PJ O'Rourke is being hosted by Brookline Booksmith for a reading at Coolidge Corner Theater tomorrow night, Monday, January 29 at 6:00 pm. The price is two bucks.
How can you write about an "invisible hand" if you can't even see it? Well, you can if you're PJ O'Rourke and you're writing about Adam Smith, the great-grandpappy of free trade.
PJ O'Rourke is tackling Adam Smith's legendary The Wealth of Nations. But he's not really tackling it in terms of questioning it or drawing conclusions from it. In the words of the New York Times, " Think of it as a hardcover blog, in which O'Rourke cites Smith's essential points, and riffs while preaching Smithian doctrine."
O'Rourke is explaining Smith for those of us who have neither the time nor the brain cells to take in the original. The "preaching" part should come as no big surprise since O'Rourke makes his hay these days as a conservative pundit.
The first chapter is available for reading on NPR's website, and it includes some of his trademark snark, such as "Even intellectuals should have no trouble understanding Smith's ideas."
You might be steamed that he left Team Liberal, but O'Rourke is a funny guy. And Adam Smith's work is at the core of American politics, economics, and philosophy. Consider O'Rourke's reading a lecture by a stodgy but entertaining old professor. At two bucks, it's certainly cheaper than paying for a class!
Image of PJ O'Rourke doing that elfin libertarian prankster schtick he does so well from Amazon.
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