Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism - Softcover

O'Rourke, P. J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802141986 ISBN 13: 9780802141989

Publisher: Grove Press, 2005

Synopsis

With his latest national best seller, Peace Kills, P.J. O'Rourke casts his ever-shrewd and mordant eye on America's latest adventures in warfare. Imperialism has never been more fun.
To unravel the mysteries of war, O'Rourke first visits Kosovo: "Wherever there's injustice, oppression, and suffering, America will show up six months later and bomb the country next to where it's happening." He travels to Israel at the outbreak of the intifada. He flies to Egypt in the wake of the 9/11 terrorists' attacks and contemplates bygone lunacies. "Why are the people in the Middle East so crazy? Here, at the pyramids, was an answer from the earliest days of civilization: People have always been crazy." He covers the demonstrations and the denunciations of war. "A moral compass needle needs a butt end. Wherever direction France is pointing-toward collaboration with Nazis, accommodation with communists, existentialism, Jerry Lewis, or a UN resolution veto-we can go the other way with a quiet conscience." Finally he arrives in Baghdad with the U.S. Army and, standing in one of Saddam's palaces, decides, "If a reason for invading Iraq was needed, felony interior decorating would have sufficed."

About this title

About the Author:

P. J. O’Rourke is the author of twelve books, including Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance, both of which were #1 New York Times best sellers. His most recent book is the best seller On the Wealth of Nations.

From AudioFile:

P.J. O'Rourke puts the "cur" in "curmudgeon," which is to say that he's dogged in his insistence in the futility of most human efforts. This brilliant encyclopedia of comic irony takes us from Kosovo to Iraq, and finally to Iwo Jima, where in each case we are reminded that the service of higher ideals leaves us with a still imperfect world. Dick Hill's musky reading summons the whisky-tinged professorial presence of the author in conveying the underlying warmth of a disillusioned idealist. Peace kills, but in the meantime we can enjoy the bittersweet music of this human voice. J.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0802141986
• ISBN 13: 9780802141989
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224