[.ca] Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to ... (ISBN 0802139701)

From Amazon.com:
If satirists are at their best when tussling with something they hate, then this is P.J. O'Rourke's masterpiece. He clearly hates government--and has hated it since before it was cool to do so--and for all the right reasons, too: it's clumsy, inefficient, hypocritical, greedy, and arrogant. In other words, it magnifies the faults of the poor saps who staff it. Parliament of Whores is the humorist's howl of bitter laughter at the entire bloated, numskulled mess. As befits an ex-editor of National Lampoon, nothing is out of bounds for O'Rourke. Speaking of the fabled "football"--that satchel that follows the president around 24/7--the author doubts there are really launch codes in there at all--nothing but "a copy of Penthouse and a pint bottle of Hiram Walker--a Penthouse from back in the seventies, when Penthouse was really dirty, I'll bet." Parliament of Whores is perfect for anyone who longs to cultivate an entertaining brand of cynicism, to be "a lone voice--not crying in the wilderness, thank you, but chortling in the rec room." O'Rourke is a master at making you laugh in spite of the better angels of your nature, and the only negative thing to be said about this tour de force is that his flamethrower brand of satire leaves nothing in its wake--certainly not the suggestion of an improvement. --Michael Gerber

for a conservative Republican, he's OK:
As a (generally) liberal person, I found this book an extremely guilty pleasure, like a hard-core ecologist getting most of his income from oil stock. In little more than 200 pages, he explains clearly and concisely how the government should work-- and how and why it often doesn't. What makes O'Rourke different from the current batch of conservative goose-steppers is that 1) he is intelligent, 2) he is (relatively) unbiased, taking shots at the Right as well as the Left, 3) he gets his facts straight, and 4) he is gut-bustingly funny (I was laughing so hard on the bus, people were avoiding me more than the stinky homeless guy). In fact, you might want to have a high-lighter handy because, if you talk politics much, you'll be quoting this more than Bartlett's. Still, I've docked the book one star because of some cheap shots and ethnic slurs.

Uncle Peej's best.:
I first read this book as a wet-behind-the-ears DC intern in 1992, and nothing's been the same since. P.J. (it feels wrong to call him "Mr. O'Rourke") nailed the true, power-grabbing nature of government, especially in the last chapter's last sentence. Now don't go pull a Harry "When Harry Met Sally" Burns on me and read the last page of the book first; if you do, you'll miss a wild ride. Emphasis on "wild": there are lots of non-gratuitous naughty words in this book. But if you're the type who can't think about government without cussing anyway, then get this book for you or someone you know who deserves the truth.

PJ for President:
I got a "specialist degree" in politics at University and still found that I learned more from this book than any of the dry tomes they pushed on me in school. It is laugh-out-loud funny, thought-provoking and a fair assessment of the behemoth that is the government. It should be required reading for anybody considering a career in politics.

O'Rourke at his best:
I read this book back in the 90's when the book was still somewhat new. I was in college at the time and a proud liberal too. This book really changed my views and challenged many of the beliefs I had held. It really sparked an interest for me in libertarian thought in general. The book may be dated with its references to the gulf war but its still very witty and a good read.

No finer civics lesson available:
P.J. O'Rourke is hands down the single funniest polticial observer in recent memory and (even though he's a Republican) very good at what he does...which is tell you why the government is so f-ed up. I first read this book a little less than a year ago, and it's been probably my favorite of P.J.'s more cohesive works (of the obvious grab-bag of essays, it's either Rep Party Reptile or Age and Guile). Sure, you won't agree with everything he says (if you are of the Sean Hannity, "I Must Agree With Everything The Repubs Do Because They Are Never Wrong" mindset, this isn't a book for you), but you have a great time reading it. One of the other reviewers called reading this book a "guilty pleasure", and I think that applies well for those of us left-of-center who still like a good laugh every now and then. But there's some serious stuff here too, couched between the wit: I won't repeat the words here, but his analogy concerning the drug war hyperbole is astute and saddingly accurate. The budget chapter strikes out any cash for the National Guard, as O'Rourke had friends at Kent State (in a rather weak-kneed footnote, Peej decides his budget needs revision due to the Gulf War breaking out after he wrote it, it feels tacked-on and possibly a retreat from his earlier stance). Overall, this is P.J.'s best work, one that satirizes everyone in Washington who is wasting space. Written during the first Bush's administration, it's gleefully disrespectful to that era's mindset and makes you savor what bad things P.J. might have to say about the current Dumbass-in-Chief. On some levels, this is a product of its time, but it still holds up well enough to be read long after anyone remembers who the hell any of the leaders were. I have to credit PJ with giving me the desire to write, and while I heartily disagree with him politically the man has common sense, and there's still a streak of libretarianism in me left over from my youth in the Republican-dominated South. This is O'Rourke's best, and it could've been written today and still say the same things. A fantastic read from a fantastic (and funny) voice in American society.