A Cry From the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land

Description

P.J. O'Rourke says we've worked ourselves into a state of anger and perplexity, and it's no surprise because perplexed and angry is what America has always been all about. This uproarious look at the current state of the United States includes essays like 'The New Puritanism - and Welcome to It,' about the upside of being 'woke' (and unable to get back to sleep); 'Sympathy vs. Empathy,' which considers whether it's better to have an idea of how people feel or to bust their skulls to get inside their heads; 'A Brief Digression on the Additional Hell of the Internet of Things' because your juicer is sending fake news to your FitBit about what's in your refrigerator; and many more. A couple of extra perks include a quiz to determine where you stand on the spectrum of 'Coastals vs. Heartlanders' and a 'An Inauguration Speech I'd Like To Hear:' ask not what your country can do for you. Ask me how I can get the hell out of here. Featuring extensive coverage from the 2020 campaign trail, this is P.J. at his acerbic best.

P.J. O'Rourke has written eighteen books on subjects as diverse as politics and cars and etiquette and economics. He is a columnist for the Daily Beast. He lives in rural New England, as far away from the things he writes about as he can get.

O'Rourke has a nice, world-weary way with the US's present political follies... He hasn't lost his gift for the brutally effective one-liner. * Guardian on HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN? * scabrously witty, inventive and rich in historical detail... O'Rourke is never less than pleasurable company. There were chapters in this book I read twice just for the fun of it... I am already looking forward to the companion volume What The Hell Happens Next? * The Times on HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN? * O'Rourke has a real eye for the vagaries of American politics and, on occasion, piercing insight. * Observer on HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN? *