The Baby Boom cover art

The Baby Boom

How It Got That Way, and It Wasn’t My Fault, and I’ll Never Do It Again

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The Baby Boom

By: P. J. O'Rourke
Narrated by: Dick Hill
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About this listen

P.J. O’Rourke began writing funny things in 1960s underground newspapers, became editor-in-chief of National Lampoon, then spent 20 years reporting for Rolling Stone and The Atlantic Monthly as the world’s only trouble spot humorist, going to wars, riots, rebellions, and other "Holidays in Hell” in more than 40 countries.

Now O’Rourke, born at the peak of the Baby Boom, turns his keen eye on himself and his 75 million accomplices in making America what it is today. With laughter as an analytical tool, he uses his own very average, if sometimes uproarious experiences as a key to his exceptional age cohort. He writes about the way the post-war generation somehow came of age by never quite growing up and created a better society by turning society upside down.

The Baby Boom: How it Got That Way And It Wasn’t My Fault And I’ll Never Do It Again is at once a social history, a group memoir of collectively impaired memory, a hilarious attempt to understand his generation’s messy hilarity, and a celebration of the mess the Baby Boom has made.

©2014 P. J. O’Rourke. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Americas Literature & Fiction Politics & Government Satire United States Comedy Funny Witty War

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Critic reviews

"Dick Hill's deep and crackling voice fits perfectly with O'Rourke's sardonic prose as he explores the birth, rise, and retirement of Boomers over the last half-century. As Hill captures O'Rourke's self-mocking portrait of the self-righteous and self-centered Boomers, it's clear his performance trumps reading the book in print. His tone and emphasis nail every punch line. At the same time, Hill's timbre, with its hints of age, fits perfectly with the content. Listeners will find themselves laughing at line after line." (AudioFile)
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