P. J. O'Rourke's savagely funny and national best-seller Parliament of Whores has become a classic in understanding the workings of the American political system. Originally written at the end of the Reagan era, this new edition includes an extensive foreword by the renowned political writer Andrew Ferguson -- showing us that although the names and the players have changed, the game is still the same. Parliament of Whores is an exuberant, broken-field run through the ethical foibles, pork-barrel flimflam, and bureaucratic bullrorfle inside the Beltway that leaves no sacred cow unskewered and no politically correct sensitivities unscorched.

Reviews

As a conservative, political humorist O'Rourke ( Holidays in Hell ) can get on liberals' nerves with his mindless characterization of environmentalists as ``tree huggers'' or his mockery of Jesse Jackson's ``daft notions.'' Then again, any satirist who compares George Bush to Captain Kangaroo and would lop millions from the military budget can't be accused of partisan target practice. O'Rourke's basic theme--there's too much government, and what government we have is tremendously inefficient and wasteful--reverberates through his vitriol, as he takes readers through a congressman's typical day, unmasks the hollow charade of presidential conventions and offers squibs on the savings-and-loan bailout, the war on drugs, housing policy, the Supreme Court, etc. Loosely organized as a civics textbook, these essays at their best are deadly accurate, very funny and on-target, a purgation of the Augean stables of American politicswhew! . (June)

Investigative humorist O'Rourke puts this vividly cynical examination of how our government works into perspective when he asks: ``What the fuck do they do all day, and why does it cost so goddamned much money?'' In a manner that is more likely to grab a reader by the lapels and throttle him into hysterics than your average high school civics textbook, O'Rourke deftly skewers our three branches of government. That the enigma of government can be reduced to a parliament of whores is matched only by the enigmatic author himself. Described as an intelligent conservative, he is a National Lampoon alumnus and a Rolling Stone reporter who also garners critical acclaim from the National Review . Intelligent indeed! Sure to be a hit among liberals and conservatives alike. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/91 . --Joe Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago