The Enemies List

by P.J. O'Rourke

Written with the same acerbic wit and infectious humor that has made P. J. O'Rourke one of the most popular political satirists of all time, The Enemies List will keep you howling and his enemies scowling. From Noam Chomsky to Yoko Ono, from Peter, Paul, and Mary (yes, they're still alive) to all the people who think quartz crystals cure herpes, from Ralph Nader to the entire country of Sweden, P. J. O'Rourke has created a roster of the most useless, politically disgraceful, and downright foolish people around. Although a rating system of S=Silly, VS=Very Silly, SML=Shirley MacLaine was ultimately cast aside, the distinguishing feature of the cluster of dunces presented here is silliness, not political subversion. The Enemies List began as an article in the American Spectator and, as readers contributed their own suggestions, quickly grew into a hilarious and slashing commentary on politicians and celebrities alike. Now they have been named, we just need to figure out what to do with them. "To say that P. J. O'Rourke is funny is like saying that the Rocky Mountains are scenic - accurate but insufficient." - Chicago Tribune

Genres: Politics, Humor, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

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

[Mark Edlund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humour
I like O'Rourke's previous books. He has an interesting take on American politics, ageing and liberals. However, this book, not so much. He started a write in campaign with the right wing American Spectator asking for readers to submit a new Enemies list a la Joe McCarthy. And liberals everywhere get creamed. But it is just a list with occasional editorial comments and of many folks I have never heard of. Yet Mike Tyson is on the list?
Canadian references - list from a person in Manitoba; Michael J.Fox, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell are on the lists; list from a Toronto reader has the CBC and the Ontario NDP government.

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this satire, O’Rourke calls for a new McCarthyism. It fell a little short for me for the first few chapters were merely lists of people which became a little cumbersome after a while. In the last third of the book, things picked up, however, when O’Rourke becomes his funny self by expanding some of his “lists”.

[Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Snore.

[Curtiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

P.J. mocks lefties and liberals with a semi-official Enemies List on behalf of my favorite magazine, [The:] American Spectator.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a libertarian in college but thankfully grew out of it.

[Brandon Bellinghausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty, snarky fun.

As always, I would have gotten much more out of this if I were mere 20 years older...

[Kibi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has not aged well

I'm a big fan of P.J. O'Rourke, I've read many of his books multiple times, and I love his style. That said, this book (mainly from the Clinton Era) has not aged particularly well. Possibly my problem was that it referenced mainly US political figures who I have blissfully forgotten, or maybe never knew of.

My feeling, however, is that the basic nature of the book - a list of Liberals (or whatever) to be execrated - relies fairly heavily on the reading audience having the correct gut reaction:

Donna Shalala < rolls eyes >
George Stephanapoulos - OMG...

and I guess I wasn't feeling it.

That said, I got the book on discount, and I've had a little trouble sleeping recently, so it wasn't completely useless. The final chapter, P. J. explaining why he is a conservative, is well up to his usual quality, though I have a very strong feeling I have read the same essay in another collection, so the point is a little moot.

Not really the best starting point for your P. J. O'Rourke reading spree...probably only for the dedicated completist

[Mike Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I miss PJ O’Rourke. I started reading him back in the National Lampoon in the late 1970’s and his various books ever since. This one is primarily based on columns from the Bush I and Clinton administrations which brought back many memories of my first time living in DC. Serves as a good reminder of how many organizations have had a leftist stance for far longer than you would think.

[Karen Cowgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAHAHAHAHA!! Love the lists! I have a few to add... but, in the interest of NATIONAL SECURITY, I will refrain from writing it down here!