P. J. O'Rourke
From Wikinfo
Patrick Jake O'Rourke (born November 14, 1947) is an American political satirist, journalist, and writer.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, and educated at Miami University (Ohio) and Johns Hopkins University, O'Rourke wrote for several publications before joining National Lampoon in 1973. A self-confessed hippie during his student days, he underwent a damascene conversion during the 1970s, emerging as a political observer and humorist with a distinct conservative (and anti-liberal) viewpoint.
He went freelance in 1981, producing work for magazines including Playboy, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. He is a proponent of gonzo journalism, his master-work in this genre being 1987's "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink". In 1987 his second book Republican Party Reptile (1986) became a bestseller, and he has since written nine more books (to CEO of the Sofa (2001). As the title Republican Party Reptile implies, his economic and geopolitical views are notably right-wing (a relatively rare trait among comedic writers), but his liberal views on sex and drugs would fit uncomfortably with many of his economic fellow-travellers, which seems to imply O'Rourke would better be described as a libertarian. O'Rourke has, in fact, sarcastically proposed two other American political parties: one to cater those with his peculiar mixture of views, and another for those who hold the opposite mixture.
His other books are The Bachelor Home Companion (1987), Holidays in Hell (1988), Parliament of Whores (1991), Give War a Chance (1992), All the Trouble in the World (1994), Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut (1995), The American Spectator's Enemies List (1996), Eat the Rich, and Peace Kills : America's Fun New Imperialism (2004) ISBN 0871139197.
He is currently the foreign-affairs desk chief for Rolling Stone magazine, and occasionally appears on National Public Radio's radio game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
External link
- P. J. O'Rourke Home Page
- Wikiquote - Quotes by P. J. O'Rourke
- The Onion A.V. Club interviews P.J. O'Rourke
- LibertyGuide.com profile
- O'Rourke's The Liberty Manifesto
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "P._J._O'Rourke" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._O%27Rourke, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
