at his wit, as opposed to the often divisive rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News Channel. O'Rourke is equally scathing in his approach to "born-again" nutjobs as he is to "pinko" enviromentalists, and his is a style of writing I wouldn't mind trying to emulate in my own belated (and as yet unpublished) career as a writer. "Age and Guile" caught my fancy because I had heard it was a collection of his pieces from over the years, and I tried to find it at the local library and various bookstores, but was unlucky in my pursuit. I ended up checking out a Books-on-Tape version of the book, read by Norman Deitz, and I was quite pleased. The early material is amatuerish, to be fair, but there are nuggets of wit to be found amongst the "juvinelia". The Truth About The Sixties was actually one of my favorite parts of the book, I found it very involving and fascinating to hear. The rest of the book tickled my funny bone. I just don't have enough good things to say about this book. So, I ordered it on Amazon, and I've recieved it, and it's joined my collection of P.J. O'Rourke books. A liberal at heart myself, I agree with a previous reviewer that O'Rourke celebrates individual freedom and doesn't care for those who try and take it away. I only hope I can be as good at conveying that in my own writing, he's certainly one hell of a teacher.
Rating:
Summary: P.J is a real liberal deep down...
Review: I have enjoyed P.J.s stuff in rolling stone in the past. As a real live liberal i like his sense of individual liberty, happinesss and the pursuit thereof. Politically i cant agree with his every statement, like complaining about liberals after his freedoms. Its the Repubs that built the war on drugs and all the prisons, so there is plenty of fascism to go around. This book strts off real slow, but by the end he had me cracking up. He is insidiously teasing the republican in all of us, mocking the greedy, environment be damned corporate controllers that own us all. I even found myeslf enjoying the car and driver articles which is astonishing considering that im a dyed in the wool pinko
Rating:
Summary: Essential PJ Reading.......at the very least
Review: I have read all of PJ's books now, far from a simple fetish for his eye openning descriptions of society and its events, I have more of an addtiction. This PJ masterpeice epitomises what he has been trying to tell us all throughout his previous writings. I would never be bold enough to even attempt to paraphrase the man himself and therefore tell you, a PJ virgin, what is in store. Read this book, revel in its free will and you will undoubtedly believe in this one statement: The sanctitiy of the Individual.
Rating:
Summary: His hair still doesn't look too good
Review: I have recently taken to reading O'Rourke's book's (Give War a Chance, Holidays in Hell, Republican Party Reptile, and All the Trouble in the World) and have found them all enjoyable. He is a humorist with a conservative bent, which I admit is a good part of the reason that I like him. It is always nice to read something that you agree with and especially so if the author has original, well considered ideas and can present them in an humorous way. More liberal readers will, in all probability, not like him at all, unless they have an extraordinary capacity for taking criticism. Part of the reason for his venom towards the left is that he was once one of them. In the sixties he got about as liberal as he could, living in communes and writing for underground papers, damning capitalism. This book follows his development from there to his current occupation, writing about foreign politics and fast cars and damning communism. The first section of the book, a collection of pieces written for those underground papers, is juvenilia and really only interesting as such. It takes time for a writer to become good and he in the late sixties O'Rourke had not had that time yet. Politics aside, it simply is not very good. The part that I enjoyed the most was his experiments with something called "concrete poetry" which seems to be a version of those pictures that people draw with characters and have on the bottoms of their e-mail, only not as interesting. I don't know who decided that this was poetry but I found the whole thing very amusing. Which is okay because that's the point. The next part is things that he wrote about his experiences in the sixties, a bit later and after he had begin to rethink some of his political ideas. The style has improved here, as it does steadily through the book, but the subject matter is a bit too self obsessed to be really good reading. The rest is various articles for which the O'Rourke was actually paid and they are mostly pretty to very good. I liked this book, but not as much as a liked some of his others, mostly because there weren't too many of his stories about international trouble spots, which for some reason are my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious!
Review: If you or someone you know and love is looking for great material for a speach competition, try the stories "Dynamite" and "Another Tale of Uncle Mike." I used them to get to the state competition. The book is all-around hillarious with great little tips such as how to out-drink an Irish wedding party when they have a few hours head-start. It also has some great lines such as "none of us were seriously hurt, except for Terry, who had part of a hash pipe blown up his nose, something they had a hard time understanding at the emergency room." Buy it and laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Despite a slow start, P.J. O'Rourke is as funny as ever.
Review: Just as the 1960's apparently exists in the drug-saturated memory of Mr. O'Rourke, his recollections ramble on like a man on a melancholy trip down Memory Lane, joint in hand. However, once O'Rourke pulls himself into the 1980's, the book becomes the typical yet uproarious wit which made O'Rourke the present-day Will Rogers. His observations on his road trips make even Mexico sound like an enjoyable place. Despite the slow start, this book must take it's place on the shelf next to "Give War a Chance," etc.
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