Your IP has been blocked. Please perform the action below to regain access.
75.126.130.58-
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Incisive Wit
With his acerbic tongue and sharp mind, P.J. O'Rourke handles the tough material of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" making it not only comprehensible (a hard task, believe me), but funny. And current.
It is always a pleasure reading this man's work.
Rating: -
This is NOT Cliff's Notes, It's Jokes And Wide Brush Strokes
The surfeit of reviews complaining about the author's insights and accuracy in summarizing "Wealth Of Nations" has finally spurred me to post my own review, which I'll also crib, right up front:
It's jokes, people! Jokes from a guy you know is libertarian! It's not Cliff's Notes!
If you have a conservative slant to your politics, you'll love the jokes about how fruitless central economic planning, government-run corporations and labor unions prove.
If you have a liberal slant to your politics, you'll love the jokes that point out how dumb it is for governments to try to control people's behaviors, when simple selfishness will generally do the trick.
But whatever your slant, if you have a term paper due on Adam Smith, don't use this as source! "Wealth of Nations" was huge. Its thoughts draw directly from other huge books Smith wrote, which you must also read to fully understand the man (which O'Rourke freely admits in the book, repeatedly).
Nothing in this book is erected to portray it as an authoritative summary of "Wealth." The author and publisher clearly tell you that, again, it's jokes, people: jokes from someone who is well-known as acerbic, contrary and cranky; jokes from someone whose political viewpoint cannot be more readily exposed.
If you don't like free markets, fine. If you hate "conservatives," fine. If you hold 120 postgraduate degrees in economics and the Adam Smith Distinguished Chair In Annoying Minutiae at Ivy League University, fine.
That doesn't change the fact that your reviews bemoaning the accuracy of this book or the interpretations of the author are sophisms, because, again:
It's jokes, people! Jokes from a guy you know is libertarian! It's not Cliff's Notes!
Rating: 
-
Satirist's Cheap Trick Exposed
You don't have to read P. J. O'Rourke's On The Wealth of Nations because you already know the contents--a libertarian rant from a neocon wiseacre. But, seriously, folks, you shouldn't read it because it misrepresents Adam Smith and misleads readers. Fortunately, most of the book's flaws can be traced to one cheap trick at the very outset.
In the second sentence, O'Rourke transforms Smith's economic principles--the pursuit of self-interest, the division of labor and free trade--into "practical truths" (never defined), timeless and universal. Elevating them out of history is what enables O'Rourke to wield them as slogans in bludgeoning his usual bugbears--politicians, liberals, reporters et al.
One example--his treatment of the "pursuit of self-interest'--suffices to illustrate this systemic problem. First, the "self" to which Smith referred was a new phenomenon. Of course, some form of self is intrinsic to being human: the human mind is aware of itself. What emerged in the 17th century and flowered in the next, however, was the self as a legitimate social agent. Rather than address the appearance of individuality, autonomy and personal fulfillment, O'Rourke assumes it was there all along, had been repressed and was now unleashed, and moves quickly to one of his many ahistorical platitudes. In this case "...[S]elf-interest makes the world go round...since the world began going around--a little secret everyone knows."
Almost as important, Smith did not champion just any definition of self-interest but a Franklin-esque version that emphasized emotional control and rational calculation, that stood in sharp contrast to the unruly passions of aristocratic traditions and that would in theory produce certain social virtues. Either ignorant of or ignoring the historical context and its content, O'Rourke just rushes about waving the banner of "natural liberty" (never defined)--the "practical truth" that corresponds to the pursuit of self interest.
He uses the same sleight of hand with Smith's two other principles--the division of labor and free trade.
No one expects logic from comics. Hyperbole and jarring juxtaposition are their stock in trade, and at these O'Rourke's book excels. But as a guide to the seminal work of an 18th century political economist for literate 21st century readers, this book is an insult to both.
Rating: 
-
Short-sighted
Saying you understand Smith's capitalism by citing Wealth of Nations is about as bad as saying you understand Marxism by citing the Communist Manifesto.
Smith wrote other things, too, and so should O'Rourke. He's funny; he's just not exactly going about this the right way.
Rating: 
-
PJ in a serious mood
PJ O'Rourke's usual sarcasm is veiled by his outright admiration for Adam Smith's massive achievement. The book reads much more like a serious treatise on Smith's work than his usual humorour romp through the mores of our our time. O'ROurke has always been a keen observer of our times and proves that he is a keen observer of the past as well as Smith's many lessons for the present. Still entertaining, just more instructive than usual.
see more
