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P. J. O'Rourke

Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government Paperback – January 7, 2003

by P. J. O'Rourke (Author), Andrew Ferguson (Foreword)

126 customer reviews

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Called "an everyman's guide to Washington" (The New York Times), P. J. O'Rourke's savagely funny and national best-seller Parliament of Whores has become a classic in understanding the workings of the American political system. Originally written at the end of the Reagan era, this new edition includes an extensive foreword by the renowned political writer Andrew Ferguson -- showing us that although the names and the players have changed, the game is still the same. Parliament of Whores is an exuberant, broken-field run through the ethical foibles, pork-barrel flimflam, and bureaucratic bullrorfle inside the Beltway that leaves no sacred cow unskewered and no politically correct sensitivities unscorched. "Highly pungent and wickedly accurate observations ... [from a] boisterous, pedal-to-the-floor humorist." -- The New York Times Book Review "Outrageous ... It is insulting, inflammatory, profane, and absolutely great reading." -- The Washington Post Book World "A gonzo civics book ... O'Rourke is like a trophy hunter let loose in an unguarded zoo." -- Chicago Tribune

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Product details

Series: O'Rourke, P. J.
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Grove Press (January 7, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802139701
ISBN-13: 978-0802139702
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 126 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #549 in Political Humor (Books)
- #690 in Civics & Citizenship
- #949 in General Elections & Political Process

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James W. Fitch

REQUIRED READING FOR FRUSTRATED CITIZENS

October 11, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I should have read this excellent book years ago. It made me realize how
clueless I've been for many years about how corrupt our republic has become.
The author's sharp wit and breezy style are just frosting on the cake.
The subject matter is deadly serious and the author has done an impressive
amount of study, research, travel and interviews with informed people.

This is a serious study and analysis of how far we have migrated from
the intentions of the admirable founders of our nation, and the extent of
our modern failures. I wish he would write another serious book that
brings us up to the present disastrous situation, and the dilemma of a
presidential election with no acceptable candidate on the ballot.

James Fitch
Renton, WA

8 people found this helpful

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Brian McKinny

Definitely one of the best political and humorous writers of the 21st Century

June 28, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

P.J. O'Rourke is the master of political satirical commentary. His writing will make you laugh, make you angry, and may even make a liberal change their mind... Definitely one of the best political and humorous writers of the 21st Century, and I highly recommend this book, or anything else he has written over his illustrious career. One of my favorite authors.

4 people found this helpful

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NC actuary

Outdated conservative ranting

November 13, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While he makes many valid points, on some things he is just dead wrong. The chapter on Social Security is so full of nonsense that it wouldn't even burn. I could claim, if I had his platform, that tax benefits to Wall street would pay off all the mortgages in the country and still have money left over.
To be fair, his screed about the insane depth of regulation is spot on. Lots of money to be saved by eliminating lots of government agencies that exist just because.

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Gary Kaempfer

O'Rrourke tries to be Dave Barry funny and he is not

August 31, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

O'Rrourke tries to be Dave Barry funny and he is not. Politics can be funny at times but he tries to lighten each and every chapter with humor and he sort of fails here. He does take some solid positions and it is worth the read, but try to ignore the humor and sometimes you get lost as to where he is going. He is more savvy than most when it comes to politics but this book just falls a little short.

2 people found this helpful

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Skypilot

You'll find out why God is a Republican and Santa is a Democrat.

February 4, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

No other cultural or political humorist can make a serious and penetrating point as hilariously as P.J. O'Rourke. He comes across to me like a lapsed altar boy who dips into the sauce a bit too much and would rather admit it with a smile than repent. In Parliament of Whores, his opening essay about the differences between God and Santa Claus is worth twice the price of this book.

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Woodworker

Humor Based on Truth

March 25, 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really enjoyed the funny descriptions and views of how our government doesn't work. Many facts are embellished but the ideas are humorously supported. Although written in the early 1990s it applies to today. I reccomend the book for everyone, especially those who remember the late 1980s.

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G.E.Goodwin, Jr.

Suspicions Confirmed.

May 5, 2005

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you have ever thought to yourself, "Is Washington DC full of nothing but posturing idiots?", along comes P.J. O'Rourke to say "Well, Duh....". Armed with a factual knowledge of how DC dysfunctions and leavened with keen wit, O'Rourke takes us on a tour of the institutions of our Government, from the Congress to the the White House, through the Bureaucracies and various sinkholes of incompetence, hypocrisy, venality and just plain stupidity, and provides delicious humor while dissecting this "Confederacy of Dunces".

He also makes it abundantly clear that the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars (or our leaders) but in ourselves. We want it all, but we don't want to pay for it.

Using the apt phrase, the arch observation, the deadly accurate thrust of wit to puncture the balloons of buffoonery he finds built into our system and the people who bungle and abuse it, he actually presents a factually serious account of what goes wrong and why it continues to go wrong. He just can't help doing so without a large dose of insightful and wicked humor. Written back in the days of Bush Senior, before 9/11, it really would be overwhelmingly depressing how little things have changed and how the DC Band Plays On no matter what, if you didn't find the horse laugh in it all.

You will never listen to a budget battle, or the justification for a farm bill, or just about any other pose or posture taken by our fearless leaders again without a smile on your face. Of course we, the public, continue to fund and support this nonsense so we have no one but ourselves to blame.

The Republic has been beset by fools, incompetents, liars, cheats, morons and pompous asses from its inception. Luckily for us, it has also always had its cynical observers, ready with the stilleto of reason and common sense to jab, torment, mock and debunk the participants in this carnival of clowns. P.J. O'Rourke takes his place in that long pantheon of wits from Henry Adams and Mark Twain, to H.L. Mencken, Will Rogers, Mort Sahl and the rest, who took great joy in pulling down Washington DC's collective pants while sounding a loud Bronx cheer. And that razzberry may be the clarion call that says, yes, we just might survive it all, one more time.

13 people found this helpful

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Randolph

Entertaining and spot on analysis of what is insane about ...

December 18, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Entertaining and spot on analysis of what is insane about our way of governing and how it has become something much different than originally intended to be.

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