While pulling Esquire's Handbook for Hosts off the shelf yesterday to look up their recipe for a hot toddy, I spied another must-have reference for young men in America: P.J. O'Rourke's The Bachelor Home Companion.
O'Rourke is, of course, one of the finest wits of the 20th century, and a master of American culture and politics. I first discovered him when I was in high school and Parliament of Whores was number one on the New York Times bestseller list*.
While famous for his political satire, a few of O'Rourke's early books took aim at a quickly disappearing culture - the Ty Webb style cad. Bachelor Home Companion is the second such book, the first being Modern Manners. As a young man coming of age in the age of political correctness, O'Rourke's books were more than just humorous reflections on "the performance of gender in 20th century American society,"** they were a celebration of all that was good in the world. Well, maybe not all. But they were damned funny.
And Bachelor Home Companion is more than just satire. It also includes helpful information that I've put to use both before I was married, and when my wife was traveling a lot for work.
| Bachelor Measuring Units | Customary Household Measuring Units |
| 1 shotglass | 3 Tablespoons |
| 1 handful (dry measure) | 1/3 cup |
| 1 handful (liquid measure) | 1/2 cup |
| 1 mouthful | 1/3 cup |
| 1 good splash (from tap) | 4 Tbsp |
| 1 good splash (from wine bottle) | 1/2 cup |
| 1 good splash (from whisky bottle into highball glass) | 6 fl oz |
| 1 beer can | 1 cup |
| 1 dog dish | 1 pint |
| Customary Household Measuring Units | Bachelor Measuring Units |
| 1 teaspoon | too much salt |
| 1 Tablespoon | too much instant coffee |
| 1 cup | too much mixer |
| 1 pint | not enough whisky |
| 1 quart | too much gin |
| 1 gallon | enough beer to last until halftime |
| 1 peck | I forgot to buy sweet corn |
| 1 bushel | I bought too much |
| 1 pound | 3 oz of T-bone steak after 15 minutes on the grill |
Today, O'Rourke is H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and he continues to write for a variety of publications. His contemporary writing may not be what it once was, but his place in the history of American satire is firmly set.
* Today's number one is
** I'm pretty sure I took that class in college. We did not read P.J. O'Rourke. The class would have been more interesting had we.
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