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Loading... The CEO of the Sofa (2001)by P. J. O'Rourke
None. Amusing bits, but not one of his best  nordie | Jul 18, 2011 |  I love P J O'Rourke's work, but if you're looking to try out one of his books, this is perhaps not the place to start. Eschewing the ordinary, straightforward compendium-of-columns/articles format, O'Rourke tries to weave together work he's already done for magazines by aping Oliver Wendell Holmes's The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, i.e. joining the discrete pieces with talky, discursive transitions. Doesn't work. The added bits are turgid and uncharacteristic of O'Rourke's voice; I wondered at a couple of points if an unwitting editorial assistant had been assigned to write them. I ended up skimming over these transitional bits to get to the content that O'Rourke himself had obviously prepared for other sources; these parts, as usual, were excellent. There's plenty of fun here; highlights include a merciless and revealing look inside the United Nation's day-to-day idiocies, P J's trip to India, some acidic takedowns of the Clintons, especially Hillary, and general fun with politics and celebrities. Oh, and his review of the so-called Guide to Bias-free Writing for university students is stellar. So overall The CEO of the Sofa is still good fun, but it's down the list of O'Rourke's best work. (  ) mrtall | Apr 5, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 080213940X, Paperback)New York Times best-selling author P. J. O'Rourke lobbed one-liners on the battlefields of the Gulf War, traded quips with communist rebels in the jungles of the Philippines, and went undercover at the Dome of the Rock Mosque as P.J. of Arabia. Now, in his most challenging adventure, he journeys to the heart of that truly harrowing place -- his living room. The CEO of the Sofa follows America's preeminent political humorist through a year on the domestic front as he covers stories (and visits watering holes) close to home. He waxes cynical over the election of Hillary Clinton. He waxes nostalgic over learning to drive. He waxes poetic as he adds happy endings for liberals to famous tragedies. Now if he would just wax the kitchen floor. And P.J. does still get off the couch and embark on exotic adventures -- to the magical land of India, to the U.N. Millennial Summit, to a blind (drunk) wine tasting with Christopher Buckley, and, most exotical of all, to a Motel 6 where he has twenty-eight channels and a bathroom to himself. In The CEO of the Sofa, P.J. tackles everything and the kitchen sink, fighting evil, injustice, and absurdity with the gloves off and the oven mitts on. "An entertaining and engaging read." -- Dick Lispey, Associated Press "O'Rourke swings cheerfully into action ... nothing has softened [his] wicked sense of fun." -- Allen D. Boyer, The New York Times Book Review "His fans will love it. Democrats will grit their teeth and laugh to ease the pain." -- Chicago Sun-Times (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:57:49 -0500) The humorist embarks on a dangerous mission to his own home, where he faces toddlers, silly writing assignments, and neighbors who smell like Democrats. |
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