Product Description

New York Times best-selling author P. J. O'Rourke has toured the fighting in Bosnia, visited the West Bank disguised as P.J. of Arabia, lobbed one-liners on the battlefields of the Gulf War, and traded quips with Communist rebels in the jungles of the Philippines. Now, in The CEO of the Sofa, he embarks on a mission to the most frightening place of all -- his own home. Ensconced on the domestic boardroom's throne (although not supposed to put his feet on its cushions), he faces a three-year-old who wants a cell phone, a free-lance career devoted to writing articles like "Chewing-Mouth Dogs Bring Hope to People with Eating Disorders," and neighbors who smell like Democrats ("That is, using smell as a transitive verb. When I light a cigar they wave their hands in front of their faces and pretend to cough"). Undaunted -- with the help of martinis -- by middle age, P.J. holds forth on everything from getting toddlers to sleep ("Advice to parents whose kids love the story of the dinosaurs: Don't give away the surprise ending") to why Hillary Clinton's election victory was a good thing ("We Republicans were almost out of people to hate in the Senate. Teddy Kennedy is just too old and fat to pick on"). And P.J. leaps (well, groans and pushes himself up) from the couch to pursue assignments such as a high-speed drive across the ugliest part of India at the hottest time of the year, a blind (drunk) wine tasting with Christopher Buckley, and a sojourn at the U.N. Millennial Summit, where he runs the risk of perishing from boredom and puts readers in peril of laughing themselves to death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1678526 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .73 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Not content to rest on his laurels, the bestselling humorist O'Rourke (All the Trouble in the World, etc.) instead settles back on his caustic couch to offer a wide-angled worldview from his own living room, his salon of sarcasm. He introduces readers to his assistant, friends, family and smart-aleck babysitter, as he reflects on such topics as cell phones ("People are willing to interrupt anything, including hiding under the bed, to answer a cell phone"), Christmas catalogues, Instant Messaging, MP3s, Nasdaq, toddlers, TV and how the "Gettysburg Address" would have turned out if written on an iMac. On a serious note, he praises the "philosophical legerdemain" of Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He also reviews the "profound cogitations" of Hillary Clinton's 1995 It Takes a Village ("Some kinds of stupidity cannot be faked"), compares Vegas's Venetian resort to the real Venice ("Will video poker ever inspire a novella by Thomas Mann?") and contemplates the results of bias-free language ("What a piece of work is person!"). For "senior-management types," one hilarious chapter explains youth culture and current celebs, including Moby, Eminem, Carson Daly, Hilary Swank and Beck: "Beck dropped out of school after junior high so we can't blame the dot-com mess on him personally." Though his vitriolic wit is couched in humor that elicits the gamut from giggles to guffaws, O'Rourke never cushions its impact. The comedic crescendo is his centerpiece, a summary of mankind's achievements at millennium's end. This insightful (yet also funny) essay alone is worth the price of admission. (Sept.)Forecast: The 150,000 first printing is backed up with an appealing cover photo, a $150,000 promotional budget, a national ad campaign, an 18-city author tour plus online promotion. O'Rourke will undoubtedly find himself on the bestseller list again.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
O'Rourke (Eat the Rich) has come to the fore in the current school of New Journalism that put Hunter Thompson and Tom Wolfe on the literati map. Like or dislike him, one must admit that he has the power to draw the reader into his psychological inferno. His new book crackles with indignation, a lot of it centered on Democrats, liberals, and the Clintons, about whom he writes with such an infusion of malice that it amounts at times almost to rage. In addition to incinerating these evil specimens of humanity, he also does some tub-thumping on such topics as parenting children, wine tasting, Earth Day, and India. The book will prove abundantly entertaining to those who enjoy O'Rourke's attack-dog style of writing and share his views, but it will surely derange the digestion of all others. Unless something cataclysmic happens, the book is likely to find its way to best-sellerdom.
- A. J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Dick Hill makes a great CEO of the Sofa as he breezes through P.J. O'Rourke's rants on everything from parenting to technology to politics. Nothing is safe from O'Rourke's ridicule, and from his vantage point on the conservative couch, he manages to press every liberal button over and over again. Hill reads these essays with gusto, seeming to relish each subject and the casual format. He also seems to suffer O'Rourke's egocentrism and know-it-all attitude, bringing a much needed grounding voice to the essays. Hill makes O'Rourke's sometimes funny, sometimes irritating opinions and observations easy-to-swallow food for thought, no small task considering O'Rourke's extremist views. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine