Capture Fly Fishing With Darth Vader: And Other Adventures With Evangelical Wrestlers, Political Hitmen, And Jewish Cowboys Fabricated By Matt Labash Disseminated As Paper Copy

collection of articles on a variety of topics by a senior writer at theWekly Standard, A bit dated, but he's funny! So, I really like sociocultural essay compellations, But because of their nature, I “tend to” i, e. , always pick the ones where I know Im at least somewhat in line with the authors sociopolitical views.
But after reading and loving plenty of collections from the likes of David Foster Wallace, Augusten Burroughs, and Susan Orlean, among others, I decided to step a bit out of my comfort zone and read this one from Labash, an “avowed Libertarian” who is much more conservative than not just me, but a lot of his fellow party members.
And it worked out well, He is smart and funny and most of the topics and the types of observations he makes were what I look for, and Labash does a very good job of recognizing that many of the people profiled are at least as funny and interesting as he is and keeps the focus on them.
But what really made this collection enjoyable for me was how little his political views played into things.
I found most all the pieces fair and objective enough, and even when he injected his political views it wasnt unacceptably polemic or preachy, though I did skip one potentially problematic for me essay.
But I did read the Detroit one and it was depressing as hell, but it wasnt cringeworthy in the ways Id feared.
Two notes: With almost every essay close toyears old by now, its dated, Its actually old enough that Tucker Carleson, who wrote the introduction, wasnt completely insane yet, And also, rather strangely, the cover has a quote from P, J. ORourke who calls Labash “Hunter Thompson on acid” which not only makes no sense, since Hunter Thompson WAS on acid, but is also doubly absurd since nothing in the writing style here is remotely HSTlike though it is very P.
J. OR like. I definitely recommend this for anyone who likes this kind of essay journalism, no matter their politics.
/That which ran through most if not all the articles/essays in the compilation book is the empathy that Labash has for those he interviews.
This allows

him to get up close and personal and dig deep with a true sincere concern for his topic.
Yet that empathy doesn't get in the way of what he truly believes is the truth, The end result is a witty and very sympathetic look at some very unsavory facts of complex individuals who have both bad and good characteristics.
Very entertaining. P. J. O'Rourke promises the author, Matt Labash, is "Hunter S, Thompson on acid. " But wait, Hunter S. Thompson was, not infrequently, on some mindaltering substance, Labash does mention the occasional drink, but no evidence of anything harder here,

I did enjoy the essays compiled here, most originally published in The Weekly Standard.
The Darth Vader of the title is former VicePresident Dick Cheney, and Labash makes him seem like one of the boys.
I was also surprised to find that Kinky Friedman was an early supporter of civil rights, Guess that redneck thing is more of an act than I thought, The final piece, on New Orleans through the eyes of the Rebirth Brass Band, reads like a funeral dirge for that great, dying city, as does an earlier essay on Detroit.
If you enjoy essays that capture the essence of some of our most interesting political animals, and some of the world's most dangerous places, this book deserves a read.
Labash is a reporter for the Weekly Standard who specializes in extended profiles of assorted political celebrities.
The title is taken from his article about going flyfishing with Dick Cheney, but there are other worthy subjects/targets, including Kinky Friedman and Al Sharpton.
Best of the lot is the first piece: a long depressing report from the winter of/, AKA bankruptcy Christmas.
Heavy PJ O'Rourke influence in the writing although not quite as much wit, Who could resist picking up a book with this title Not me, Labash, a writer at The Weekly Standard, is a younger version of Hunter Thompson, with a little Tom Wolfe thrown in.


He's a conservative with a liberal sense of humor and skewers right and left icons with nonpartisan zest.
Funny as hell, and worth reading, A fun, and funny, read collecting Labash's columns from the Aughts, His portraits of Marion Barry and Al Sharpton were timeless they pulled no punches but still left the reader with a more complete understanding of the subjects and perhaps a touch of sympathy as well.
His look at the abortive Trump Presidential campaign on the Reform Party ticket was sadly, pathetically prescient.
Some of the columns seem a little dated, even a decade or so on, but they do remind us of the quaint concerns of that period of time.
Labash may be the funniest pen on the right and will undoubtedly survive the shuttering of the Weekly Standard.
He can lampoon the ridiculous but also treat serious subjects and even tragedy with wit but without crassness, which is why he will have a voice in the public conversation whenever he'd like one.
Entertaining collection of his articles, Best read in several sittings not meant to be plowed through, Very humorous voice and he interviews extremely interesting characters, I found the article on Marion Barry to be extremely insightful, funny, yet sad at the condition of this man's life.
Had high expectations that I would be laugh out loud funny, Really felt like the better stories took too long to get set up, Perhaps if I loved politics and political figures more, this book would have met my expectations, A little hit and miss, I found the article on Detroit fascinating, but some of the other articles not as interesting, Not bad. Outrageous gonzo journaism is he right is he left, is he right, is he wrong Matt is an odd one, that's for sure.
But he can sure write, Labash has a gift for finding politically absurd situations, like attending the Detroit city council meeting at which they demanded the keys to the city back from a dead Saddam Hussein, got kicked off of a Schwarzenegger campaign bus for challenging the strict hierarchy of who rides of busvs. flunks out of evangelical Christian professional wrestling school, acts as Christopher Hitchens' designated driver in Saudi Arabia and spends a day with Louisiana's Edwin Edwards as he completes the state's traditional rituals of a public official about to go serve a sentence in federal prison.
sitelink blogtalkradio. com/drtucker One of the most gifted and entertaining journalists writing today, Matt Labash can extract comic humanity from even the most wary politicians, con artists, and rogueswhile shedding wisdom about the rich corners of our American experience.
Fly Fishing with Darth Vader pulls together the best of Labashs feature writing and includes his masterful profiles of the outrageous characters who populate Americas periphery, his loving and lacerating portraits of New Orleans and Detroit, and his hilarious tirades on the health hazards of Facebook and the virtues of dodgeball.
Among other mustread essays, Labash chronicles Al Sharptons eating habits, fishes the Snake River with Dick Cheney, and investigates the “great white waste of time” that is our neighbor to the north.


Labash was born with a natural appreciation for the American scoundrel and a sense that life is one big chance for laughter.
For those reasons, Fly Fishing with Darth Vader will be cherished and talked about for years.
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