Peace Kills

America's Fun New Imperialism

De: P. J. O'Rourke

Narrado por: Dick Hill

Having unraveled the mysteries of Washington in his classic best seller Parliament of Whores, and the mysteries of economics in Eat the Rich, one of our shrewdest and most mordant foreign correspondents now turns his attention to what is these days the ultimate mystery - America's foreign policy.

Although he has written about foreigners and foreign affairs for years, P. J. O'Rourke has, like most Americans, never really thought about foreign policy.

Just as a dog owner doesn't have a "dog policy," says P.J., "we feed foreigners, take care of them, give them treats, and when absolutely necessary, whack them with a rolled up newspaper."

But in Peace Kills, P. J. finally sets out to make sense of America's "Great Game" (no, not the slot machines in Vegas). He visits countries on the brink of conflict, in the grips of it, and still reeling from it, starting with Kosovo, where he discovers that "Whenever there's injustice, oppression, and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it's happening."

From there, it's on to Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where P. J. witnesses both the start and finish of hostilities.

P. J. also examines the effect of war and peace on the home front - from the absurd hassles of airport security to the hideous specter of anthrax (luckily the only threats in his mail are from credit-card companies).

Peace Kills is P. J. O'Rourke at his most incisive and relevant - an eye-opening look at a world much changed since he declared in his number-one national best seller Give War a Chance that the most troubling aspect of war is sometimes peace itself.

©2005 P. J. O'Rourke (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Dick Hill's musky reading summons the whisky-tinged professorial presence of the author in conveying the underlying warmth of a disillusioned idealist. Peace kills, but in the meantime we can enjoy the bittersweet music of this human voice." ( AudioFile)

Dated

The subject matter is dated, if course it's 20 years old. Still, I enjoy the writing style.

An Excellent Cynical Romp around modern warfare

P.J. has done it again. His wit knows no bounds. His unique take on just about everything shows through in his look at the new reality of warfare. Tracing his steps from Kosovo to Iraq circa 2003 he attempts to show the cynical(and hilarious) side of war and of the peace that is sure to follow?

The audio is excellent quality and the narrator has an excellent understanding at the delivery the author was shooting for in the printed version.

Be sure to listen to the postscript- chapter 10. It is truly a moving and inspiring piece of literature and a fine tribute to all our military.

Poor audio quality

The audio quality of this book was very poor. It seems the first and last words of each sentence were cut off. I am going to request a credit for this title.

not as good as his others

just couldn't even finish it. dragging through the book. even this review requires so much more effort than it's worth. I want my credit back. ugh.

Disappointing

I have been a PJ O'Rourke fan, but this book is just silly - and not in a humorous way. It completely lacks his usual trenchant wit. Don't waste your credit.