Stuff White People Like
by Christian Lander
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Read in August, 2008
Okay, I have to admit that what I liked most about this was that each of the 150 "chapters" were about a page each, which made it really easy to pick up and read when I just had a minute or two.
Although according to the quiz I am only 10% white, I got a good chuckle over quite a few of the things "the right kind of white person" likes. Two of my favorites?
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
"When white people aren't working, they generally like to wear outdoor...more
Although according to the quiz I am only 10% white, I got a good chuckle over quite a few of the things "the right kind of white person" likes. Two of my favorites?
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
"When white people aren't working, they generally like to wear outdoor...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to selena by:
Colin B.recommends it for: aspiring white folks and those interested in a white upgrade
As any true white person knows, our book came out just a few weeks ago. Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander is one of the funniest things I’ve read all year. If you aren’t up on how to be the whitest you can be, this will definitely tell you everything from which authors to read (stick to Sedaris) and which newspapers you should make sure to always have on your coffee table while other white people visit your Ikea infested abode(The New Yorker and the New York Times, respectively).
...more
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This book is mortifying! It lists short essays on 150 things white people embrace. And not the "wrong kind" of white people, who would be those considered trashy or not within the important artistic and aware cities of New York, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle or Austin. According to it, I am at least 40% white, which = pompous. At first I was a little nervous about the title because I thought it might be idiotically off-base or embarrassigly white while pretending not to be. Nope. It...more
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Missing entry in this book: Painfully Self-Aware and Unfunny Lampooning of Consumer Habits and Aesthetic Choices in Lame, Not-Even-Clever Pseudo-Anthropological Voice.
Seriously, didn't softcore right-wing douche David Brooks do something like this 8 years ago in Bobos in Paradise? I think even he went about it in an only slightly less annoying fashion than the writer of this book, because he dispensed with the cloying Creative Writing 101 workshop gimmick of writing from the pers...more
Seriously, didn't softcore right-wing douche David Brooks do something like this 8 years ago in Bobos in Paradise? I think even he went about it in an only slightly less annoying fashion than the writer of this book, because he dispensed with the cloying Creative Writing 101 workshop gimmick of writing from the pers...more
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Read in July, 2008
What White People Will Learn:
-That everything you do to be different makes you the same as everyone else.
-Whether or not you're 'the right kind of white person'
-What other white people are doing that you could be doing to become even whiter.
What People of Color Will Learn:
-How to become friends with/manipulate white people
-How to make sure you only befriend/manipulate 'the right kind of white person'
-How to talk to white people and have them think that you are cool/smart/fun/roma...more
-That everything you do to be different makes you the same as everyone else.
-Whether or not you're 'the right kind of white person'
-What other white people are doing that you could be doing to become even whiter.
What People of Color Will Learn:
-How to become friends with/manipulate white people
-How to make sure you only befriend/manipulate 'the right kind of white person'
-How to talk to white people and have them think that you are cool/smart/fun/roma...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
diehard fans of the SWPL site, suckers for satire
I love the website and give it 5 stars:
stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com
But I was disappointed by the book. It does have the same uncanny insight into "white" culture that the site does, but not much else. Yes, there is some content that isn't available on the site. Also, a few amusing graphics, i.e. a flowchart telling you how to name your white child, and a pie chart showing what you'll find in a white person's reusable canvas shopping bag. But there are very few of thes...more
stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com
But I was disappointed by the book. It does have the same uncanny insight into "white" culture that the site does, but not much else. Yes, there is some content that isn't available on the site. Also, a few amusing graphics, i.e. a flowchart telling you how to name your white child, and a pie chart showing what you'll find in a white person's reusable canvas shopping bag. But there are very few of thes...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Jesse
This is hilarious. It's not so much a satire of white culture as of white, 20 and 30-something, liberal, grad school-attending, Starbucks-drinking (and hating!), organic food-shopping and mac-computing white culture.
About half-way through, you start to realize that all of the entries have something to do with how educated young white professionals latch onto an indie, carbon-neutral aesthetic (and and the products that go along with it -- reusable shopping bags, Nalgene bottles, Toyota Priu...more
About half-way through, you start to realize that all of the entries have something to do with how educated young white professionals latch onto an indie, carbon-neutral aesthetic (and and the products that go along with it -- reusable shopping bags, Nalgene bottles, Toyota Priu...more
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My favorite part is the subtitle: "A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions." Parts are brilliant and spot-on, while some parts made me think the author was really grasping for something to write. (I.e. Scarves with tee-shirts? Really? And the part about acoustic versions of songs that shouldn't be acoustic seems a little out of place when one considers all the cool things that hip-hop has done with pop, rock and classical.) What I appreciated most about the book was the chal...more
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recommended to Brian by:
The white-run media
recommends it for: Jillian, Melisa, Emily Coolbeth
recommends it for: Jillian, Melisa, Emily Coolbeth
Surely by now you've been referred to the Web site Stuff White People Like by a white friend or one of the white media sources (NPR, NYT, Salon) that have profiled it.
About half the material in here is just reprinted from the site -- which to be fair you can't put on your coffee table or in your bathroom -- but there's plenty of new stuff, plus information, illustrations and infographics, that's made the print version additionally...more
About half the material in here is just reprinted from the site -- which to be fair you can't put on your coffee table or in your bathroom -- but there's plenty of new stuff, plus information, illustrations and infographics, that's made the print version additionally...more
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9 comments
Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Emilie, Carrie
I read this blog regularly and when I heard there would be a book, as Michael Buckley would say, I had to have it! The hilarious entries are so true and remind me of many people that I know. It might be seen by others as cheap, but it either takes incredible insightfulness or we are just easy to read. I laughed out loud the whole way through and the flowcharts of white career progression and the timeline of gentrification of neighborhoods were perfect additions. I discovered I am 21% white! High...more
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So this book is kinda funny. But it's pretty repetitive and the joke gets old after a while. I didn't finish it; if I want to read more about how nerdy and dumb we crackers are, I will just visit the blog. Honestly, if he had just streamlined this book and made it like the top 50 things or even top 100, it probably would have been hilarious and not gotten so old so quick. Oh well.
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Read in July, 2008
It was an amusing take on "white culture"--I thought many of the scenarios were very funny, especially since they don't occur exclusively in Caucasian social circles at all. A super fun and fast ride. I would recommend as great reading for bathroom stands, as all the things white people like are organized into 150 readings about things like "Reusable Plastic Bags" and "Divorce". However, a reminder: this is a humorous book, so please don't take it too seriously.
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Tara by:
a friendrecommends it for: white people who can laugh at themselves
It's one of the funniest books that I've read in a long time. I'm a huge fan of the website and I was so excited to hear that a book was coming out. My roommate and I liked to sit on the porch with our neighbors reading sections out-loud. There was always someone who could relate to each topic. I've already loaned this to another neighbor. Do all of your white friends a favor and loan them this book once you finish it. They will appreciate it.
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
a white person / a non-white person
I scored a 50% on the White Scale (meaning I strongly identified with 75 of the 150 things white people like). A very amusing read, if you take it like a field guide. Here we see the adolescent white male, grooming his beard in the mirror before heading off to his job at a non-profit organization in his Prius... that sort of thing. I was a little disappointed that 100 of the 150 were already posted on the website, which I had already read.
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recommends it for:
anyone needing a good laugh
This is an extremely funny and light-hearted book that pokes fun of our white culture. It has me laughing out loud and I would recommend this to anyone needing a good chuckle. My favorites so far are graduate school, coffee, apologies, sushi and dogs, mostly because they pertain to me and it's great to laugh at myself. If you don't want to buy the book, most of his witty accounts can be found on the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.
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1 comments
This is a coffee table "list" book - the premise is pointing out the totally generic things that supposedly white America likes. I am only 17% white according to this book. I would add some subtitles to more specifically identify what people "like" the things in this book, which has little to do with race and more to do with certain people's ideas of self-importance, and of being trendy with causes and thinking.
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Anna by:
Andrerecommends it for: people with a good sense of humor
This is a hilarious analysis of mainstream "white" culture in America. The writing is fantastic and it's definitely not PC but if you can laugh at yourself and/or others without being easily offended, this is the book for you. There's definitely some truth to the stereotypes that he's identified but I hope readers are not naive enough to assume that this is truly what all white people are like.
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Read in August, 2008
Funny and a quick read-a good little pick me up book. Took the quiz at the end and discovered I am only 10-20% white but the frightening thing was as I read the book I realized that I aspired to be more. While one part of my brain realized that I shouldn't want to be like these people there was another part of my brain telling me to subscribe to McSweeney's and learn more about cheese.
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while i was initially skeptical of this book (how do you tell the things that only white people like?), i was won over by their description of Portland: the Lord of the Flies of white people, but in the Pacific Northwest. i think the book was actually written by a white person, thus making liking the book an exercise in redundancy... and yes, white people love this book.
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
janna
Hmmm. This hit a bit too close to home, but being able to laugh at one's self is important, right?
"Stuff White People Like" covers NPR, David Sardris, and talking about how much they hated high school. I related a bit too well. Overall, i think the blog is better. It is easier to laugh at one's self in 2-3 minute intervals.
"Stuff White People Like" covers NPR, David Sardris, and talking about how much they hated high school. I related a bit too well. Overall, i think the blog is better. It is easier to laugh at one's self in 2-3 minute intervals.
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