Republican Party Reptile: The Confessions, Adventures, Essays and (Other) Outrages of P.J. O'Rourke

by P. J. O'Rourke

Overview

Writings from the old-school Republican and New York Times–bestselling author of How the Hell Did This Happen?: “Hilarious” (Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking).
 
In this collection of pieces, the outrageous political satirist renowned for such classics as Parliament of Whores takes on a wide range of cultural and political issues, and explains the platform of the Republican Party Reptile: “I think our agenda is clear. We are opposed to: government spending, Kennedy kids, seat-belt laws . . . busing our children anywhere other than Yale, trailer courts near our vacation homes . . . all tiny Third World countries that don’t have banking secrecy laws, aerobics, the UN, taxation without tax loopholes, and jewelry on men. We are in favor of: guns, drugs, fast cars, free love (if our wives don’t find out), a sound dollar . . . and a strong military with spiffy uniforms. There are thousands of people in America who feel this way, especially after three or four drinks. If all of us would unite and work together, we could give this country . . . well, a real bad hangover.”
 
“To say that P. J. O’Rourke is funny is like saying the Rocky Mountains are scenic—accurate but insufficient. At his best he’s downright exhilarating . . . Republican Party Reptile is as rambunctiously entertaining as a greased pig catching contest. If you can find a funnier writer than P. J. O’Rourke, buy him a brandy, but don’t lend him the keys to your pickup.” —Chicago Tribune

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781555847173
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Series:	O'Rourke, P. J.
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
Sales rank:	302,155
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

P. J. O’Rourke has written nineteen books, including Modern Manners, Parliament of Whores, and All the Trouble in the World. He has written for such publications as Car and Driver, Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, Parade, Harper’s Magazine, and Rolling Stone. He is currently editor-in-chief of American Consequences.

Read an Excerpt

Republican Party Reptile

Essays and Outrages

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By P. J. O'Rourke

Grove Atlantic, Inc.

Copyright © 1987 P. J. O'Rourke
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-87113-622-8

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Chapter One

As once anything was excusable in the name of patriotism, now anything is excusable in the name of safety. We will kiss some low place on every dishtowel-head in the Levant rather than have a single breeder reactor on our shores. We will make every lube artist in America learn Japanese rather than produce an enjoyable automobile ... This is treason. America was founded on danger. How many lifeboat drills were held on the Mayflower? Where were the smoke detectors in the Lincoln family cabin? Who checked to see whether Indian war paint was made with Red Dye No. 2? It was the thrilling, vast, wonderful danger of America which drew people here from all over the world-spacious skies filled with blizzards and tornadoes, purpled mountain majesties to fall off, and fruited plains full of snarling animals and armed aborigines. America is a dangerous country. Safety has no place here.

In fact, safety has no place anywhere. Everything that's fun in life is dangerous. Horse races, for instance, are very dangerous. But attempt to design a safe horse and the result is a cow (an appalling animal to watch at the trotters). And everything that isn't fun is dangerous too.... Death was invented so we could have evolution. Theprocess of Darwinian selection does not work on things that don't die. If it weren't for death we would all still be amoebas and would have to eat by surrounding things with our butts.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Republican Party Reptile by P. J. O'Rourke Copyright © 1987 by P. J. O'Rourke. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Apologia Pro Vita Republican Party Reptile Sua,
THINGS OF THE INTELLECT,
A Brief History of Man,
An Intellectual Experiment,
Myths Made Modern,
Tune In, Turn On, Go to the Office Late on Monday,
A Long, Thoughtful Look Back at the Last Fifteen Minutes,
WORLD POLITICS,
Safety Nazis,
Ship of Fools,
Goons, Guns, and Gold,
Just One of Those Days,
MAN AND TRANSPORTATION,
Ferrari Refutes the Decline of the West,
High-Speed Performance Characteristics of Pickup Trucks,
A Cool and Logical Analysis of the Bicycle Menace,
How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink,
MANNERS AND MORES,
Hollywood Etiquette,
Dinner-Table Conversation,
An Alphabet for Schoolboys,
Horrible Protestant Hats,
THE ENDS OF THE EARTH,
In Search of the Cocaine Pirates,
With Hostage and Hijacker in Sunny Beirut,
Moving to New Hampshire,
THE KING OF SANDUSKY, OHIO,

Editorial Reviews

The humorous essays in O'Rourke's first collection originally appeared in publications ranging from Harper's, House and Garden and the Wall Street Journal to National Lampoon. Certainly the title will not appeal to most liberals, and selections like ``How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Having Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink'' will make conservatives frown. Perhaps the audience is limited to the eponymous ``Republican Party Reptiles,'' whom O'Rourke describes in the following terms: ``We look like Republicans, and think like conservatives, but we drive a lot faster and keep vibrators and baby oil and a video camera behind the stack of sweaters on the bedroom closet shelf.'' Those who have previously read and enjoyed the refreshingly funny ``Moving to New Hampshire'' and ``An Intellectual Experiment'' might find the rest of this collection disappointing and pointlessly offensive. (April)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

These 21 ``essays and outrages'' by humorist O'Rourke are certainly wide-ranging, as evidenced by the publications in which they first appeared: National Lampoon (where he was editor during the late Seventies), Rolling Stone , House and Garden , Car and Driver , Harper's , and Wall Street Journal. Of his ``party'' he says, ``We look like Republicans, and think like conservatives, but we drive a lot faster. . . . '' Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, his outlook and presention are usually quite funny (but sometimes a bit too rude). O'Rourke is at his best when covering news of the day, as in ``In Search of the Cocaine Pirates'' and ``Goons, Guns, and Gold,'' and mocking the media, as in ``A Long, Thoughtful Look Back at the Last Fifteen Minutes.'' For most humor collections. Susan Avallone, ``Library Journal''

Library Journal