Rating: 
Summary: O'Rourke's Funniest Book
Review: As a big fan of O'Rourke, it's hard to choose one best book but, if I had to, it would be this one. Will provide a great introduction to his work for those unfamiliar with it and a lot of fun for those who already know him. O'Rourke is known as a conservative yet you won't find him proselytizing here (well, not much and never directly). Rather, he brings his capacious wit and remarkable ability to entertain and inform at the same time to a variety of topics. The reader will laugh out loud and learn a few things at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, liberals can dig P.J. too
Review: For those of you who say that liberals are too starchy for O'Roarke's satire, well, let me say this. I personally have no use for Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Hannity, O'Reilly, Moore, or just hypocrites in general. But O'Roarke is another beast altogether. The rest of these guys want to indoctrinate you, they want your soul, your money, your vote. O'Roarke, on the other hand, just wants you to drop your pants in the checkout isle at WalMart and if you get away with it he will take you to Rick's Cabaret and get drunk with you whether you are black or white or republican or liberal. O'Roarke is a republican, but unlike the others mentioned above, if you are not a republican he doesn't think you are evil, he just thinks you are amusing in a kind of comical martian kind of way. He's about political satire rather than political invective, which means that even if you are a liberal you might find him a lot funnier than Michael Moore. He's like the Hunter S. Thompson of the right, and probably just as likely as Thompson to take flight from DEA agents. I've been reading O'Roarke since his days at National Lampoon, which while O'Roarke was the editor was the funniest magazine ever created. What makes O'Roarke such a gifted writer is his eye for the signs of the times. He can find the smallest details in everyday society, like the new menu at McDonalds, things that most of us ignore, and use them to represent, say, the affects of NAFTA on the underground trafficking of bootleg tequila. It's kind of uncanny. The other notable thing about O'Roarke is his work-drunk prose. Unlike his conservative competetors (and liberal competetors in the political comment vein) O'Roarke is truly a lover of the English language and I would rank him alongside Thomas McGuane as among the most talented essayists we have. O'Roarke will offend the politically correct, but be assured he paints the right-wing kooky fringe with the same broad brush he applies to liberals.He does think the Clinton's are strange, but no stranger than that element of the right wing which is obsessed with smearing them. For instance, liberals would surely love his peice on the Heritage USA theme park (stories like this are why you won't find him on the bookshelves next to Hannity). Anyway, I've read a lot of O'Roarke's stuff and GWAC ranks right at the top next to Holidays in Hell.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Depiction of The World
Review: How many ways can bad politics mess up the world? Take a tour of what Liberalism and Communism has done to the world, through the eyes of a Hippie turned Libertarian Reporter, and see. You will laugh at things so sad you have to laugh. A poignant and heart touching ending that both gives hope and wonders if there is hope.
Rating:
Summary: A hoot..........
Review: I brought this book to a weekend getaway with a rather affluent and leftward leaning family I once knew. As I read it upon the veranda, the patriarch of this family spied the title and, assuming my outlook to be just slightly shy of fascism (I didn't inherit wealth), took the main title, "Give War a Chance", quite literally. Of course, Olympia Snowe is a fascist to these folks, so it was with no small amount of amusement that I unveiled the true meaning of the title to my inquisitor. Sarcasm, an O'Rourke mainstay, is apparently lost on the Leftist without elucidation. O'Rourke blends his libertarian tendencies with his wry sense of humor to produce yet another uproarious look at the human condition. Give War a Chance is on par with earlier stellar O'Rourke attempts such as Parliament of Whores or Eat the Rich. You don't need to agree with the man to laugh with him and there is the added edification one may glean from political counterpoint. For Libertarians, there is no commentator more enjoyable or satire more cutting. O'Rourke has an eye for irony.
Rating: 
Summary: give war a chance!
Review: I got the book as gift and have enjoyed reading it. Not having traveled abroad but having lived through the period he describes, I found O'Rouke's various travels to former soviet republics, Latin America and the Arab World witty and lively. I kept remarking to myself, I wish I would have written that. Many times, I read excerpts aloud to my wife. As a typical American, I forget about political events that shaped my adolescence and early adulthood. Having fought my share of wars with my schoolyard "sandalistas," I am glad that Mr. O'Rouke jogged my memory and washed it historical vindication.
Rating:
Summary: At his best
Review: I have read and re-read this book, and still laugh every time I read it. I giggle uncontrollably reading through O'Rourke's "book reviews" of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's book or Lee Iacocca's book. And who can forget the funniest segment of all, a new "blacklist for the 90's"?? PJ's insightful commentary on his first-hand experience in the Gulf War is great for anyone who lived through that time period. BUY this book, and while you're at it, buy "All the Trouble in the World." You'll save on shipping :-)
Rating:
Summary: At his best
Review: I have read and re-read this book, and still laugh every time I read it. I giggle uncontrollably reading through O'Rourke's "book reviews" of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's book or Lee Iacocca's book. And who can forget the funniest segment of all, a new "blacklist for the 90's"?? PJ's insightful commentary on his first-hand experience in the Gulf War is great for anyone who lived through that time period. BUY this book, and while you're at it, buy "All the Trouble in the World." You'll save on shipping :-)
Rating:
Summary: ...and PJ just ate 3,000 shares of Enron.
Review: I recently bought this book after hearing that the author lost lots of money on Enron stock, the company that was the darling of the libertarian world. I thought, this poor libertarian, who loves to make fun of the unfortunate, needs some love and affection. And I'll go all the way and give this nasty little man 5 stars!
Rating:
Summary: just a reply
Review: Just commenting something Brian Cates said: the US Marines only promote world peace if your world is called USA.
Rating:
Summary: Give P.J. a Chance
Review: P.J. O'Rourke is a humorist and one of the most eloquent mainstream advocates of Libertarianism around. O'Rourke believes the Jefforsonian axiom that government is best that governs least. In pursuit of that truth, he travels around the world looking for examples that prove his point. All of that, however, is secondary to the fact that he's a damn funny writer who enjoys tweaking liberals, which he does with the very title of this book. Regardless of your polictical opinion on the Gulf War, you will find O'Rourke's take amusing and informative. And as for the alcohol free beer? Well, some things are better left unsaid.
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