A Review of "Peace Kills"

Amidst the madness of reading Locke and Hobbes, Lenin and Weber, I finally found time for some lighter reading - Atlantic Monthly journalist (humorist) P.J. O'Rourke's "Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism." Sadly, I'd read much of the book already within the pages of the Atlantic, thus there was only limited novelty. Indeed, I think that dedicated Atlantic readers might be better off not buying it; then again, if they read Atlantic solely for O’Rourke (as sometimes I do), then it’s certainly worth it. In any case, reading it all again, and all together too, was a light refreshing pleasure. O'Rourke, I think, is what you'd get if Thomas Friedman and Dave Barry cowrote a book; his humor and insights are both that good. Compared to much of the other reading on what we've done (often viewed as wrong) in the Middle East of late, O'Rourke is a breath of fresh air. No harping about our failure to plan properly for the occupation, rather, anecdotes about Iraqis reading Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." Reading about the Middle East often mires the reader in a depressing muddle that causes one to throw up their hands and pick up a Grisham. O’Rourke avoids all of that – it’s not all sunshine and happiness, but his style is a welcome breath of fresh air.

I don't think many Americans understand the Middle East. I don't think many of the experts, with some exceptions (Bernard Lewis comes to mind) understand the Middle East. Nor do the journalists. But many of them claim to. O'Rourke doesn't; he’s merely an observer to all of this. Egypt clearly mystifies him, but then again so does America (I agree with him on both counts). Really, for every barb at Muslim or Arab culture, as un-PC as it may be, there’s a barb at American culture, often sharper. It’s his satire and social criticism, to me, that makes this book so endearing and worthwhile. We may question aloud culture in the Middle East, alien as it is to our Western eyes, but we need to look in the mirror. What exactly are we exporting to them? Free markets and democracy are okay – I’m sure the average Egyptian would be quite happy if we kept our so-called culture to ourselves.

"Peace Kills" doesn't claim to be a daring exposé on the region - it's more of a travelogue. In that, it certainly succeeds. It’s not uplifting (the Middle East rarely is) but it’s not the sandstorm of confusion that most writers unleash. It’s fresh, witty, and certainly unique. It doesn’t have the answer (it’s one giant question mark) but it does clear some of the sand from our own eyes. Put it on your bookshelf between "Latitudes and Attitudes" and "From Babel to Dragomans" and go back to wondering about the nature of daytime television.