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Quote by P. J. O'Rourke

“I think Michael O'Donoghue felt he'd said what he wanted to say. In fact, nobody thought we could spin it out long enough to make a book.”

Quote by P. J. O'Rourke

Author

P. J. O'Rourke, born on November 14, 1947, is a renowned satirical writer known for his humorous and satirical commentary on political and social issues. His distinctive writing style, characterized by wit and sharpness, has won him a wide readership. more

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“Finally, one night we were smoking pot [with Michael O'Donoghue] and talking about the people that are invariably in high school, whether you go to prep school or public school or ghetto school or rich suburban school. And actually, it spun off from a Kurt Vonnegut quote.”

People School Night Talking Rich High School Smoking Pot Public School One Night Ghetto Spun Preps Smoking Pot

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“[Kurt] Vonnegut once said, if you ever want to know who somebody is... Like you look at Richard Nixon, or Adolf Hitler, or Ralph Nader, or anybody who seems like a difficult person to understand, and is therefore not part of the pattern of human behavior. Think about who they were in high school, and they will explain themselves to you. So we got a hold of, like, 50 high-school yearbooks, including my mom's from 1925 or something, and we discovered that they're all the same.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Want Humans Looks Persons Said Seems School Difficult Like You Mom Behavior High School Including Patterns My Mom Human Behavior Yearbook High School Yearbook

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“Once we realized that there were these 25 invariable types - the class politician, the frigid popular girl, the kid who tags along behind the jocks - once we came up with these key characters in a cloud of marijuana, the whole thing just came together. One of the things I'm really proud of is how much of a high-school yearbook it is in its look, so much so that Hunter Publishing had the art director, David Kaestle, and I come for years to their annual convention and do a little talk on how not to do a yearbook.”

“The Harvard Lampoon itself, which had a pretty stellar run in the '60s.”

Running Harvard Stellar

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“The dominant type of humor in the '60s was essentially defensive and self-deprecating, using humor as a shield.”

Self Type Dominant Shields Self Deprecating

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“I was managing editor for a while [in National Lampoon ], and it does cause business problems when your circulation goes up.”

Doe Problem Causes Editors Circulation Business Problems National Lampoon

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“Especially with a magazine like Lampoon, which was very dependent on newsstand sales. Our readers didn't usually occupy the same address long enough to get a subscription, because they were in college, or they were hippies. So it was very up-and-down, and we had to calculate how many to print, which was always sort of a headache from a business point of view.”

Long Enough Views College Reader Down And Point Of View Magazines Addresses Dependent Print Up And Down Hippie Headache Subscription

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“You start out with Mad magazine, and you go right through the sort of black humor of Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Mort Sahl, Paul Krassner... If you put Lenny together with Mad magazine and run it through the brain of a college student, you get National Lampoon.”

Ifs Running Together Black Brain Lord Students College Mad Magazines College Students Black Humor National Lampoon

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“From National Lampoon, you go directly to Saturday Night Live, because it's a lot of the same people.”

People Night Saturday Saturday Night Saturday Night Live National Lampoon

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“Then Saturday Night Live spawns... well, everything right down to American Pie 9, where all humor has to be irrelevant, which can get a little tiring.”

Wells Littles Night Pie Saturday Irrelevant Tire Saturday Night Saturday Night Live Spawn American Pie

Author:P. J. O'Rourke