P. J. (Patrick Jake) O'Rourke is a satirist-humorist who sprang from the tradition of New Journalism espoused by Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, and Hunter S. Thompson. His literary journalism abandons any pretense of objectivity and instead offers a version colored by the reporter's immersion into the subject, with all the biases and emotions intact. Time magazine calls O'Rourke "an acerbic master of gonzo journalism and one of America's most hilarious and provocative writers," a conservative with libertarian leanings. His mixture of one-liners, wit, vitriol, cynicism, and outrage makes him capable of offending almost everyone. His melding of rock-and-roll wildness and conservative libertarianism evoke laughter even from his political opponents. Jeffrey Abbot of The Times (London) sees him as "the gunslinger of the eminently respectable school of American right-wing libertarian philosophers." His books, often collections of his magazine pieces, have appeared with some regularity on the best-seller lists.

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