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All the Trouble in the World
Attacking fashionable worries--all those terrible problems that are constantly on our minds and in the news, but about which most of us have no real clue--the bestselling author of Parliament of Whores crisscrosses the globe in search of answers to today's most vexing dilemmas, and, in the process, ensures that political correctness will never be the same again.
Paperback, 340 pages
Published
August 12th 1995
by Atlantic Monthly Press
(first published January 1st 1994)
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His subtitles to the chapters are excellent. Overpopulation: Just enough of me, way too much of you. He helps you realize it's not population density that's a problem, it's lack of freedom and rule of law. And people who claim to worry about overpopulation are really just disguising their racism (Too many brown people).
Famine: All guns, no butter. Somalia is the case study for how you can actually have a lot of food around and people will still starve due to political repression. It ...more
Famine: All guns, no butter. Somalia is the case study for how you can actually have a lot of food around and people will still starve due to political repression. It ...more
One of the funniest writers in the world.Practically everything by O'Rourke is worthwhile.
"We are no longer in grave danger of the atomic war which, for nearly fifty years, threatened to annihilate humanity and otherwise upset everyone's weekend plans. The nasty, powerful and belligerent empire that was the Soviet Union has fallen apart. It's nothing now but a space on the map full of quarreling nationalities with too many k's and z's in their names--armed scrabble contestants."
"It was a world in which "nigger" was not a taboo name, but the second...more
"It was a world in which "nigger" was not a taboo name, but the second...more
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My boss pulled this book off a shelf in his (rather extensive) collection, highlighting it as a really funny book. And indeed it was! I found myself laughing out loud many a time, and yes, the subtitles are so, so hilarious! Also quite amazed that the Problems of the 1990s still seem current today. Or maybe that should be tragic,
PJ is always funny, but this one is best read at the time it was read. The best of the most timeless PJ would be Parliament of whores and eat the rich.
Thomas Bundy
added it
Just as pertinent today as it was in the mid-90s, when it was written. And, he is hilarious.
Although I applaud anyone who maintains a chapter-long analogy between Fremont, CA and Bangladesh, this book feels overreaching, in terms of both its scope and its contrarianism. It's overly long, and sometimes O'Rourke sounds like he has run out of steam and has resorted to playing the character of himself. Like Peace Kills, I preferred the first chapter, a summary of his general sentiments. I have to conclude that O'Rourke works best when he's covering everything that's wrong with the human...more
Wonderful! Especially the population bomb section where he demolishes Al Gore....
Joe Faust
rated it
The best work yet from the funniest man in the world.
Very enjoyable and informative (with particular eloquence on the subject of famines and overpopulation).
Worth reading once, and worth referring to after that.
"Sorry Al (Gore), for calling you a fascist twinkie and intellectual dolt. It's nothing personal. I just think you have repulsive totalitarian inclinations and the brains of a king charles spaniel."
Worth reading once, and worth referring to after that.
"Sorry Al (Gore), for calling you a fascist twinkie and intellectual dolt. It's nothing personal. I just think you have repulsive totalitarian inclinations and the brains of a king charles spaniel."
I think P.J. O'Rourke is really funny. He travels around the world trying to discover the causes of why some places suck and others do not. He's irreverent, he notices and appreciates absurdities and his facts are well researched. Learning about bureaucracy, economics, disasters, famine, etc... has never been so much fun.
This book wqas very influential in disturbing my innocent liberal view of the world. I especially liked the chapter comparing the population density of Fremont California to Bangladesh. While this book didn't turn me into a reagan republican it did puncture some of my more liberal assumption of the world. :-)
P.J.O'Rourke always gets me thinking. I like his wit, and his conclusions are so interesting. The section on Famine was especially eye-opening.
Just watch out for language! There can be quite a few cusses in his books.
Just watch out for language! There can be quite a few cusses in his books.
I read this a long time ago, and I wonder if my opinion of it would change if I read it again today. I remember this book being funny, and that he's a clever guy and a good writer. I don't recall agreeing with a lot of it though.
very funny..very insightful. the ending will surprise you. Jason Farley says he's a Christian, though when he wrote this one, I don't think he was. Some of his other books are way dirtier than this one.
O'rourke is a drunken Irishmen with some out of whack bullshit typical rich white man ideals. That being said for whatever reason i find his books a sad yet brilliant commentary on the state of things.
I own a copy of this book, but some one borrowed it and never returned it. I'm pretty sure it was Geoff... from years ago. :-) I suspect it's somewhere, still lurking at his parent's place.
P.J. takes a look at the world's various trouble spots and gives his opinion as to the primary cause and (sometimes) a cure for them; told with his characteristic wit & insight.
Just goes to show what happens when one overcomes a prejudice: for a conservative O'Rourke uses his brain and his words more than most. Cheers!
Daryl
rated it
Recommends it for:
those interested in seeing the world from a different perspective.
Is anyone wearing their brown ribbon?
Mr. O'Rourke has the ability to effectively deliver his points, in spite of brilliant satire and humor.
Mr. O'Rourke has the ability to effectively deliver his points, in spite of brilliant satire and humor.
Read the title again. Really, is there anything else to add? This book is brilliant, hilarious, thought-provoking and hilarious.
true, hippies are easy targets but the chapter about Earth Day is hilarious. so is the rest of the book, now that I think about it...
I only made it about 50 pages into this book until I just had to stop. I knew I was too much of a liberal to enjoy it!
Erinfarleys
is currently reading it
Lovin this book. He loves colorful language so stay away if you cannot tolerate that sort of thing.
Keith Diehl
rated it
Recommends it for:
Everyone interested in knowing the real world.
Recommended to Keith by:
Mom!
Sometimes rambling but a funny/realistic look at the world (from a startlingly well-aged 1995 perspective).
"Politicians are interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs."
Entertaining conservative political book. Polemics, yes, but also very good writing.
I completely disagree with EVERYTHING in this book, but it was still good for a laugh...
Funny. O'Rourke pokes a lot of holes, but doesn't have much to fill them with.
THus far my favorite of his! Al Gore really takes a beating in this one...
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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
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