Product Description

In this latest collection of adventures, P. J. O'Rourke casts his mordant eye on America's recent forays into warfare. Imperialism has never been more fun. O'Rourke first travels to Kosovo, where he meets KLA veterans, Albanian refugees and peacekeepers, and confronts the paradox of 'the war that warhaters love to love'. He visits Egypt, Israel and Kuwait, where he witnesses citizens enjoying their newfound freedoms - namely, to shop, to eat and to sit around a lot. Following 11 September, O'Rourke examines the far-reaching changes in the US, from the absurd hassles of airport security; to the dangers of anthrax. In Iraq, he witnesses both the beginning and the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and takes a tour of a presidential palace, concluding that the war was justified for at least one reason: criminal interior decorating. Peace Kills is an eye-opening look at a world much changed since O'Rourke wrote his bestselling Give War a Chance in which he declared the most troubling aspect of war is sometimes peace itself. P. J. O'Rourke is the bestselling author of ten books, including Eat the Rich, Give War a Chance, Holidays in Hell and The CEO of the Sofa. He is a regular correspondent for the Atlantic magazine.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #448302 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
"'The first thing you learn about P. J. O'Rourke is this: he cannot turn off his mirth valve. Such is the severity of P. J.'s condition that the only person to have more entries in The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations is Oscar Wilde. This makes O'Rourke either the funniest man alive, or the wittiest heterosexual of all time' Mail on Sunday"

Irreverent and acerbic wit from American humourist O'Rourke, who turns his attention to US imperialist adventures. Much of the book is dedicated to Kuwait and Iraq but O'Rourke's cynical eye also roves over Kosovo, Israel and Egypt, and pauses over America's reaction to the horrors of 9/11. The chapters are at times laugh-out-loud comical, but mostly O'Rourke's humour is downstated although he never misses the opportunity to poke fun - even at himself. He admits that at the start of the Gulf War he was meant to be on the scene as hostilities broke out, but he fell asleep and his wife had to wake him up with news that the bombs were dropping. In Baghdad he visited a palace and tells readers to forget weapons of mass destruction - Saddam's taste in interior decoration was reason enough to go to war. There is much more in the same vein. Plenty of fun at Uncle Sam's expense. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
I'd found 'Give War a Chance', 'Holiday's in Hell' and 'Eat the Rich' works of genius. Compared to his older work, this one is just sad. If you have any awareness of current events, then don't buy this book.

Poor Product from an Otherwise Fine Writer
Generally, I really like the books of PJ O'Rourke, even if I don't share his world view, but this particular opus is not worth the paper it is written on.

This book just reeks of smugness. The writing is dull, repetitive, neocon drival and contains none of the razor sharp wit and biting critisism of mindless libralism that I rather hoped it would. I don't like to leave a book unfinished (I'm not made of money!), but I turned over the page at the end of the penultimate chapter and left it on the kitchen table after breakfast. Returning at lunchtime, steeled and ready to wade through the last treacle-like chapter, I was not entirely unhappy to discover that the dog had saved me the trouble by eating the book.

Leave this one on the shelf and seek out the excellent "CEO of the Sofa" or "Eat the Rich" by the same author instead.

Maybe he is an annoying git, but a damned witty and perceptive annoying git!
Great, insightful, infuriating series of articles by the Atlantic Monthly correspondent, PJ O'Rourke. O'Rourke's schtick is well known by now- he is a white right wing American who does a great job of travelling the world and pointing out how crazy everyone is.

I don't think anyone could fairly call this arrogant however because of his unique style. You can't even start to dislike him because he has you laughing out loud so often. His chapters on America post-9/11 and Israel are two of the funniest things I read this year bar none. He is obviously a deeply educated and very thoughtful writer and this lands a second punch on the reader; in the moment you stop laughing you realise he has made a really good point. Superb collection of articles. Don't buy it if you are uncomfortable with everyone on the morning train staring at you because you can't stop laughing.