I just heard/read that PJ O’Rourke just passed away. Best satirist I have ever read - by far. I believe his dissertation on the US Government should be THE high school textbook for civics - kids would laugh and learn thru the medium of satire. The entire book is free here.
Satire:the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Animal Farm, 1984, and Catch-22 are all examples of satire books.
Here is an extract of the book where he is describing Congress on a typical day:
It was called H.R. 4030, the reauthorization of the coastal zone management act, and according to the summary handed out to committee members, its provisions all seemed to be obvious—"Defines 'coastal zone' "; weird—"recognizes sea level rise"; or weirdly obvious—"amends Coastal Zone Management Act findings and policies to indicate that development in the coastal zone must occur with environmental safeguards." The bill also "authorizes awards for excellence in coastal zone management" and, of especially vital importance to the nation, "changes the name of the National Estuarine Reserve Research System to National Estuarine Research Reserve System." Some nineteen amendments to this bill were also proposed, including one to name the award for excellence in coastal-zone management after the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee chairman. This chairman was exceedingly old and supported on each side by members of the committee staff. These behaved toward the chairman like the "flappers" of Laputa in Gulliver's Travels, whom the abstracted Laputians employed to strike them now and then and remind them what they were doing. A representative from Louisiana pointed out that under the terms of the technical language in H.R. 4030, 50 percent of his state was coastal wetland and thereby federally prohibited from any use by humans. A representative from Alaska waved H.R. 4030 in the air and shouted, "Anybody who knows what's in this bill raise his hand."
I, among many, will miss PJ - RIP PJ, may someone else pick up your skill with Satire.
Great Satire just died, RIP PJ O'Rourke
Great Satire just died, RIP PJ O'Rourke
Great Satire just died, RIP PJ O'Rourke
I just heard/read that PJ O’Rourke just passed away. Best satirist I have ever read - by far. I believe his dissertation on the US Government should be THE high school textbook for civics - kids would laugh and learn thru the medium of satire. The entire book is free here.
Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Animal Farm, 1984, and Catch-22 are all examples of satire books.
Here is an extract of the book where he is describing Congress on a typical day:
I, among many, will miss PJ - RIP PJ, may someone else pick up your skill with Satire.