Rating: 
Summary: P.J. is the man
Review: "Holidays in Hell" was the first book to collect the travel writings of P.J. O'Rourke for Rolling Stone magazine. Though a bit dated taday (these stories were from the mid 1980s) it is still quite funny and full of classic P.J. He establishes his mantra here, basically that if you really want to know whats going on in a country you should never interview its politicians who will never tell you the straight story. In this book, P.J. travels to Poland, Lebanon, Panama and Heritage U.S.A. among other places. But the best essay is called "Through Darkest America: Epcot Center" that is an absolutely dead on drubbing of the so-called Magic Kingdom. Through it all O'Rourke reminds me of a more political and funnier Bill Bryson. This book is well worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: P.J. is the man
Review: "Holidays in Hell" was the first book to collect the travel writings of P.J. O'Rourke for Rolling Stone magazine. Though a bit dated taday (these stories were from the mid 1980s) it is still quite funny and full of classic P.J. He establishes his mantra here, basically that if you really want to know whats going on in a country you should never interview its politicians who will never tell you the straight story. In this book, P.J. travels to Poland, Lebanon, Panama and Heritage U.S.A. among other places. But the best essay is called "Through Darkest America: Epcot Center" that is an absolutely dead on drubbing of the so-called Magic Kingdom. Through it all O'Rourke reminds me of a more political and funnier Bill Bryson. This book is well worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: If you want to know about Lebanon.....
Review: "If you want to know about Lebanon and the Lebanonese people, read P.J. O'Rourke." This is what my friend from Beirut told me when I kept asking him questions about the culture and politcis of his homeland. Walid thought so much of the book he brought it to me and insisted I read it. PJ calls it like he sees it. He is not P.C. by a long shot, but neither was Walid (an ex-sniper during their brutal civil war) and neither am I.
The people who are offended by this book are the same people who censer themselves and generaly are just boring and no damn fun at all.
Funny stuff, PJ at his brutal best.
Rating:
Summary: The more I travel the more perceptive this book seems.
Review: After I travel in one of these countries, and then read the book again, the part that always gets me is that he isn't making the funny stuff up.
Rating: 
Summary: lacking Christian values
Review: As a red-blooded American Male steeped in U.S.A. hegemony, I found Holidays in Hell to be terrific. P.J. O'Rourke had me laughing many times. Quick wit, cutting sarcasm with prose in attack hamster style makes this book great reading and a must for anyone that has ever visited a 3rd world country. I've read this book at least 5 times over the years and love it so much I refuse to loan it out. Get Your Own Copy!
Rating:
Summary: Classic Tour Guide. A must read and own.
Review: As a red-blooded American Male steeped in U.S.A. hegemony, I found Holidays in Hell to be terrific. P.J. O'Rourke had me laughing many times. Quick wit, cutting sarcasm with prose in attack hamster style makes this book great reading and a must for anyone that has ever visited a 3rd world country. I've read this book at least 5 times over the years and love it so much I refuse to loan it out. Get Your Own Copy!
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: Classic PJ. I constantly laughed out loud while first reading it years ago and it still cracks me up. He skewers idiocy without regard in AK47-like bursts of descriptive prose. What? Oh, and it's a negative 100 on the political correctness weenie scale. Read it now. It will be one of the first books banned when the libs finally dump the Constitution. Where are you PJ? Put together another book soon.
Rating:
Summary: Only the truth is funny
Review: Ever since Parliament of Whores converted him from a semi-famous cult figure into a heavy-duty pundit, P.J. has made a very good living cranking out formulaic ultraconservative goop. Nowadays, his writing resembles no one so much as Rush Limbaugh--predictable screeds and even more predictable jokes punctuated by the occasional sharp observation or genuinely funny wisecrack. Really disappointing. There was a time though, when he had something to say and something to prove, and this book catches him at his hysterical mid-eighties peak. Virtually everywhere he goes, he paints a much more vivid, convincing picture of the reality of living in a troubled country than any "serious" journalist I can think of. Only in Nicaragua, where he rants on endlessly about communism in a country whose problems clearly go far beyond that, do his ideological blinders get the better of him. Everywhere else, his determination to steer clear of "important" figures and concentrate on the actual problems of actual people pays off in real, penetrating insight. And even when there's not a lot of insight to be had--at the America's Cup, say, or covering a news-free treaty signing ceremony--he's still funny as hell. This is by far his best book.
Rating:
Summary: lacking Christian values
Review: Far be it for me to interfere with a comic in search of schtick, but if Mr. O'Rourke is truly moved by the impoverished values of these 3rd World places, perhaps he could volunteer his time to improve these places.
Rating:
Summary: "Innocents Abroad" for the 20th century
Review: Hilarious, insightful and succinct. No word is wasted, and even the smallest throwaway jokes will elicit a chuckle. Even when faced with the most dire situations in the most foreign of lands, the author resists the impulse to grandstand or pander. O'Rourke is the 20th century's answer to Mark Twain or H.L. Mencken, but less of a blowhard than either of those two. This book is a seminal work of gonzo reporting and modern non-fiction, and should be required reading for anyone wanting to be a foreign correspondent.
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