A Cry from the Far Middle
Dispatches from a Divided Land
Published on 15. September 2020
320 pages
978-0-8021-5775-1 (ISBN)
Description
In a time of chaos, the #1
New York Times-bestselling political humorist asks his fellow Americans to take it down a notch.
Is there an upside to being woke (and unable to get back to sleep)? If we license dentists, why don't we license politicians? Is your juicer sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your refrigerator?
The legendary P. J. O'Rourke addresses these questions and more in this hilarious new collection of essays about our nation's propensity for anger and perplexity, which includes such gems as "An Inaugural Address I'd Like to Hear" (Ask not what your country can do for you, ask how I can get the hell out of here) and "Sympathy vs. Empathy," which contemplates whether it's better to hold people's hands or bust into their heads. Also included is a handy quiz to find out where you stand on the Coastals-vs.-Heartlanders spectrum. From the author of Parliament of Whores, None of My Business, and other modern classics, this is a smart look at the current state of these United States, and a plea to everyone to take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy a few good laughs.
"To say that P.J. O'Rourke is funny is like saying the Rocky Mountains are scenic-accurate but insufficient." - Chicago Tribune
"The funniest writer in America." - The Wall Street Journal
Is there an upside to being woke (and unable to get back to sleep)? If we license dentists, why don't we license politicians? Is your juicer sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your refrigerator?
The legendary P. J. O'Rourke addresses these questions and more in this hilarious new collection of essays about our nation's propensity for anger and perplexity, which includes such gems as "An Inaugural Address I'd Like to Hear" (Ask not what your country can do for you, ask how I can get the hell out of here) and "Sympathy vs. Empathy," which contemplates whether it's better to hold people's hands or bust into their heads. Also included is a handy quiz to find out where you stand on the Coastals-vs.-Heartlanders spectrum. From the author of Parliament of Whores, None of My Business, and other modern classics, this is a smart look at the current state of these United States, and a plea to everyone to take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy a few good laughs.
"To say that P.J. O'Rourke is funny is like saying the Rocky Mountains are scenic-accurate but insufficient." - Chicago Tribune
"The funniest writer in America." - The Wall Street Journal
More details
Person
P. J. O'Rourke has written nineteen books on subjects as diverse as politics and cars and etiquette and economics. Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. He is a regular panelist on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me and a contributing writer for the Washington Post editorial page. He lives in rural New England, as far away from the things he writes about as he can get.
Content
- Intro
- A Cry from the Far Middle
- Also by P. J. O'Rourke
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Pre-Preface: As We Go to Press . . .
- Preface: Manifesto For Extreme Moderation
- Introduction: O Beautiful for . . . Pilgrim Feet?
- One Nation-Divided As Hell
- Coastals vs. Heartlanders
- Goodbye to Classical Liberalism . . .
- Big Fat Politics
- But Thank You Anyway, Partisan Politicans
- Robin Hood Arithmetic
- On the Other Hand . . . Just Give Them the Money
- It's Time to Make Rich People Uncomfortable Again
- Negative Rights vs. Positive Rights
- Sympathy vs. Empathy
- Patriotism vs. Nationalism
- Big Brother (and Everyone Else) Is Watching You
- Whose Bright Idea Was It to Make Sure That Every Idiot in the World Was in Touch with Every Other Idiot?
- A Brief Historical Digression on How Communication Has Devolved
- And While I'm Ranting Against the Digital Age Let Me Not Forget to Excoriate an Aspect of Social Media that Lacks Even Sociability . . .
- On the Fresh Hell of the Internet of Things
- Lessons in Fake News from Two Old Masters of the Form
- Woke to the Sound of Laughter
- Why Kids R Commies
- Knowing Write from Left
- Educating My Kids
- My Own Lousy Education
- What We Can Learn from the Sixties Drug Culture
- Can the Government Be Run Like a Business?
- Two, Four, Six, Eight Who Do We Appreciate . . . The Electoral College!
- Is a Reasonable, Sensible, Moderate Foreign Policy Even Possible?
- The Inaugural Address I'd Like To Hear the President-Whoever It May Be-Deliver
- My Own Personal Fantasy League Presidential Election
- A License to Drive (Me Crazy)
- The Founding Fathers Have Some Words With Us
- What I Like About U.(S.A.)
- Acknowledgments
- Back Cover
