Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed to Be - with an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn

My rating:

add to my books

Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed to Be - with an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn

by P.J. O'Rourke, Christopher Lane

3.47 · rating details · 158 ratings · 56 reviews

A New York Times bestselling author and America's preeminent political satirist, P. J. O?Rourke also has another side to him?a gear-loose gearhead, automotive devotee, and terrifying driver. Son and grandson of car dealers in Ohio, P.J.'s family has been in the motor vehicle business since before there were motors in vehicles. And P.J. has been writing about cars?for Car a...more

MP3 on CD, 0 pages

Published June 1st 2009 by Brilliance Audio (first published May 5th 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry

Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus by Dave Barry

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry

Literary Libertarians

30th out of 77 books — 13 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 266)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 01, 2009

Anna rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-for-watermark

One (well, me) occasionally hears the notion bandied about that conservatives aren’t funny. This is, of course, as reductive generalizations tend to be, complete and utter bunk; as incontrovertible evidence, I offer the sublime, wicked, merry-making stylings of Mr. P.J. O’Rourke. I defy anyone to read my all-time favorite chapter heading from “Parliament of Whores”—“Our Government: What the F*** Do They Do All Day, and Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?”—without respecting the snark, even...moreOne (well, me) occasionally hears the notion bandied about that conservatives aren’t funny. This is, of course, as reductive generalizations tend to be, complete and utter bunk; as incontrovertible evidence, I offer the sublime, wicked, merry-making stylings of Mr. P.J. O’Rourke. I defy anyone to read my all-time favorite chapter heading from “Parliament of Whores”—“Our Government: What the F*** Do They Do All Day, and Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?”—without respecting the snark, even if you’re not of his libertarian bent (his main problem with both major parties, it seems, is that they want to stop him having fun).
Perhaps “Driving Like Crazy” is a good place to start, since it’s not overtly political at all: O’Rourke has for thirty years written automotive journalism for a variety of publications: “Car & Driver,” “Esquire,” and “Rolling Stone,” among others, and a lot of it’s collected here, from his 1978 “National Lampoon” piece which draws the conclusion that no car handles like a rented car (“You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed . . . than in any other kind. You can also park without looking, and you can use the trunk as an ice chest”) to his tongue-in-cheek defense of the SUV as an embodiment of the American spirit (“The real truth is that we need sport utility vehicles to carry our concealed weapons”). In between, he “discovers” NASCAR, drives a 1956 Buick Special from Florida to Los Angeles, goes off-roading in the Baja, on-roading in India, and despite having three children, stubbornly resists the practicality of a minivan.
My automotive knowledge is limited to gingerly refilling the various leaking fluids of my leviathan Mercury Grand Marquis, but even when O’Rourke dips into acronym-and-numeral car-nut talk, I never felt lost. The reason for this is that the man can sling a metaphor better than almost any writer I know. Re a Suzuki GS1100 motorcycle: “Any twist of the throttle put you in danger of being left there with empty bowlegs, like a Roy Rogers figurine after the dog ate the plastic Trigger.” Describing entrants in the California Mille, a road race that only allows cars that could have been driven in Italy’s Mille Miglia, which took place from 1927 to ’57: “There was an Aston Martin DBR2 showing compound curves beyond the dreams of Frank Gehry and a gill-slitted Maserati 200SI that could star in ‘Jaws IV’ if anyone were idiot enough to put it in the water.” In short, O’Rourke’s lively writing got me through a 250-page book about cars. CARS. If this can happen, there’s hope for a post-partisan America. One where everybody drives really fast.(less)

· see review

Oct 14, 2009

Scott rated it

· review of another edition

This book is based on automotive magazine articles done by O'Rourke, re-issued and (more than once) re-worked for the current political situation, where the Obama "fun-suckers" rule the roost in Washington. O'Rourke is a conservative libertarian, and he skewers both political parties, as well as anyone else in his way. His gonzo writing style recalls the manic, nervous pace of Hunter Thompson. There is plenty of abuse here for most anyone not named P.J. O'Rourke, and he occasionally fi...more

· see review

Apr 23, 2010

Jonny99 rated it

· review of another edition

Often hilarious, sometimes droll but for a limited audience. Last year after smoking marijuana at a Westchester County campsite, a woman loaded several children and a bottle of vodka into her minivan and after the equivalent of 10 drinks drove for 2 miles the wrong way down the Saw Mill Parkway North eventually killing herself, the children and two unlucky men in a Chevy Trailblazer. With this story in mind read P.J. O’Rourke’s tales of 30 years of frequently drunken vehicular shenanigans acro...moreOften hilarious, sometimes droll but for a limited audience. Last year after smoking marijuana at a Westchester County campsite, a woman loaded several children and a bottle of vodka into her minivan and after the equivalent of 10 drinks drove for 2 miles the wrong way down the Saw Mill Parkway North eventually killing herself, the children and two unlucky men in a Chevy Trailblazer. With this story in mind read P.J. O’Rourke’s tales of 30 years of frequently drunken vehicular shenanigans across the U.S., Baja Mexico and India and his often hilarious stories take on a bit of a dark humor tinge. The conservative Republican O’Rourke is on par with the best in the satirist trade equal to Russell Baker, Art Buchwald and Andy Rooney and this collection of 30 years of mostly car magazine pieces demonstrates that he bring more than just politics to the party. The vignettes can be divided into travel pieces including 2 trips down Mexico’s Baja peninsula with ex-Monkey Mike Nesmith, a trip across the U.S. in a ’56 Buick and trip through California in a 1930’s Chevrolet. Although fully readable and often laugh out loud funny, these, like the road trips they describe, can go on beyond the point when they are still entertaining. More enjoyable are his musings on cars and their place in society. As the too lengthy subtitle suggests, O’Rourke likes his SUV (he owns a Land Rover Discovery II and his wife a Suburban) mammoth, his gas cheap and, if he is to be believed, his speeds death-defying. His rationalizing on why these things are no inherently evil makes for fascinating “devil’s advocate” argument particularly a piece for a British publication which both defends and admits that his home country maybe has a consumption problem: beer, gas, land for 8 lane interstate highways, metal, rubber for tiles and sometimes all of these at once. Now in his 50s with a wife and three children and with a minivan test-drive piece under his belt, he admits that some of his automotive-based tours of bars when he was younger may have been ill-advised but he stops well short of siding with those he terms “funsuckers” whose DUI laws, he claims, are taking all the fun out of life. Although more than just politically incorrect but actually morally incorrect some of the stories are very humorous and well worth the read.(less)

· see review

May 14, 2011

Mark rated it

· review of another edition

I have greatly enjoyed O'Rourke's political satires, "Parliment of Whores," and "Eat the Rich," but this is a book of a different sort. O'Rourke, who is one of the best conservative political writers, began his writing career as a pot-smoking, carousing, hedonistic anarchist, writing first for National Lampoon and then for Car and Driver. Somewhere in the Car and Driver days, he "saw the light" politically speaking. This book as a collection with commentary of his w...more

· see review

Apr 03, 2011

Michael Hagerty rated it

· review of another edition

P.J. O'Rourke has been a favorite of mine for 35 years...since the National Lampoon years. And I was one delighted Car and Driver subscriber when the late David E. Davis, Jr. brought P.J. onboard as a contributing editor.

But where P.J. disappoints is in his editing and re-editing of what he wrote decades ago. Perhaps at 62, we all would have written things differently than we would have at 32, but not only does P.J's tinkering smack of political correctness (anathema to fans of P.J.), it robs hi...more

· see review

Aug 11, 2010

Kelley rated it

· review of another edition

I love O'Rourke. It is just that simple. While he is best known for his political writing he has covered a multitude of topics over the years. True O'Rourke fans know he has written for "Car and Driver" over the years and that he loves muscle cars. "Driving Like Crazy" is a collection of automotive essays and adventures. The humor that succeeds so well when describing how Congress doesn't work also succeeds when describing a drive through Baja California with Mike Nesmith...more

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 02, 2009

Rich rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: culture, humor, favorite-authors

I can't write about P.J. O'Rourke and not put in endless quotes. He is the funniest man writing today. Every night I pray God will turn me into P.J., or at least give me the direct phone number and email addresses of his agent and editor.

Recently I read "Peace Kills," which is a little more somber than I'm used, but then having been written in the shadow of 9/11/01, what else could it be?

Here he's back to his usual irreverent, hilarious self--a collection f...moreI can't write about P.J. O'Rourke and not put in endless quotes. He is the funniest man writing today. Every night I pray God will turn me into P.J., or at least give me the direct phone number and email addresses of his agent and editor.

Recently I read "Peace Kills," which is a little more somber than I'm used, but then having been written in the shadow of 9/11/01, what else could it be?

Here he's back to his usual irreverent, hilarious self--a collection from his 30 years of automotive writing. These pieces have appeared in all kinds of magazines--Rolling Stone, Esquire, Automotive Week, Car and Driver, and even National Lampoon.

For those of you who are not into the political, this is a perfect book with very few political shots. But just enough to retain his political wonk status.

"It's time to say . . . How shall we put it? . . . sayonara to the American car. The American Automotive industry--GM, Ford, even Chrysler--will live on in some form, a Marley's ghost dragging its corporate chains at taxpayer expense. The fools in the corner offices of Detroit (and the fool officials of Detroit's unions) will retire to their vacation homes (in Palm Beach and St. Pete). They no more deserve our sympathy than the malevolent trolls under the Capitol dome. But pity the poor American car when congress and the White House get through with it--a light-weight, vehicle with a small carbon footprint, using alternative energy and renewable resources to operate in a sustainable way. When I was a kid we called it a Schwinn."

On NASCAR mechanics:
"There was one ole boy there, hunkered down with all manner of folksy verb tenses. I asked him something about what kind of steel the tube frames are made from. He launched into a Nobel Prize lecture on metallurgy in which, 'molybdenum' was the smallest word I noticed."

P.J. goes to Baja not once, but three times--and that's probably 2 1/2 times too many; he goes to India, Russia, defends the American SUV to the British press, runs all over LA in a beat up Mustang, and several other wild and wooley adventures.

On the Los Angeles automotive scene:
"Contrary to received wisdom, Los Angeles was a tiresome place for an automotive enthusiast to be. Not because of lack of wonderful automobiles but because of an excess. The city was full of desirable, arousing, priapism-inducing cars of every kind: Bugattis, Facel Vegas, Cords, three-wheeled Morgans, SS100 Jaguars, Testarossa Ferraris, Lancias, Aurelias, not to mention bevies of MG TCs and TDs, slews of bug-eyed Sprites, more bathtub Porsches than Germany had bathtubs, and ranks and files of plain vanilla cars-you'd-love-to-own. . . The problem was with the folks who owned the view. . . . The Hollywooden heads would buy a car for almost any purpose except a worthy one. Many automobiles were purchased to attract members of LA's eight or ten opposite sexes. Since the denizens of America's Gomorrah, were incapable of verbalizing any idea more complex than "box office gross," the expensive car served as a substitute for witty come-on and seductive chat. (It should be noted that the persuit of libidinous satisfaction was such a mania in the '80s in LA that if the local citizens had ever performed any normal acts of copulation our country would now be three fathoms deep in twenty-eight-year-olds named after astrological signs.)"

This is fall-down laughing funny, Coca-cola out the nose guffawing hysterical stuff. It almost made me love life again. (less)

· see review

Apr 17, 2010

Skylar Burris rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: humor

I usually like P.J. O’Rourke. Though I laughed quite a bit when I read the introduction to this book, I only laughed once or twice during the first and second chapter, and I had to skim more than a little. It really dragged for me. I will have to abandon this read…I’m just not that into cars. Or even a little bit into cars, for that matter. I much prefer O’Rourke when he is writing about economics, environmentalism, war, or politics.

· see review

Oct 25, 2009

Noah rated it

· review of another edition

O'Rourke is one of my favorite writers and humorists, so I expected a lot more from this book. In most of the new material, it feels like he's playing a caricature of himself, and in the old material, he hasn't finished sharpening his voice yet. Maybe he just loses something when he's not talking politics. I'm not sure what the root cause is, but this book is very skippable, even for a big P.J. O'Rourke fan.

like 1 like

· see review

Jul 12, 2011

David rated it

· review of another edition

I have liked P.J. for many years. A lot of what he writes is utter garbage but I like the ideas behind what is written. Even when the ideas are crap. This book is largely retrospective and not being a car lover myself it is really the way he tells the stories that entertains. Some of the stories may have only a mustard grain of fact in them but he elaborates well enough to make them entertaining

· see review

Apr 27, 2010

William rated it

· review of another edition

I've been, and remain a huge fan of P. J. O'Rourke's. I've always liked his PG-13 Gonzo style of writing--a tamer version of Hunter Thompson. Witt, & Cynicism are the accounting firm of O'Rourke's mind, and they are well used here. Part travel book, part car book, with digressions into politics/economics/family life, offer something for everyone. While not my favorite O'Rourke book ("Eat The Rich" retains that honor), it is a nice book to escape into, after watching the evening n...more

like 1 like

· see review

Mar 08, 2010

Brian Jones rated it

· review of another edition

I always enjoy P.J. O'Rourke books, but this one seems to be a relatively minor one. The format, which is based for the most part on updates to automotive magazine essays written over the last thirty years, sets up a strange inconsistency in his voice that is distracting. Really funny as always and perfectly enjoyable, but there are other books of his that I much prefer.

· see review

Sep 08, 2010

Paul rated it

· review of another edition

P.J. looks back at some of his better automobile-based stories from his years as a journalist, updating some with an older but not necessarily wiser man's perspective and leaving some stories of his on-the road adventures alone. Aside from getting too preachy at times about the "fun suckers" out to ruin his desire to drive as fast as he can and suck up all the gas in the world, and of course, the Obama adminstration (you lost the last election guys, get over it already!) it's a fun boo...more

· see review

Apr 03, 2010

Robert rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-10-season

Not being a gear-head I probably missed more than a few of the nuances in this collection of car-centric columns, but they are well written and entertaining enough to be worth a read even if you replace every car-centric paragraph with the phrase doohickey and thingamajig, or if you skip them entirely.

· see review

Dec 29, 2009

Lacey rated it

· review of another edition

So far, my continuing with this book at all is a testimony to what a good writer PJ O'Rourke is. The book is about cars, a subject in which I have no interest. The major secondary focus so far seems to be drinking and taking drugs, two activities that have little appeal for me and don't seem like interesting subjects to nonparticipants. There's also a misogynist streak in the earliest of the essays included here. I will say that the misogyny seems to get milder over time, and that O'Rourke's...more

· see review

Jun 27, 2009

Acorn Public Library rated it

· review of another edition

O'Rourke serves up his irreverent wit in this collection of articles exploring the changing place of the automobile in the American imagination. Its high-flying silliness manages to tackle serious issues that might otherwise be dull or dismal. This would be a pleasure in audio form as well.

· see review

May 01, 2011

Joanne Emery rated it

· review of another edition

Still reading this one - but so far, it's one of those annoying (for my partner) books that make me laugh out loud in bed! Droll and dark, irreverent and very un-PC, this feels like a naughty indulgence, especially if you love cars. Recommended :)

· see review

Dec 05, 2009

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

PJ O'Rourke has been my imaginary author boyfriend since his National Lampoon days and this is the first thing I've read from him in a long while. He is just as I remembered, acerbic, witty and funny ~ the very things to comprise an interesting boyfriend.

· see review

Aug 09, 2011

Denise added it · review of another edition

Not sure if I enjoyed it or not, unfortunately for me it is all about American cars of which I know very little but that's my fault, it is in the title after all. Some of the stuff was quite interesting though.

· see review

Aug 08, 2011

Smh624 rated it

· review of another edition

This book was frustrating to read in the end. I laughed out loud a number of times in the early parts and near the end. In between it was tedious. If you are a car mechanic the middle might be more entertaining.

· see review

Feb 27, 2011

PlatKat rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Josh... before I finished the first chapter, even

I've been listening to this audio book in the Barbie Dream Hearse as I trudge through another Seattle winter, braving snow, sleet, and the occasional agog photog. The only things I'm missing are road-head and a cigar.

· see review

Jun 25, 2009

Surfing Moose rated it

· review of another edition

I didn't know that this was retread of older material with a smidgen of new. Since it is the first PJ O'Rourke book I've read, I'll give it a 3 as it was fun to read and try and pick up something that he has written and is only original material.

· see review

Jun 11, 2009

Brooks rated it

· review of another edition

A lot of re-tread material from O'Rourke's magazine articles. Some stuff from the early 1970s. Only 5-10 pages of new material on the current crises. However, still had me giggling.

like 2 likes

· see review

Jun 26, 2011

Mike rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: humor, non-fiction

P.J. O'Rourke is one of the funnier writers currently writing. His books are also surprisingly educational. If you are a car person and have a sense of humor, you shopuld read this book.

· see review

Aug 01, 2011

James M. added it · review of another edition

Wonderful book. A refreshing break from the 600+ page book about Winston Churchill that I have been reading. Thank you, my Love, for giving this to me.

· see review

Aug 17, 2010

Gene Cords rated it

· review of another edition

Vry funny in spots, but also too much funny stuff in others. These are columns O'Rourke has written over the years, and so they carry the flavors of those times--i.e., what was hilarious then may not be be now so much. But he is always a good thing to read. His views of everything are right out there and usually presented with a slight twist of humor.

· see review

May 04, 2010

Curt rated it

· review of another edition

Thought this was going to include more conversation around current automotive financial crises. Instead, this is more of a travel-log and car review from a big car-nut.

· see review

Sep 29, 2009

Ray Charbonneau rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Not just a collection, he updates all the articles, which adds to the flow of th ebook and the quality of the stories.

· see review

Jun 23, 2011

Joe Faust rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: humor, kindle-2009, non-fiction

A collection of automotive writing from the files of P.J. O’Rourke, the funniest man in the world.

· see review

Jul 11, 2011

Liz rated it

· review of another edition

Just plain fun. I don't agree with PJ on everything, but I love the way he expresses his opinion.

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

Humor

15 users

Non Fiction

6 users

Travel

4 users

Writing > Essays

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About P.J. O'Rourke

Patrick Jake O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, and writer. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on National Public Radio's game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom as the face...more

More about P.J. O'Rourke...

Books by P.J. O'Rourke

Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government

Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Driving Like Craz...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Groups That Shelved Driving Like Craz...

Daily Show / Colbert Report

347 members

last activity Feb 01, 2012 04:00pm

shelf: read

title link	preview: Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed to Be - with an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn
avg rating	preview: Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed Goodreads rating: 3.47 (158 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10766207-driving-like-crazy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1299802569m/10766207.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10766207-driving-like-crazy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed to Be - with an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn by P.J. O'Rourke[/url]

Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed to Be - with an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website