In his most ambitious book yet, P.J. O’Rourke takes on a subject that is dear to us all – wealth. What is it? How do you get it? Or, as P.J. would say, ‘Why do some places prosper and thrive, while others just suck?’
Eat the Rich
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A conservative, prosperous American journalist gadding around the world laughing at all the ways less successful nations screw up their economy--this might not sound like the recipe for a great read, unless you're Rush Limbaugh, but if that journalist is P.J. O'Rourke you can be sure that you'll enjoy the ride even if you don't agree with the politics. Although Eat the Rich is subtitled A Treatise on Economics, O'Rourke spends relatively few pages tackling the complexities of monetary theory. He's much happier when flying from Sweden to Hong Kong, then on to Tanzania and Moscow, gleefully recording every economic goof he can find. When he visits post-Soviet Russia and finds a country that is as messed up by capitalism as it was by communism, O'Rourke mixes jokes about black- market shoes with disturbing insights into a nation on the verge of collapse. P.J. O'Rourke is more than a humorist, he's an experienced international journalist with a lot of frequent-flyer miles, and this gives even his funniest riffs on the world's problems a startling ring of truth.
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P.J. sets off on a world tour to investigate funny economics. Having seen ‘good’ capitalism on Wall Street, he looks at ‘bad’ capitalism in Albania, views ‘good’ socialism in Sweden and endures ‘bad’ socialism in Cuba. The result is the world’s only astute, comprehensive and concise presentation of the basic principles of economics that can make you laugh on purpose. ‘P.J. O’Rourke is the acceptable face of US Republican arrogance. He sneers so irresistibly, you cough up your liberal guts laughing’ Observer ‘The first thing you learn about O’Rourke is this: he cannot turn off his mirth valve. Such is the severity of P.J.’s condition, the only person to have more entries in The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations is Oscar Wilde. This makes O’Rourke either the funniest man alive, or the wittiest heterosexual of all time . . . In Eat the Rich, O’Rourke’s ninth book, he squares up to the daunting topic of the world’s wealth: who has it, who hasn’t and why’ Mail on Sunday ‘P.J. at his scathing best . . . This is economics for the uninitiated’ Irish News
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First Sentence
I had one fundamental question about economics: Why do some places prosper and thrive while others just suck? It's not a matter of brains. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I had one fundamental question about economics: Why do some places prosper and thrive while others just suck? It's not a matter of brains. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The "Treatise on Economics" promised on the front cover is rather mis-leading; the economic analysis in this book is frequently very sloppy. However the crisp, humorous observations of Albanian/Swedish/Cuban/Russain/Tanzanian and Chinese life are splendid. Very entertaining, light-hearted, and enjoyable.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
PJ O'Rourke is one of the funniest men to walk the surface of this planet, if indeed his feet ever actually touch the ground. maybe he is just one of the most humourous men in low earth orbit. Whatever.
Despite his politics, he is a very human writer. Right wingers are frequently prone to righteous puritanicalism, O'Rourke, however, enjoys drugs, sex and rock and roll as much as the next person, and more than many.
In 'Eat The Rich', he tries to do what many have tried before: make sense of economics. And he almost manages. I now understand derivatives, know the difference between a stock and a bond (you can be tied to one by the other, and then pilloried for making such poor puns). But, ultimately, PJ gives up the ghost deciding that sense cannot be made of something so abstract, obtuse and plain nonsensical as Economics.
To his credit, PJ never allows the subject matter to deter him from his primary aim, to write an urbane, amusing and witty book. Very, very, very funny. Eat The Rich has a large marginal propensity to make me laugh. You should subscribe to the law of supply and demand a copy now.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Robin Pain
Format:Paperback
In a couple of paragraphs, O' Rourke explains international currency (dealing): '...it keeps governments "honest"...'
So now I understand, it is all so simple, so why don't economic text books say it? It is because, as O' Rourke explains, economics is based on the undefinable: the value of things.
He shows how destructive centralised control from real-world examples not just in communism but also in democracies finishing with the astonishing case of Hong Kong that has, virtually zero government interference (and no natural resources either apart from the Chinese mindset).
The book is written, unselfconsciously, as a "travel guide" with easy humour.
If you want to know what "the money multiplier is" then don't buy this book, get a text book. If you want a laugh and are interested in how the world really works then buy this book.
So now I understand, it is all so simple, so why don't economic text books say it? It is because, as O' Rourke explains, economics is based on the undefinable: the value of things.
He shows how destructive centralised control from real-world examples not just in communism but also in democracies finishing with the astonishing case of Hong Kong that has, virtually zero government interference (and no natural resources either apart from the Chinese mindset).
The book is written, unselfconsciously, as a "travel guide" with easy humour.
If you want to know what "the money multiplier is" then don't buy this book, get a text book. If you want a laugh and are interested in how the world really works then buy this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Serious subjects discussed with humour
A fantastic collection of P.J's thought provoking (but very funny) essays on the general theme of economics. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bob
1.0 out of 5 stars
sound instincts, poor taste
While I share his intellectual predilections, I object to all the obscenity and blasphemy. OK he's only a hack, but he has a good case to make. I want to like him. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Richard Ashton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely funny look at economics
In this book ORourke takes a very entertaining look at world economics, as he travels to different countries and discusses theiur economic systems and why they do, or do not, work. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2004 by L O'connor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-informed irreverence to laugh out loud over
One hears about PJ O'Rourke, but the first exposure is a pleasure indeed. Opinionated, irreverent, self-effacing, often conservative and liberal at once, the author examines wealth... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2003 by Martin W Michlmayr
1.0 out of 5 stars
That joke isn't funny anymore
Not suprisingly, PJ O'Rourke has done his homework once again. Facts and figures are crammed into virtually every page, telling us... nothing at all. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book with subtitle, "A Treatise on Economics"
Don't be put off by the terrible adverts for British Airways in which PJ O'Rourke appears. reading this book will disabuse you of any notion that he was responsible for the... Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very thought provoking - A must for all Guardian readers
This is book is a slight departure from PJ's other stuff in that it is much more of a coherent work than previous books which were just collections of essays & articles. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
As ever, very readable, but.....
Another well written book by PJ O'Rourke on something I knew nothing about. But whilst I did learn what GDP is and the importance of it to the ecomony of a country etc I felt this... Read more
Published on 11 April 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Witty, intelligent writing again from PJ O'Rourke
PJ O'Rourke sets off to find out the real answer to economics. This is 'Why some places are rich, whilst others just suck. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 1999
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