The Ceo Of the Sofa [Paperback]

Boy was I wrong!

This guy O'Rourke is just plain boring, whiny, and unfunny! Save your money and rent Caddy Shack instead.

We get his trademark satire and cynicism on a huge range of topics. And if it is true that much humour is about probing for and exploiting frailty, O'Rourke is a comic master. He claims "I just make fun of things". This is an uncharacteristic understatement - he is pathologically unsympathetic, and relentless in his pursuit of what he perceives to be weakness or pretence.

And that includes a lot. As he confesses, "everything is bugging me, I'm at that stage of life" and, he should add, apparently rather enjoying it too ! India, religion, talentless 15-minute-of-famers, wine-tasting, for example, all come under his scornful gaze. Neither is he averse to turning the sights on himself. Indeed, he is unapologetically lazy, witness a driving lesson for his godson in the depth of winter, which consists merely of a catalogue of excuses to stay in - that's the real key to good bad-weather driving !

But it's when he enters the realm of politics that O'Rourke starts to really let rip. Often, this is through his alter ego, The Political Nut, who, coincidentally, calls round the moment Democrats (or alcohol) appear on the scene. Although he is "a Cro-Magnon republican of long standing", in truth his party is that of the extreme libertarians. He is against intereference in any shape or form, reserving his most savage blows for the UN and Democrats - Hillary Clinton, especially, would clearly get a 'warm welcome' at the O'Rourke household.

He abhors also both the bleeding hearts and those people who put themselves in positions where hearts bleed for them. How selfish these people are, being so feeble as to cause the government to levy taxes from the likes of him to support their weakness ! Some of his most hilarious moments are reserved for what he would consider to be forced correctness in any form. Ever heard of the Task Force of Bias-Free Language for the Association of American University Presses ? Imagine how they get both barrels !

In the end, he refuses to be tied down by any recognised -isms which impinge on his freedom. In fact, he doesn't believe in the political world at all - I guess Republicanism is just the closest he can find to a non-political party. "The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, devised a method by which our republic can take 100 of its most prominent numbskulls and keep them out of the private sector where they might do actual harm". He does have some basic tenets - "there is no human liberty without property rights...and...you own you, your efforts, what you do" - but, beyond that, everything is fuel for his indignation.

Despite having little sympathy with his espoused values, I still found the book an extremely entertaining and provocative commentary of the early 21st century (US-centric) world. Despite the constant onslaught, there is a strong sense of tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecation which makes O'Rourke very appealing rather than very arrogant. For example, despite all the bluster, he is completely in awe of his wife and small children, accepting that they are the ones who really get things done - he's just the guy watching TV and scribbling notes in the corner.

All in all, highly recommended. Incidentally, the 12 month period covered by "The CEO of the Sofa" runs to August 2001 - I wonder what chapter 13 might have looked like ? Now read "Stupid White Men" for the alternative worldview......