On the Wealth of Nations by P. J. O’Rourke, 2007

Adam Smith published a classic book on the fundamentals of economics in 1776, a nine-hundred-plus page monster (including the sixty-plus page Digression concerning the Variations in the Value of Silver during the Course of the last Four Centuries) that, like many such books, is much-praised and little-read. On a quest to bring Smith’s genius theory of economics into the modern purview, O’Rourke dispenses a whirlwind of irreverent interpretation which amuses and informs. Whether you’re curious about the fundamentals of capitalism or you want to understand why Angelina Jolie makes so much money, this is a book to feed your inner sarcastic intellect.