All the Trouble in the World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, and Poverty

By P.J. O'Rourke

Book Overview

With All the Trouble in the World, P. J. O'Rourke once again landed on best-seller lists around the country, confirming his reputation as the pre-eminent political humorist of our time. Attacking fashionable worries - all those terrible problems that are constantly on our minds and in the news, but about which most of us have no real clue - P. J. crisscrosses the globe in search of solutions to today's most vexing issues, including overpopulation, famine, plague, and multiculturalism, and in the process produces a hilarious and informative book which ensures that the concept of political correctness will never be the same again. "One of the funniest, most insightful, dead-on-the-money books of the year." - Los Angeles Times; "All the Trouble in the World is O'Rourke's best work since Parliament of Whores." - The Houston Post; "The dispatches are unfailingly funny....Mr. O'Rourke gets to the heart of the matter with a steady stream of wisecracks....Economists, political scientists and sociologists are inclined to approach the ills of society with regression analysis. P. J. O'Rourke just points and laughs. Not surprisingly, it is Mr. O'Rourke who gets it right." - The Washington Times; "Bottom line: Buy the book." - The Wall Street Journal.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871136112
• ISBN13: 9780871136114
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Parliament of Whores goes abroad

(...) [In] this very funny book by P. J. O'Rourke, he sets out to test big government liberalism by seeing how it is playing out in the real world, on a series of issues : overpopulation, famine, ecological disaster, ethnic hatred, plague and poverty. For making this effort to scientifically test the ideology of the Left, in the laboratory of reality, he has been accused of practically fabricating the issues in order to shoot down their solutions. If only....It is all enjoyable and a ringing vindication of free markets, limited government and American culture (circa 1950), but far and away the best chapter is the overpopulation one where he compares that perennial favorite of the Paul Ehrlich crowd, Bangladesh, with Fremont, CA. Why Fremont? How about, because they have roughly the same population density. By the time Mr. O'Rourke is done, the very notion that population growth, in the abstract, is something that we have to be terrified of has been rendered utterly laughable (and laugh you will). Also worth the price of admission, before its author totally fades into obscurity, is the evisceration of Al Gore's deranged magnum opus, Earth in the Balance. Mr. O'Rourke delivers Mr. Gore a well deserved drubbing.The book makes a fine companion piece to Parliament of Whores, sort of a foreign affairs version of the same tale. Taken together, they stand as one of the best and certainly the funniest defenses of liberty you are likely to find.GRADE : A-

Yet again, he comes through

I am a vegetarian. I disapprove of the death penalty. I am a feminist (with a small f). You could even say i am a liberal. Yet, i defy all stereotyping, because i love the writing of P J O'Rourke. Yes, his writing is biased.(show me writing that isn't) Yes, he can be bombastic. But if you want an informed and entertaining read on the important issues facing the world today, you could not go past this man as a great starting point. Love or loathe the individual, you have to admire the writer. Well done again, Mr O'Rourke

Around the world with your libertarian guide

Like him or hate him you must admit that P.J. O'Rourke's writing is always outrageous and never boring. A spokesperson for wealthy, satisfied, middle-aged white guys everywhere, P.J. travels around the world and along the way makes you happy you're an American. His amusing takes on the planet's trouble spots are actually quite informative. There is a lot of truth in pieces like "All Guns, No Butter," which gets to the heart of starvation in Africa, for example. P.J. is one of the few writers who actually makes conservatism fun (even if you aren't one).

off-sets the chicken littles of the world

Here in Australia, the media gives a very high profile to the environmentalists who proclaim that the world will end in 10 minutes or less.In contrast, P.J. O'Rourke explains why the world is actually improving. The world isn't bursting at the seams and everyone won't die of starvation (supermodels excepted).I highly recommend the book. It's entertaining and informative. I only wish the author had included a David Suzuki dartboard.

A witty, commonsense, no nonsense book

Just got this book from our local library on an off chance and can't put it down. I love O'Rourke's wit, his commonsense and ability to cut through humbug. His description of life in Mogadishu and the reason aid did not get to the people dying of famine in Somalia answered so many of my questions. I can't help but think that a lot of his opinions are "tongue-in-cheek" and provocative but they certainly make one ponder. O'Rourke the mold was broken when you were born!