Rating: 
Summary: Liberalism isn't intimidating; it's hilarious!
Review: Say what you like about P.J. O'Rourke, liberals don't scare him. An utter pragmatist, the irrepressible O'Rourke looks past all the whining about intentions and good-hearted, well-meaning policies and shines a blistering spotlight on the results. I especially enjoyed the section of the book in which he discussed the ousting of the Sandinistias in Nicaragua. Communist governments have killed more of their own citizens in this century than all the soldiers and civilians killed in World Wars I and II by soldiers from foriegn countries. Despite the fact that the lone holdouts today are North Korea, China and Cuba, you wouldn't know that socialism is on it's last legs by talking to some liberals in America and Europe. P.J. O'Rourke expertly reveals the fantasy land that these people live in as they blindly and resolutely continue to pursue policies and ideologies that just plain flat out don't work. Best line: The introduction, in which he defines a liberal as someone who gets warm happy feelings over the fact that 10% of the profit from the sales of Ben & Jerry's ice cream goes to promote "world peace". He then says that say what you like about greedy corporate executives; a trader on wall street who bags a cool million in one year contributes over $150,000 in taxes to the public coffers, some of which goes to support the United States Marines, who have done more to promote world peace than all the Ben & Jerry's ice cream ever sold.
Rating:
Summary: O'Rourke's hilarious pieces from the Gulf War era collected
Review: This is a fine collection of PJ O'Rourke's writings from around the time of the Gulf War. As such it is an indispensible part of any library owned by someone interested in humor, right wing political satire, or the War itself. I suggest you pay particular attention to "The 2000 year old mideast policy expert", an essay that is both wise and prescient in the light of the 9/11 massacre.
Rating:
Summary: Skewering the puling liberals with PJ's usual rapier wit
Review: This was the first book by PJ O'Rourke that I read. I knew within two paragraphs that I'd found an author whose work I was going to read assiduously. It's hard to imagine a more finely targeted collection of kicks to the liberal backside. And God knows they need it. It's hardly surprising that a reviewer from the LSE (London School of Economics) didn't like this book. It probably made uncomfortable reading (warning: you'd REALLY hate Eat The Rich). The chapter on the elections in Nicaragua that kicked Danny Ortega and his gang of thugs out was pure genius. I read this with especial enjoyment as I recall the long faces at all the wishy-washy socialists' parties (e.g. Neil and Glenys Kinnock's) when they realised that Violetta Chamorro had knocked bien- pensant society's cuddly poster boy off his throne. I had a much better evening, raising a glass to the Sandy's downfall.PJ knows that the best way to get up the liberal nostril is to laugh at them. He's quite possibly the funniest man writing today (he even knocks another fave, Bill Bryson, into second place). I wish I could give this (and all his other books) 10 stars.
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