P. J. O'Rourke was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and attended Miami University and Johns Hopkins. He began writing funny things in 1960s "underground" newspapers, became editor-in-chief of "National Lampoon," then spent 20 years reporting for "Rolling Stone" and "The Atlantic Monthly" as the world's only trouble-spot humorist, going to wars, riots, rebellions, and other "Holidays in Hell" in more than 40 countries. He's written 16 books on subjects as diverse as politics and cars and etiquette and economics. His book about Washington, "Parliament of Whores," and his book about international conflict and crisis, "Give War a Chance," both reached #1 on the "New York Times" best-seller list. He is a contributing editor at "The Weekly Standard," H. L. Mencken fellow at the Cato Institute, a member of the editorial board of "World Affairs" and a regular panelist on NPR's "Wait... Wait... Don't Tell Me." He lives with his family in rural New England, as far away from the things he writes about as he can get.
Praise for The Baby Boom: "Prolific political and social
commentator O'Rourke, author of 17 books, including the bestselling
Parliament of Whores, has created here a thoughtful portrait of the
baby boomer generation and what its members have done for the
American way of life, and "the way we talked everybody into letting
us get away with it." While O'Rourke acknowledges that sweeping
generalizations about millions of Americans do not always apply, he
seems to feel comfortable enough standardizing boomers at large as
creatures of self-interest, hypocrisy, and hysteria. But even while
discussing annual income and per capita GDP, O'Rourke maintains the
dry wit that makes every chapter a delight, even if the picture
they form is incomplete. The hilarity is helped along by plenty of
anecdotes from his own life as a boomer, including the tale of when
O'Rourke's underground newspaper was occupied overnight by
Balto-Cong radicals. As a cultural analyst, O'Rourke's ability and
willingness to simultaneously lampoon and celebrate himself and his
generation are unequaled." - Publishers Weekly "P.J. O'Rourke's
Baby Boom may just be his best book ever. Teems with heart and
humor -- much of it laugh out loud, or as the post-boomers would
say, LOL -- as well as with his trademark brilliant social
commentary. A terrific American memoir, in tone a beguiling mix of
Jean Shepherd and "Animal House." In fact, I'm going to revise my
prior statement and say flat-out that this is O'Rourke's best book
ever, which is a saying a lot."- Christopher Buckley "His
simultaneously hilarious and brainy new book, "The Baby Boom: How
It Got That Way And It Wasn't My Fault And I'll Never Do It Again,"
holds a cracked magnifying glass up to the generation of Americans
born between the end of World War II and the early 1960s. Sifting
through demographic and economic data and combining the results
with generous portions of personal memories, O'Rourke finds much to
deplore in the boomer character, but even more to cherish and
celebrate." -- Chicago Tribune "Better than an Ed Sullivan
marathon, more enjoyable than Beach Boys Radio Weekend, and more
fun than cleaning out your parents' attic, this book is a boomer's
delight. If your bags are packed for a trip down memory lane, 'The
Baby Boom' is a book you'll want to remember to take with you." --
The Spectrum "Delightfully and devilishly hilarious...O'Rourke
shows no sign of slowing down when it comes to his witty
chronicling of American life." -- Toronto Sun "A comedic and
caustic cautionary tale for future generations -- and, for those of
us who are Boomers, a nostalgic and hilarious diversion." -- NPR
Praise for P.J. O'Rourke: "A prolific humorist continues his
outpouring of solid writing. . . some very fine travel writing, the
best of which is wickedly droll -- O'Rourke at his very best. . . .
Here's hoping there's another 15 books still to come."--Los Angeles
Times on Holidays in Heck "If all of America's registered
Republicans were struck by an ideology-specific bird flu, and 50
among them had to be placed in a secure bunker to repopulate the
species entirely, P.J. O'Rourke would hold a place on many people's
list, mine included. He's funny. He tends to be against boredom and
in favor of the pursuit of nonsobriety. He has a sharp nose for
cant and bogusness. His conservatism is rooted in a fondness for
ordinary things and a philosophy of individual common sense."
--Dwight Garner, The New York Times on Holidays in Heck "O'Rourke
is an actual conservative, with ideas and a conscience, as opposed
to the stealth flacks staying on party message that often pass for
conservatives in these Hannitized and Limbaughtomized
days."--Chicago Sun-Times on Peace Kills "Mocking on the surface
but serious beneath, sharply attuned to quotidian hypocrisy and
contradiction...this book contains some of O'Rourke's best work to
date. When it comes to scouting the world for world-class
absurdities, he is the right man for the job."--Los Angeles Times
Book Review on Give War a Chance "His explanations . . . with
a-joke-each-phrase aplomb (forget waiting until the end of the
sentence) make you wish he had been your economics professor in
college instead of the bow-tie wearing nerd who droned on about
widgets. In fact, if you fell asleep hiding your eyelids under the
rim of your baseball cap during Econ 101, this book is for
you."--The Philadelphia Inquirer on Eat the Rich "Highly pungent
and wickedly accurate observations . . . [from a] boisterous,
pedal-to-the-floor humorist . . . The results would curl the
ponytails of most poli-sci professors."--The New York Times Book
Review on Parliament of Whores "An acerbic master of gonzo
journalism and one of America's most hilarious and provocative
writers . . . a volatile brew of one-liners and vitriol."--TIME on
Give War a Chance
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