Oh, how I adore P.J. O'Rourke. Biting political satire, but not petty. A few of my favorite quotes: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." "The Democratic platform was pure whining brat: "Like, full employment is sooooo and I hate having a big navy and you promised a drug-free America and I want my free drugs now." ( )

(Alistair) It is said that Bertrand Russell used to keep a copy of Voltaire's writings on his bookshelf next to the Bible. "Poison and antidote", I believe was how he described them - and whether you'd agree or disagree with him as to which is which, I hope you can appreciate the symmetry of the sentiment.

Likewise, I suggest that we place this deliciously funny yet bitingly accurate indictment of government as we practice it in the United States today alongside the standard rah-rah-democracy-and-government textbook in every civics classroom across the land. And then teach them both together, point and counterpoint.

Poison... and antidote.

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

P J O'Rourke is a brilliant satirist, and a sneakily smart commentator on all manner of subjects. But he has never been better than in Parliament of Whores, his takedown of the US Government.

You may fear that taking aim at a target so big, so bloated, so unmissable will lead to puffery, but P J attacks with enraged, spittle-flecked, venomous joy, never missing the opportunity to clamp down on the telling details, to skewer the vulnerable gaps in the great sheets of protective blubber that insulate politicians, bureaucrats and government departments from ordinary taxpayers' assaults.

It's all good, but my favorite chapter is the truly surreal report from the 1989 Housing Now! March on Washington DC. The chapter on the USA's agricultural policy is also spectacular.

And don't worry about the book's age: government never gets better, it just gets bigger, so Parliament of Whores is never more apposite than it is today. ( )

Reading this book a decade and a half after it was written, it is interesting how relevant it still is. Since the book is primarily a send-up of the U.S. government, this is an understandably troubling idea. Although Mr. O'rourke is very self-centered in his writing, he still manages to be interesting and entertaining. ( )