Peace Kills is P. J. O'Rourke's brilliant new book of essays about the world post 9/11, written with all the wit, style and precision you would imagine from the author hailed as 'America's greatest prose comedian'.
Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism
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"'The first thing you learn about P. J. O'Rourke is this: he cannot turn off his mirth valve. Such is the severity of P. J.'s condition that 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' Mail on Sunday"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
In this latest collection of adventures, P. J. O'Rourke casts his mordant eye on America's recent foreign policy forays. He first travels to Kosovo where he meets KLA veterans, Albanian refugees and peacekeepers, and confronts the paradox of 'the war that war-haters love to love'. He visits Egypt, Israel and Kuwait, where he witnesses citizens enjoying their newfound freedoms - namely, to shop, to eat and to sit around a lot. Following 11 September, O'Rourke examines the far-reaching changes in the US, from the absurd hassles of airport security to the dangers of anthrax. In Iraq, he witnesses both the beginning and the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and takes a tour of a presidential palace, concluding that the war was justified for at least one reason: criminal interior decorating. Peace Kills is an eye-opening look at a world much changed since O'Rourke wrote his bestselling Give War A Chance - a book in which he presciently declared that the most troubling aspect of war is sometimes peace itself.
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I was in Berlin in November 1989, the weekend the wall opened. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I was in Berlin in November 1989, the weekend the wall opened. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Peace Kills is the latest book from the pen of P.J. O'Rourke. Here O'Rourke returns to the topic of security and international politics in the post-modern world through a series of funny but thought provoking essays based on his travels both before and after 9/11 to Kosovo, Egypt, Israel, Iraq and elsewhere.
O'Rourke is a Republican with a fine eye for the absurdities of the situations and places he finds himself, delivering witty lines in almost every paragraph, but each essay also has serious political points to make underneath. His analysis comes from the libertarian right of centre (the well meaning but naïve come in for a particularly hard time) with a strong anti-ideological (right or left) slant, but this is not a theoretical political tract. O'Rourke's pragmatism and humanity comes through from his technique of getting to know different individuals in each country and listening to what they say, often bonding with them in the task of finding, acquiring and consuming alcohol. His companions range from harassed peace keepers in Kosovo, to world weary tour guides in Israel, to lecturers in post-Sadam Iraq. Throughout the book he looks to people finding the workable solution, not the utopian ideal.
O'Rourke is not, therefore, simply a right wing version of Michael Moore, though he shares with Moore the willingness and ability to poke fun at himself. Moore is a polemicist; O'Rouke's writing in general, and particulary in this book, is calmer, subtler, and frankly more informed about the wider world outside the USA. He allows the absurdity of his targets' language and actions to sink in before hitting the reader with a wry one-liner. It is the difference between being constantly bludgeoned with a sledgehammer and being subtly skewered by a rapier.
This is both a serious, intelligent book and very funny. A little more subdued than his pre 9/11 books, I believe he is still the wittiest Republican around and the most accessible to non-Americans. You may not agree with his politics, but all but the most narrow-minded should find plenty in this book to amuse and, perhaps, ponder over.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By HamishDB
Format:Hardcover
I wasn't that impressed by 'CEO of the Sofa' - his last. I am a massive PJ fan and while I thought that it was good by anyone else's standards, it wasn't his best. This marks a return to form - it's not the greatest but a relief to read as once again his particularly pointed diatribes against all and sundry lend a refreshing blast of reality to abounding PC views...
Definitely a great read, and good to have him back.
As a footnote, "Peace Kills" is what he wrote in my autographed copy of 'Age & Guile' a few years ago after my girlfriend explained that I was abroad with the Army so couldn't attend the signing in person... ;)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Jon D
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Generally, I really like the books of PJ O'Rourke, even if I don't share his world view, but this particular opus is not worth the paper it is written on.
This book just reeks of smugness. The writing is dull, repetitive, neocon drival and contains none of the razor sharp wit and biting critisism of mindless libralism that I rather hoped it would. I don't like to leave a book unfinished (I'm not made of money!), but I turned over the page at the end of the penultimate chapter and left it on the kitchen table after breakfast. Returning at lunchtime, steeled and ready to wade through the last treacle-like chapter, I was not entirely unhappy to discover that the dog had saved me the trouble by eating the book.
Leave this one on the shelf and seek out the excellent "CEO of the Sofa" or "Eat the Rich" by the same author instead.
This book just reeks of smugness. The writing is dull, repetitive, neocon drival and contains none of the razor sharp wit and biting critisism of mindless libralism that I rather hoped it would. I don't like to leave a book unfinished (I'm not made of money!), but I turned over the page at the end of the penultimate chapter and left it on the kitchen table after breakfast. Returning at lunchtime, steeled and ready to wade through the last treacle-like chapter, I was not entirely unhappy to discover that the dog had saved me the trouble by eating the book.
Leave this one on the shelf and seek out the excellent "CEO of the Sofa" or "Eat the Rich" by the same author instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A informative read
Interesting insights into difficult situations in war torn parts of the world. Written with humour and an insight into life on the ground in areas of conflict.
Published 2 months ago by J. M. Young
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some parts dated; some parts vintage
I think when P.J. O'Rourke finally slides off the mortal coil (no doubt with a martini in hand), he will be best remembered is one of the best and funniest travel writers of his... Read more
Published 8 months ago by F.R. Jameson
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Gonzo from the war front
Peace Kills is a tour of relatively modern post battle fronts literally and actual fronts in the war for hearts and minds. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2010 by Chris Hoare
3.0 out of 5 stars
Overall very witty and thought provoking - if it only wasn't for some...
In this book the author comes across as a bit of a cross between Terry Prachett, Jeremy Clarkson and Kurt Vonnegut (in the Breakfast of Champions sense). Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2010 by AK
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
I'd found 'Give War a Chance', 'Holiday's in Hell' and 'Eat the Rich' works of genius. Compared to his older work, this one is just sad. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2007 by Miran Ali
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe he is an annoying git, but a damned witty and perceptive...
Great, insightful, infuriating series of articles by the Atlantic Monthly correspondent, PJ O'Rourke. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2007 by Mr. Kevin Hargaden
1.0 out of 5 stars
Neither funny, nor illuminating.
I am not a radical socialist, or radical anything, but I found O'Rourke's conservative/republican standpoint tiresome and, by the final chapters, annoying. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2006 by Dr Jon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
I could not put this book down. O'Rouke is as funny as ever and his irreverance never lends itself to impropriety in spite of the weighty subject matter. Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2005 by Jack Sommers
4.0 out of 5 stars
Original and thought provoking
O'Rourke opens this engaging sojourn through various realms of conflict with a reminiscence of Berlin in 1989 when the Wall came down. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2005 by Pieter Uys
4.0 out of 5 stars
Flashes of Brilliant Writing amid Endless Ironies
Peace Kills is a collection of mostly previously published writing by P.J. O'Rourke as he looks at America's progression from a peace keeper under President Clinton to a democracy... Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2005 by Donald Mitchell
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