by John Tamny
The American Institute for Economic Research
Up front, there are many people who knew P.J. O’Rourke much better than I did. Based on that, it’s arguable that a tribute by me isn’t merited. My response is that great people rate tributes from many people. Here’s mine.
Probably like many who came to enjoy O’Rourke’s work, I was introduced to his writing in college. The book was Holidays In Hell. This is the one that includes the classic line about how “when we snort coke in Houston, they lose their hats in Cap d’Antibes.” It was part of a bigger rant about how thoroughly badass the U.S. is. Peggy Noonan eventually quoted it in full in her mega-bestseller, What I Saw At the Revolution. Please Google the quote in total if you haven’t read it. It’s a classic, and it immediately had me hooked. If you look through my books, I have a good number of O’Rourke’s.