Holidays in Heck

by P.J. O'Rourke

P.J. O'Rourke is one of today's most celebrated political humorists, and has been hailed as "the funniest writer in America" by both Time and The Wall Street Journal. Two decades ago he published the classic travelogue Holidays in Hell, in which he traversed the globe on a fun-finding mission to what were then some of the most desperate places on the planet, including Warsaw, Managua, and Belfast.In Holidays in Heck, P.J. embarks on supposedly more comfortable and allegedly less dangerous travels--often with family in tow--which mostly leave him wishing he were under artillery fire again. The essays take O'Rourke on a whirlwind of adventures, beginning at the National Mall in Washington, which he describes as having been designed with the same amazing "greatest generation" aesthetic sensibility that informed his parents' living room. We follow him as he takes his family on a ski vacation (to the Aspen of the Midwest--Ohio--where the highest poin

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Travel, Politics, Essays

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Patrick Jake "P. J." O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, writer, and author. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on National Public Radio's game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. Since 2011 O'Rourke has been a columnist at The Daily Beast. In the United Kingdom, he is known as the face of a long-running series of television advertisements for British Airways in the 1990s.

He is the author of 20 books, of which his latest, The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn’t My Fault) (And I’ll Never Do It Again), was released January 2014. This was preceded on September 21, 2010, by Don't Vote! – It Just Encourages the Bastards, and on September 1, 2009, Driving Like Crazy with a reprint edition published on May 11, 2010. According to a 60 Minutes profile, he is also the most quoted living man in The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations.

Reviews

[Melissa McShane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read 7/29/2025: Having read and complained about Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent, I thought, what if my complaint is that Bryson and I are culturally somewhat at odds? I happened to have this book available, in which P.J. O'Rourke covers some of the same territory Bryson does. So I figured I could read this one again and see if I felt ol' P.J. was equally sharp-tongued.

He kind of is, and I think I proved my hypothesis: I'm more aligned with O'Rourke when it comes to culture (i.e. the kind of things/people I find ridiculous) and when he let out a zinger, mostly it didn't bug me. So I've learned something about myself. Go me!

Read 11/18/2021: This just lacked the sparkle and energy of O'Rourke's earlier books, with the exception of his account of a horse-riding adventure in Kyrgyzstan, which I found utterly hilarious and worth the purchase of the whole book. I think, now that he's retired (mostly) and isn't traveling to terrible parts of the world, he's stretching for material. I suggest All The Trouble In The World: The Lighter Side Of Overpopulation, Famine, Plague, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, And Poverty instead, especially the chapter on his trip up the Amazon.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m generally a P.J. O’Rourke fan, and I have enjoyed many of his books, my favorites being Eat the Rich and All the Trouble in the World, but Holidays in Heck was a bit of a disappointment. The book just wasn’t as funny as most of his other works. I chuckled here and there, but it dragged in too many parts. I did get an entertaining conversation out of my eight-year-old daughter, however, when she saw me reading this book. (Daughter: Mom, you shouldn’t be reading that in front of me! Me: Why? Daughter: Because it has a bad word. Me: Not that bad. Daughter: But heck means ** glancing with caution at younger brother ** H-E-L-L. Me: It’s a euphemism for that, yes. Daughter: What the heck?) Now, this anecdote is amusing to me and anyone who knows my daughter, and maybe to someone with a similar aged child his or herself, but imagine if I tried to write an entire book with anecdotes like this, interspersed between only moderately funny political polemics and barely interesting travelogues, and you’d have something like Holidays in Heck. It definitely had its moments, but they were too few and too far apart.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when you take a retired war correspondent and get him to write a book about vacations?

You get one of the best fish-out-of-water books I've read in a long time.

Funny, thought provoking, and cringe inducing in equal measures.

Extremely enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

[Terry Levenberg]

I hated every one of the first ten pages of this and cannot continue. I think that Holidays in hell was the last time he was truly funny.

[Nancy Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny audiobook. P.J. O'Rourke is great to listen to in the car. Kept me laughing.

[Alison Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a long-teim PJ O'Rourke fan. Age, a health scare, marriage and 3 kids has mellowed him - a little. PJ travels with the family - and these accounts are very funny; he also does some solo trips. I skimmed through some of the chapter. One of my faves was titled "Sweet & Sour Children and Twice Fried Parents" a chapter on the O'Rourkes in Hong Kong.

[Margaret Heller · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few good chapters, but a lot of this is travel for rich people, which can be interesting. Not so much with a tone of Republican snideness. And the religious pieties were way overblown for my taste.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best but still good kids is kids

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not even finished this book yet (and I'm unsure whether I will even do it), but I have to take three stars away from my dear friend P. J. O'Rourke. I loved "Holidays in Hell." It's one of the funniest books I've ever read and as a journalist (although I never even came close to the war sceneries and gang territories he describes) it feels quite familiar. So I had very high hopes for this one. Sadly, they were not fulfilled. I have read about five of the stories so far and they are dull, slow, and very political. Too political for my taste, especially because O'Rourke is republican (which I was not aware of when reading "Holidays in Hell"). He walks on mined territory by talking about things like abortion and his endorsement of wars and weapons. But even my political differences with the author taken aside, this book does not even come close to the genius of its predecessor. If you'd like to read stories about him going skiing in Ohio with his wife and kids and visiting war monuments and airplanes, you might like this one. I, however, was hoping for a continuation of the first part of the series and was bitterly disappointed.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

While cruising the library shelves [at my age that's about the only thing left to cruise!] this one grabbed my attention. I believe it was the word Holidays along with a family crammed in a car shouting vacation coming!

The first book I've read by this author I found his humor funny and sarcastic [reminds me of my family and friends!]. There are a few family vacations but many were solo holidays [how can anyone leave time without the entire family in tow?]. I did not find this a quick read even at 265 pages because in order to understand some of his humor I actually had to read some paragraphs twice and certainly couldn't use any of my speed reading skills.

Some chapters were funny [laugh at loud] and some were boring. I certainly enjoyed the family vacations more because I could identify with them, but his trip to Kyrgyzstan was hilarious. I will have to check out his Holidays in Hell book since I see most reviewers loved it and didn't care for this one [of course, they all seemed to be against his political party]. In this book he was a brave man and owned up to being a Republican!

[Curtis Edmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

When baseball salaries started to rise through the stratosphere, somebody thought to ask Mickey Mantle how much he'd make if he were playing now. He guessed that he'd make a million dollars a year, maybe two. The questioner pointed out that the best players were making many multiples of that per year. Mantle supposedly responded that, well, you gotta remember, I'm sixty-five years old.

It is simply a fact that "Holidays in Heck" is not as funny as "Holidays in Hell," in the same way that it is a fact that I am not as good of a baseball player as Mickey Mantle, and he's dead. Part of it is that O'Rourke is older now (a fact that he repeats several times), which does not dim the quality of his writing but limits him to going to more sedate places like an Ohio ski facility rather than the teeming streets of war-torn Damascus. Part of it is that the world is a less funny place. But, really, "Holidays in Hell" is just so utterly superior that any similar collection--even by the master himself--pales in comparison.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Holidays in Hell" is one of my favorite books, it made me laugh so hard I cried, and I was expecting some of the same stuff here. I guess age and fatherhood have smoothed O'Rourke's edges. The first chapter, about a Republican cruise of the Galapagos, was unimpressive aside from the revulsion I felt at the passengers' being more interested in clever quips than in the natural wonder they'd come to see. In this book, O'Rourke mixes solo trips with family trips, and he does a passable job of not making the book a sick-making Daddy, Mommy and Kiddies Go To... wherever, but the chapters just don't have much on the way of substance. I'd have much preferred a Former Snarky Foreign Correspondent, Mommy and Kiddies Go To...wherever. It's like he's well aware that his wife and kids will be reading the book and paying special attention to what he says about them, so he's tiptoeing around everything. Yeah, I know people change, but this book was almost a waste of time.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first P.J. O'Rourke experience. I expected a humorous travel narrative, but got a series of magazine assignments he's written over the past decade that took him to England, Asia and Afghanistan. A few of the essays covered family vacations in Ohio, Hong Kong, and Disney World. The assortment included his personal experience with cancer treatment.

Being pretty much the opposite of the author in lifestyle, gender, religious beliefs, and political affiliation, I was relying on his humor to win me over, which it did in the Acknowledgments section at the beginning of the book. I skimmed many of the succeeding chapters, however, which were much less humorous. His recounting of experiences involving his family were amusing; the cancer essay was funny and poignant.

Although he's obviously not my cup of tea, I would recommend this book at my library to conservative-leaning engineers and business executives.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, how does a former war correspondent learn to vacation when there is now a crew of significant others to cart along? Can said significant others safely go to the same haunts as their father did during war years? What's it like to go horse riding in Kyrgyzstan (and does that count as a vacation or 'life adventure')? Cancer treatment as a vacation? Answers (and humorous ones at that) are found in this tome from P.J. O'Rourke.

While the open mouthed guffaws may have been a bit far between, the chuckles abounded. This is a book that I easily enjoyed in small doses - reading a chapter here and there - finally finishing the book in about 4-5 months. I was in no rush - just enjoying the wit of the author and his crusty take on what constitutes a vacation.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Holidays in Heck, P.J. O'Rourke-- humorist, journalist, and political writer-- hovers between writing a travelogue and humor book and doesn't quite succeed in either.

Split in to essays covering stories of trips to China, the Galapagos Islands, and Ohio, among others,O'Rourke shares the perils of travel, often focusing on travel with family.

Though O'Rourke's essays are tinged with his right-leaning political views, they only become overbearing and potentially offensive in the essay discussing the 2008 presidential election. However, Holidays in Heck contains neither enough useful information for those looking to travel nor enough jokes for those looking to laugh.

[PopcornReads - MkNoah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In case you aren’t familiar with him, O’Rourke is a bestselling author who is best known as a political humorist. I really like his very dry sense of humor, so I enjoyed Holidays in Heck. This collection is, for the most part, about his family although politics can’t help but seep into his stories. He is still a curmudgeon – if anything, even more than when he wrote Holidays in Hell a couple of decades ago. His tongue in cheek style could be easily misinterpreted by anyone who isn’t used to his incredibly dry humor, which ranks right up there with Andy Rooney’s. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=2255.

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Former war correspondent P.J. O’Rourke, tired and too old for danger, takes on a series of supposedly safer, more comfortable journeys. This time he has his family, including his children with him. His journeys include our nation’s capital, skiing in Ohio, and a horseback trek in Kyrgystan.

O’Rourke is funny. I found the book entertaining, for the most part, especially his interactions with the “communist business capitalists.” (This is my term). If there is a fault to this work, it is the over-coverage of his children. They were funny at the beginning, but became repetitious as the book went along. I prefer his works done in the third person.

[John Orman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not some of PJ's most hilarious work, but passable. This is a followup to the political humorist's "Holidays in Hell."
The travels this time include Kabul, Hong Kong, and the Galapagos.
He makes light of both modern and prehistoric residents of North America while visiting the "Ancient Americans" exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago.
He takes a more serious bent when visiting the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C.
He recounts an old visit as a 10 year old to the House of the Future and TomorrowLand at Disneyland.
That essay is subtitled the "Decline and Fall of Tomorrow," so I think he does not believe that promised land of the future predicted by Walt Disney has been achieved.

[Richard Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It lacks the oomph that comes with reporting from war zones, but PJ is still one of the sharpest journalists alive.

This book doesn't quite have the political edge of most of his writing, but there are still some sharp and subtle observations going on - he skewers the politically correct leanings (and rewritten history) of museums and declares the awesome might of a US Aircraft carrier to be the embodiment of why John McCain should have become President.

A more sombre, but still funny, chapter on his experience with cancer ("Teddy Kennedy got cancer of the brain, I got cancer of the ass") rounds this collection off.

[Paul McBride · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as Holidays in Hell, I think P J is getting bored, or his priorities have certainly changed with a wife and 3 kids. There is barely any material to get under the skin of liberals, environmentalists, or Europeans, which is too bad, because that is what made his previous books so entertaining. If you like P J then there is probably enough in this book to warrant reading it. If this is your first P.J. O Rourke book, read Holidays In Hell, Parliament Of Whores, or All The Trouble In The World.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of travel essays. Some were pleasant to read, others were marred by the author's attempt at conservative humor. They were more interesting when he stuck to observations about travelling with his children (the ski vacation in Ohio), or his trips to China and the Three Gorges Dam. Less interesting when there was some political point he had to make. Why, for example, did the essay about the awe and wonder of how an aircraft carrier works, need to be a jab at Pres. Obama? Not sure. Anyway, passed the time while I was on the train.

[Bruce Reiter · Rating 1 out of 5]

The chapters on travels to China including Hong Kong and to Kyrgyzstan were interesting. His neocon world view is unjustifiable in terms of economics and blood. His descriptions of the lake activities while being treated for cancer are in the style of Kuralt. If this book was a best seller as claimed on the price tag, I would have to say that it was purchased and rated because of past glories rather than as a serious or introspective piece.

[Maryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually one to pick up a volume of political essays, though I've been fond of O'Rourke's writing since an ex introduced me to it. This collection has sufficient non-political travel tales that non-political junkies can also enjoy it (though they may say "huh?" at some political references and have to turn to Google to get a joke or two). I like the family stories, the travel stories, and the general humor of the book.

[Jesse Broussard · Rating 4 out of 5]

O'Rourke at his flippant finest. Dealing with the four seasons (dove, ducks, deer and quail), life and death, skiing and anything else he felt like writing about, the book is a delight.

He also tips his hat to Humboldt, and I accept the wry criticism as entirely too accurate, but short on weed. "Here is the lizard version of moving to Humboldt County, California, growing your own vegetables, and weaving your clothes from hemp."

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many of these types of books, there are good chapters and uninteresting chapters. I am learning that I can skip the ones that don't interest me and still read the ones that do. The essay on the Airbus planes was fascinating--knowing that the "life-like" wing material was made just down the road at my favorite aluminum company added to the story.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isnt the kind of book that I normally read, but having received a copy of this I thought I would give it a go. I surprised myself to find that I really did enjoy it. One or two of the places mentioned in the book I had previously visited and there was lots of interesting facts, that I didnt know about them, so it made it a very interesting read

[Terri R · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find O'Rourke an intelligent and witty Republican, except when he talks too much politics. He only did that a couple times in this book of essays, about short trips written over a three year period. My favorites were about a ski resort and a horse trek in Kyrgyzstan. He calls his kids Muffin, Poppet, and Buster.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

PJ O'Rourke is the only designated Republican that I'll read. I've always enjoyed his books. Loved Eat the Rich and a couple of others. This book, while entertaining, did not have the same sense of style as some of his older titles. He is, though, still fun to read.

[Hardeep · Rating 3 out of 5]

PJ O'Rourke is entertaining as ever. This is a collection of his essays- some funnier than others. At times I have a bit of difficulty looking past his very overt right / republican views, but he's humorous!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

P.J. O'Rourke is one of the best humorous authors working today. I will read anything he writes and laugh. These accounts of places you mostly won't want to go to will keep you chuckling the entire time.