James Lileks

A whimsical compilation of outdated and questionable child care tips from the past covers everything from ads for obsolete items for the nursery to potty-training advice, dangerous party ideas, and more. Original. 40,000 first printing.

Highlights from the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice

Mommy Knows Worst

A hilarious collection of photographs, illustrations, food ads, recipes, and culinary miscellany from classic American cookbooks of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s presents a horrible array of the "best of the worst" dishes from the period, including such treats as 7-Up Cottage Cheese Pancakes. 35,000 first printing.

The Gallery of Regrettable Food

Presents photographs, illustrations, food ads, recipes, and culinary miscellany from the 1950s and 1960s with commentary on an array of the "best of the worst" dishes from the period.

Questionable Culinary Creations from the Golden Age of American Cookery

Gastroanomalies

Graveyard Special

The author of The Gallery of Regrettable Food offers a hilarious look at the horrific atrocities of 1970s interior design, furnishing a revealing glimpse of the worst bedrooms, dens, rec rooms, and other interior spaces, as well as such regrettable stylistic innovations as plaid wallpaper and matching patterns on every item in a room, all taken from style magazines of the era. 40,000 first printing.

Hideous Homes from the Horrible 70's

Interior Desecrations

Christopher Caldwell

Jonah Goldberg

Larry Miller

P. J. O'Rourke

Christopher Buckley

Rob Long

Joe Queenan

Mollie Hemingway

Andrew Ferguson

Sonny Bunch

David Burge

Michael Graham

Rita Koganzon

Matt Labash

Christine Rosen

Andrew Stiles

An all-star team of eighteen conservative writers offers a hilarious, insightful, sanctimony-free remix of William Bennett’s The Book of Virtues—without parental controls. The Seven Deadly Virtues sits down next to readers at the bar, buys them a drink, and an hour or three later, ushers them into the revival tent without them even realizing it. The book’s contributors include Sonny Bunch, Christopher Buckley, David “Iowahawk” Burge, Christopher Caldwell, Andrew Ferguson, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Graham, Mollie Hemingway, Rita Koganzon, Matt Labash, James Lileks, Rob Long, Larry Miller, P. J. O’Rourke, Joe Queenan, Christine Rosen, and Andrew Stiles. Jonathan V. Last, senior writer at the Weekly Standard, editor of the collection, is also a contributor. All eighteen essays in this book are appearing for the first time anywhere. In the book’s opening essay, P. J. O’Rourke observes: “Virtue has by no means disappeared. It’s as much in public view as ever. But it’s been strung up by the heels. Virtue is upside down. Virtue is uncomfortable. Virtue looks ridiculous. All the change and the house keys are falling out of Virtue’s pants pockets.” Here are the virtues everyone (including the book’s contributors) was taught in Sunday school but have totally forgotten about until this very moment. In this sanctimony-free zone: • Joe Queenan observes: “In essence, thrift is a virtue that resembles being very good at Mahjong. You’ve heard about people who can do it, but you’ve never actually met any of them.” • P. J. O’Rourke notes: “Fortitude is quaint. We praise the greatest generation for having it, but they had aluminum siding, church on Sunday, and jobs that required them to wear neckties or nylons (but never at the same time). We don’t want those either.” • Christine Rosen writes: “A fellowship grounded in sociality means enjoying the company of those with whom you actually share physical space rather than those with whom you regularly and enthusiastically exchange cat videos.” • Rob Long offers his version of modern day justice: if you sleep late on the weekend, you are forced to wait thirty minutes in line at Costco. • Jonah Goldberg offers: “There was a time when this desire-to-do-good-in-all-things was considered the only kind of integrity: ‘Angels are better than mortals. They’re always certain about what is right because, by definition, they’re doing God’s will.’ Gabriel knew when it was okay to remove a mattress tag and Sandalphon always tipped the correct amount.” • Sonny Bunch dissects forbearance, observing that the fictional Two Minutes Hate of George Orwell’s 1984 is now actually a reality directed at living, breathing people. Thanks, in part, to the Internet, “Its targets are designated by a spontaneously created mob—one that, due to its hive-mind nature—is virtually impossible to call off.” By the time readers have completed The Seven Deadly Virtues, they won’t even realize that they’ve just been catechized into an entirely different—and better—moral universe.

18 Conservative Writers on Why the Virtuous Life is Funny as Hell

The Seven Deadly Virtues

A satirist uses dry humor to comment on topics from the sacred to the profane, ranging from the economy to buying bras, and from taxes to the backroads of Zen

Notes of a Nervous Man

James Lileks

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