Author Guide · Political Satire
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In May 1991 a book subtitled A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government went to number one on the New York Times list and sold more than 150,000 hardback copies in two months. Its author, P.J. O’Rourke, was the son of an Ohio Buick dealer who had gone from campus hippie to editor-in-chief of National Lampoon to foreign-affairs chief at Rolling Stone, filing from Lebanon, Nicaragua, Somalia and Kuwait. He wrote more than twenty books on politics, war, economics, manners and cars, almost all of them jokes with a libertarian argument underneath, and he died in 2022. This guide covers his 12 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 12 key books · 1983–2020 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
P.J. O’Rourke published 23 books between 1974 and 2020. The best known are Parliament of Whores (1991) and Give War a Chance (1992), both New York Times number ones, plus Holidays in Hell (1988) and Eat the Rich (1998). Start with Parliament of Whores; below you will find which book to pick for his war reporting, his economics and his car writing.
Where to Start with P.J. O’Rourke
If you want his defining book
→ Parliament of Whores (1991) — the whole U.S. government, explained by a libertarian humorist.
If you want his travel and war reporting
→ Holidays in Hell (1988) — 1980s trips to Lebanon, Panama, South Korea and Nicaragua.
If you want economics that makes you laugh
→ Eat the Rich (1998) — why some countries get rich and others do not.
If you want the car writing
→ Driving Like Crazy (2009) — three decades of pieces for Car and Driver and Automobile.
12 P.J. O’Rourke Books, in Order
Modern Manners
His first solo book after the National Lampoon years: a mock etiquette guide, written in the polite voice of a manners book but aimed, as the subtitle says, at rude people. It set the pattern for several later books: the parody of a familiar format with a deliberately outrageous message inside.
Republican Party Reptile
A collection whose title essay names a type: the conservative Republican who likes guns, drugs, fast cars, a sound dollar and a strong military with smart uniforms. It also reprints his 1979 National Lampoon piece “How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink”, alongside work first published in Harper’s and House & Garden.
Holidays in Hell
His 1980s reporting, much of it for Rolling Stone, from places most tourists avoided: Lebanon during the civil war, South Korea during the 1987 elections, Panama under Noriega, Nicaragua during the Contra war, apartheid South Africa and Poland. For contrast he also visits Epcot, the televangelist theme park Heritage USA and the 1987 Reagan–Gorbachev summit.
Parliament of Whores
A tour of the American federal government from a libertarian point of view: the presidency, Congress, the budget, farm subsidies, the welfare system. Built largely from reworked magazine articles, it reached number one on the New York Times list and sold more than 150,000 hardback copies in its first two months. O’Rourke said its main argument was that politics are boring.
Give War a Chance
Dispatches from the end of the Cold War and the 1991 Gulf War, including the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and Kuwait City after the Iraqi retreat, which he said looked as if all the worst rock bands in the world had stayed there at once. It was his second New York Times number one.
All the Trouble in the World
One problem per trip: population in Bangladesh, famine in Somalia, the environment in the Amazon and at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia, poverty in Vietnam. His conclusion is that much of the trouble is caused by politics and that free markets are the better answer.
Eat the Rich
O’Rourke sets out to learn why some countries are rich and others poor. He starts on Wall Street, then travels to Albania after its pyramid-scheme collapse, to Sweden, Cuba, Tanzania and Russia, and ends in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which he holds up as the case for laissez-faire.
The CEO of the Sofa
Twelve chapters under the months of a year, narrated from his own living room with his wife, children and an assistant as recurring characters. From the sofa he takes on the UN, Social Security, the Clintons, cigars, wine tasting and the Venice built in Las Vegas; the last entry is dated August 2001.
Peace Kills
His foreign-policy book after 11 September: trips to Israel and to Egypt during Ramadan 2001, to Kuwait at the start of the 2003 Iraq war and to Iraq itself, a peace march in Washington, and Iwo Jima. It includes an essay on 11 September and draws on Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami on the Middle East.
Driving Like Crazy
Thirty years of car writing for Car and Driver, Automobile and Esquire, from the late 1970s to the start of the Obama years, with races, rallies and road tests from Northern California and Baja to India and Kyrgyzstan. It reprints “How to Drive Fast on Drugs…” and defends the American cars he grew up with.
Don’t Vote!
Written during Barack Obama’s first term, a return to the subject of Parliament of Whores: what government is for, what it can and cannot do, and why voters keep asking it for more. As in his earlier political books, both parties get the jokes.
A Cry from the Far Middle
His last book, published in September 2020 when he was 72. Aimed at both left and right, it argues against populism and partisan anger and proposes what he calls “extreme moderation”. Kirkus found the sarcasm heavier and less effective than in his earlier work.
In What Order to Read P.J. O’Rourke
None of his books continues from another, so you can read by subject: Washington, war and travel, economics, cars or family life. Publication order still shows a shape. The 1980s books are the most outrageous, the early 1990s run of Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance and All the Trouble in the World is where the reporting and the argument are best balanced, and the later books grow more reflective and more worried about the country.
Because most of the books collect magazine pieces, a few essays appear twice; the 1979 drugs-and-driving piece is in both Republican Party Reptile and Driving Like Crazy. Read the political books close to their dates, since the jokes depend on the presidents of the moment.
A reading path
1. Parliament of Whores (1991)
2. Holidays in Hell (1988)
3. Eat the Rich (1998)
4. Peace Kills (2004)
5. A Cry from the Far Middle (2020)
Everything Else P.J. O’Rourke Published
Beyond the 12 key books: 11 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
National Lampoon parodies
2
2 books · 1974–1978
- 1974National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parodyco-written with Doug Kenney
- 1978National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parodyco-written with John Hughes
Collections, humour and later books
9
9 books · 1986–2018
- 1986The Bachelor Home Companiona mock housekeeping guide for single men
- 1995Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircutearlier pieces collected
- 1996The American Spectator’s Enemies Lista humour compilation
- 2007On The Wealth of Nationsa short book on Adam Smith’s 1776 classic
- 2011Holidays in Hecklater travel pieces, a sequel in spirit to Holidays in Hell
- 2014The Baby Boomon his own generation
- 2015Thrown Under the Omnibusa career-spanning reader
- 2017How the Hell Did This Happen?on the 2016 presidential election
- 2018None of My Businesson money and finance
The years · 1947–2022
Quick facts about P.J. O'Rourke
- Known for
- Libertarian political satire built on first-hand reporting, from Washington to war zones, that made him one of the best-selling humorists in America in the 1990s.
- 1947
- Born in Toledo, Ohio
- 1973
- Joins National Lampoon
- 1988
- Holidays in Hell
- 2010
- Don’t Vote!
- 2022
- Dies in Sharon, New Hampshire
- Born
- 14 November 1947, Toledo, Ohio; his father was a car dealer
- Died
- 15 February 2022, Sharon, New Hampshire, of lung cancer, aged 74
- Education
- Miami University (1969); MA in English, Johns Hopkins University
- Worked
- Editor-in-chief of National Lampoon; foreign-affairs desk chief at Rolling Stone until 2001
- Broadcasting
- Panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!; point–counterpoint on 60 Minutes in 1996
- Politics
- Described himself as a libertarian; H.L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute
- Family
- Married Tina Mallon in 1995; three children
The red mark is 1991: Parliament of Whores, his first New York Times number one.
How P.J. O’Rourke Writes: Reporting First, Jokes Second
Most of his books began as magazine reporting. He went to the places he wrote about, Beirut, Mogadishu, Kuwait City, Havana, and the jokes come out of what he saw there: Kuwait City looking as if all the worst rock bands in the world had stayed at once. Time called him “an acerbic master of gonzo journalism”, and he described his own work that way, but unlike Hunter S. Thompson he used the first person mostly to set up a punchline rather than to put himself at the centre.
Underneath the jokes is a consistent libertarian argument: that government is clumsy, that politicians of both parties promise more than they can deliver, and that markets do more for poor countries than aid. He read for it, too. Eat the Rich and All the Trouble in the World mix travel scenes with economists and historians, and Peace Kills leans on Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami.
His other trademark is the parody of a format. Modern Manners is an etiquette book, The Bachelor Home Companion a household guide, Eat the Rich “a treatise on economics” and The CEO of the Sofa a year’s diary. He typed his manuscripts on an IBM Selectric and said a short attention span, not a dislike of technology, kept him off computers.
Watch
P.J. O'Rourke and Andrew Ferguson on Uncommon Knowledge
P.J. O’Rourke and fellow humorist Andrew Ferguson talk with Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge, recorded on 29 April 2020, about COVID-19, their younger years, the 2020 election and the state of journalism. From the official Hoover Institution channel.
Frequently asked questions about P.J. O’Rourke’s books
How many books has P.J. O’Rourke written?
23 under his name, published between 1974 and 2020. Twelve are the key books on this page, from Modern Manners (1983) to A Cry from the Far Middle (2020); the other eleven, including two National Lampoon parodies he co-wrote, are listed below them.
What are P.J. O’Rourke’s books in order?
The key books are Modern Manners (1983), Republican Party Reptile (1987), Holidays in Hell (1988), Parliament of Whores (1991), Give War a Chance (1992), All the Trouble in the World (1994), Eat the Rich (1998), The CEO of the Sofa (2001), Peace Kills (2004), Driving Like Crazy (2009), Don’t Vote! (2010) and A Cry from the Far Middle (2020).
Where should I start with P.J. O’Rourke?
Parliament of Whores (1991), his tour of the U.S. federal government. If you prefer travel and war reporting, start with Holidays in Hell (1988); for economics, Eat the Rich (1998).
What is P.J. O’Rourke’s most famous book?
Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government (1991). It reached number one on the New York Times list and sold more than 150,000 hardback copies in its first two months.
Which P.J. O’Rourke books were bestsellers?
Two reached number one on the New York Times list: Parliament of Whores (1991) and Give War a Chance (1992).
Is P.J. O’Rourke still alive?
No. He died of lung cancer on 15 February 2022 at his home in Sharon, New Hampshire, aged 74. His last book, A Cry from the Far Middle, came out in 2020.
Was P.J. O’Rourke a Republican or a libertarian?
He described himself as a libertarian. A left-wing anti-war student in the 1960s, he moved to libertarian conservatism in the 1970s, wrote Republican Party Reptile in 1987 and was a fellow at the Cato Institute, but he mocked both parties throughout his career.
Why did P.J. O’Rourke endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016?
In 2016 he backed Clinton over Donald Trump, saying she was “wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters”. The endorsement by a long-time Republican was widely reported and debated; he wrote about that election in How the Hell Did This Happen? (2017).
Did P.J. O’Rourke write for National Lampoon?
Yes. He joined National Lampoon in 1973 and became its editor-in-chief. With Doug Kenney he co-wrote the 1964 High School Yearbook Parody (1974), which helped inspire the film Animal House.
Did P.J. O’Rourke write about cars?
Often. The son of an Ohio Buick dealer, he wrote for Car and Driver and Automobile for decades; the best of it is collected in Driving Like Crazy (2009).
Footnotes
- P. J. O’Rourke — Wikipedia
- Parliament of Whores — Wikipedia
- Holidays in Hell — Wikipedia
- P.J. O’Rourke, influential satirist and commentator, dies at 74 — NBC News, 2022
- Eat the Rich — Kirkus Reviews, 1998
- Driving Like Crazy — The Washington Times, 2009
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.”
— P.J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)
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