P.J. O’Rourke will discuss his latest book, DON’T VOTE: It Just Encourages the Bastards, at the OPC Book Night on September 27.

He’s reported to readers on the inner workings of the U.S. government, taken on the gargantuan task of explaining the global economy, and limned the downfall of the American automobile industry. Now, in his latest book, DON’T VOTE—It Just Encourages the Bastards (Atlantic Monthly Press, October 1, 2010, $24.00) P.J. O’Rourke turns his sights on the central issue in all of the above: politics.

“Having been a political commentator of one kind or another since 1970, it has occurred to me to ask, what the Hell have I been talking about for 40 years?” says O’Rourke. When he sits down and thinks about it, he discovers that what it all comes down to is power, freedom and responsibility, the naked threesome of politics in a free and democratic country.”

With his trademark merciless humor, O’Rourke then heads through a closer look at each element of the trilogy: Power, freedom and responsibility.