The CEO of the Sofa

The humorist-author of Eat the Rich shares his iconoclastic observations and advice on the mysteries of modern life as he takes on a three year old who wants a cell phone, Democratic neighbors, a freelance writing career, Hillary Clinton, the legalization of drugs, women, kids, and more. 150,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo.

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.

Radical-turned-Republican O'Rourke has settled down. No longer chasing adventure in war zones and corruption-plagued Third World countries, the humorist whose journalistic shenanigans have produced several best-sellers has a new beat: his living room. O'Rourke's reportage has always been highly personal, but now his wife, children, assistant Max, godson Nick, Nick's sister Ophelia, a baby-sitter, and assorted unnamed neighbors (some Democrats!) have speaking (or listening) parts. Not that O'Rourke has sworn off traveling altogether: he goes to New York to mock the United Nations Millennial Summit; compares Venice to Las Vegas' new Venetian resort; and, for the benefit of a rebellious Ophelia, recounts the sad tale of his 1998 trip to India. (He and Christopher Buckley also conduct a most peculiar wine tasting.) For the most part, however, these are O'Rourke's musings on the New Economy, parenthood, "bias-free writing," the presidential election, toddlers, the twentieth century, celebrities, and driving. O'Rourke takes the potshots his readers will expect at liberals and Democrats in general and such usual suspects as Gore, Daschle, and the Clintons, particularly Hillary. But life competes with politics here for the laughs, and life usually wins. Mary Carroll
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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.