Age And Guile

The political humorist shares his transformation from dirty hippie to conservative middle-aged grouch: “An incorrigible comic gift” (The New York Times Book Review). The #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Give War a Chance was at one time a raving pinko, with scars on his formerly bleeding heart to prove it. In Age and Guile: Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut, P. J. O’Rourke chronicles the remarkable trajectory that took him from the lighthearted fun of the revolutionary barricades to the serious business of the nineteenth hole. How did the O’Rourke of 1970, who summarized the world of “grown-ups” as “materialism, sexual hang-ups, the Republican party, uncomfortable clothes, engagement rings, car accidents, Pat Boone, competition, patriotism, cheating, lying, ranch houses, and TV” come to be in favor of all of those things? What caused his metamorphosis from a beatnik-hippie type comfortable sleeping on dirty mattresses in pot-addled communes during his days as a writer for assorted “underground” papers? Here, O’Rourke shows how his socialist idealism and avant-garde aesthetic tendencies were cured, and how he acquired a healthy and commendable interest in national defense, balanced budgets, Porsches, and Cohiba cigars. From a former editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and frequent NPR guest, this hilarious essay collection shows that there’s hope for all those suffering from acute bohemianism.

This is a new release of the original 1924 edition.

Biographical sketches of Dennie and his circle, with selections from their writings.

It is the year 2319, and Commander Virgil Artus of the Earth Federal Navy is about to be promoted to captain, the youngest in the fleet's history to do so. His new command is the navy's latest ship, the battle cruiser Bismarck. With the best technology available and the brightest crew, Captain Artus takes the Bismarck for its maiden voyage to the colony of Alpha Centauri, never knowing what awaits. The Bismarck carries a motley crew, including an army engineer corps, attractive Wing Commander Carmen, and two mysterious individuals--a navy psychologist with a questionable background and a shadowy man known only as Astaroth. Their mission is to resupply a colony located at the outer limits of humanity's exploration, as well as to survey and construct a colony base on one of the four worlds found in the system. But the mission begins to go wrong after the colony reports an emergency. When they arrive at Alpha Centauri, the crew finds that humanity is not alone in the universe. A fleet from the Iksus Armada, a reptilian race bred for war, is approaching, and they seek vengeance for an atrocity committed by humanity years ago. As captain, Artus is about to face his first--and possibly his final--confrontation.