Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not his best
Review: O'Rourke is back with his latest broadsides in this book, which is a series of reprinted essays loosely framed as monologues given to his household. This is of course an homage to Oliver Wendell Holmes, and does not work particularly well. There is a reason why Holmes' work is in obscurity...Nevertheless, any collection by P.J. is bound to be entertaining, and this one is good. It's also rare to find a funny book which has a conservative/libertarian point of view. After all, how many conservative writers/commentators do you know who are actually funny? Most are simply obnoxious, a la Rush Limbaugh - O'Rourke is funny, and the writing is good. This is a worthy collection - just don't expect the high level of "Holidays in Hell" or "Parliament of Whores".
Rating:
Summary: Better Satirical Commentary Than Most ...
Review: P.J. O'Rourke spares no one, especially not himself, in his sharp and funny observations on life, politics, culture, more politics, and family. I like his writing. Humor is a risky and delicate thing because it depends so much on knowing the reality behind the joke. For example, I am sure that there are many hysterical jokes that, oh, glass blowers tell among themselves that would elude me completely. O'Rourke has the knack of being able to find the universal in some rather arcane scenery - like the bureaucrats in India, and has a lot of fun with wine tasting and altering the senses in general. He also likes to tee off on both of our political parties, though, being a Republican there seems to be more glee in his hammering on the Democrats (or maybe my being conservative and Republican, I get more glee from his pounding on the other guys. But I must admit to relishing his exposing the hypocrisy on the right as well.). This book is a collection of his published articles (at least one unpublished before) that are woven (pasted - pastiched?) together as if they came out of events in O'Rourke's life rather being set up as separate articles. This device works OK and offers the P.J. the opportunity the opportunity of setting up a few more laughs. I am sure you will enjoy some articles more than others, as I did. Again, humor is a difficult thing and sometimes you find yourself outside the point of the joke. But there are plenty enough delicious barbs that you will find yourself laughing out loud more than few times. It ends in August of 2001 so it comes from the pre-9/11 world and that shows a bit. But, hey, it is still very good stuff. Four stars: while it is very good writing, it isn't the best O'Rourke - but it is still far better than most other satirical commentary.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Among P.J.'s Best, but Has its Moments
Review: With "The CEO of the Sofa," P.J. O'Rourke continues his recent trend of attempting to tie his various magazine articles together thematically. It worked brilliantly in his previous effort, the economics made funny tome "Eat the Rich." It works less well here. "CEO," for the most part, focuses on domestic American life, rather than O'Rourke's usual travel writing. Parts of the book are VERY funny (particularly the first chapter, in which he gives the UN a well deserved bludgeoning). Other good rants involve modern celebrities and the inane 2000 Presidential campaign. Unfortunately, the unifying theme of this work, the author sitting around the house with his family, is patently annoying. He also throws in some material, like the drunk wine tasting, that very much reads like filler material. Additionally, some of his pre-September 11th cracks (like the ones about Rudolf Guiliani and Osama Bin Laden) seem short sighted and inappropriate now. Overall, this book would have been stronger had O'Rourke just bound up a collection of the original articles instead of trying to unify them.
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