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265th out of 477 books
—
84 voters
Half Empty
by
David Rakoff
The inimitably witty David Rakoff, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Get Too Comfortable, defends the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst, because you’ll never be disappointed.
In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, Rakoff examines the realities of our sunny, gosh everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and...more
In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, Rakoff examines the realities of our sunny, gosh everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
September 21st 2010
by Doubleday
(first published 2010)
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Like any book of essays, there are some great ones that make the reader extol the genre and the author, and others that feel out of place... Rakoff's opening essay sets the tone for the book: he criticizes the positive psychology movement of the last half-century and tells people to be realistic - things may not get better, things may not change. He moves on to talk about all that is wrong with *Rent* the Broadway musical, his short-lived film career and the drama involved with a book author, hi...more
Kind of like David Sedaris, but even more bitter. And also, Canadian.
Damn. What a loss.
David Rakoff lived and loved, wrote and broadcast, suffered and died — an intense life packed into forty-seven years that ended with his death from cancer on August 9, 2012. The outpouring of grief at this far-too-early passing is testimony to how much he was loved by those who knew him personally and those who only knew him through his work, by his radio listeners and readers of his articles and books, by the literary community and the gay community.
Damn. What a loss.
"Shrimp"...more
David Rakoff lived and loved, wrote and broadcast, suffered and died — an intense life packed into forty-seven years that ended with his death from cancer on August 9, 2012. The outpouring of grief at this far-too-early passing is testimony to how much he was loved by those who knew him personally and those who only knew him through his work, by his radio listeners and readers of his articles and books, by the literary community and the gay community.
Damn. What a loss.
"Shrimp"...more
Jun 01, 2012
ba
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
neurotic Jews
Recommended to ba by:
I don't recall
As I read through this book of collected essays related to the utility of pessimism, I repeatedly found myself asking "What the hell is this? Where did I get this? Why am I reading it?" But in between, I was chuckling to myself, and generally enjoying being blindsided by the writing. Another reviewer compared the writing to (a meaner version of) David Sedaris, but to me, it was more like a character from a Phillip Roth novel come to life. I haven't read anything by Mister Rakoff previously, but...more
At last someone to defend those of us charged with the unforgivable crime of Negativity, that violation of the Positive Optimist's Penal Code; the false accusations hurled against those of us who think that maybe things aren't just going to work out if we apply smiley-brain waves or who wonder why there's injustice in the world and what should really matter to us humans.
The opening essay begins with September 2001 interviews with dot.com wunderkinds who blather on about the importance of conten...more
The opening essay begins with September 2001 interviews with dot.com wunderkinds who blather on about the importance of conten...more
from Roverarts.com 03.01.2011
There is something perverse in reviewing a book called Half Empty when you’re a glass-half-full kind of gal. Maybe I took on the challenge to see the world through the eyes of those friends and family who have often been the negative ions to my annoyingly positive charge. If this seems a tad personal, I am simply proving Rakoff’s theory that “…all research is Me-search.” It’s a reflection of how much Rakoff can annoy while endearing himself to the reader, and how muc...more
There is something perverse in reviewing a book called Half Empty when you’re a glass-half-full kind of gal. Maybe I took on the challenge to see the world through the eyes of those friends and family who have often been the negative ions to my annoyingly positive charge. If this seems a tad personal, I am simply proving Rakoff’s theory that “…all research is Me-search.” It’s a reflection of how much Rakoff can annoy while endearing himself to the reader, and how muc...more
Hmmm... So can I tag it "read" if I decided to stop reading it and never pick it up again??? I tried really hard for about 15 pages. The premise is very interesting and has a lot of potential, but I can't get into it because of the language/style used by this author. I'm struggling to describe this (and that's probably why I'm NOT an author), but he uses such complex language that your brain is tied up in following the adjectives and pronouns, that you miss the beauty of the story. For example,...more
Best said by Salon on the back cover, “To be sure, Rakoff can issue a withering snark with the best of them. But once his rapier wit has sliced the buttons off his target’s clothing, revealing the quivering, vulnerable mass within, his fundamental sense of decency gets the best of him.”
p. 25 As the writer Melissa Bank points out, the only proper response to a tearful "Why me?" is, sadly, "Why not you?" The sunniest, most positive child in Malaysia laboring in a fucking sneaker factory can visual...more
p. 25 As the writer Melissa Bank points out, the only proper response to a tearful "Why me?" is, sadly, "Why not you?" The sunniest, most positive child in Malaysia laboring in a fucking sneaker factory can visual...more
My first acquaintance with Rakoff's work was hearing him on "This American Life" recite a hilarious take on William Carlos Williams's "This is Just to Say" in his Bond-villain voice. I thought it was delightful and brilliant, but failed to read any further until this book came along. "Half Empty" gives you the opportunity to tag along and listen to this master pessimist as he winds his way through post-lapsarian America. During the brief hours you spend with this book, Rakoff, alternatively fasc...more
Y'know, I enjoy The Daily Show, but I only watch it very sporadically. I am very grateful, however, that I once again stumbled upon an episode with David Rakoff as a guest (still making John Stewart laugh I might add). I thoroughly enjoyed his book Don't Get Too Comfortable four years ago and I was not disappointed by his latest offering.
The cover of Half Empty sports the label, "WARNING!!! No Inspirational Life Lessons Will Be Found In These Pages" which is accurate, more like lessons in misant...more
The cover of Half Empty sports the label, "WARNING!!! No Inspirational Life Lessons Will Be Found In These Pages" which is accurate, more like lessons in misant...more
Oct 02, 2010
tina
added it
someone said that Rakoff's prose in his last book could use tightening. i found this book verbose to the point of distraction, which could be due to my preference for low-minded pop fiction, as opposed to critical statements on seeemingly random topics. as i pressed on, i don't know how many times the visual of a man tolling away at a typewriter appeared in my head. but maybe that was due to his 'adaptation' nicholas cage reference. i can safely say that, if lucky, it would take me about a year...more
I read this book not looking for a life lesson or a heart warming tale. In the end not only did I get that, but I didn't even realize it until the end, and I liked it.
Rakoff's wittiness and sharp black humor lulled me into a false sense of immunity, from the world and from disappointment. Sure, life can be crappy, but if you keep viewing it from the half-empty perspective you know it could get so much worse. However, throughout the book, slipping subtly into the narrative is this wisdom and pers...more
Rakoff's wittiness and sharp black humor lulled me into a false sense of immunity, from the world and from disappointment. Sure, life can be crappy, but if you keep viewing it from the half-empty perspective you know it could get so much worse. However, throughout the book, slipping subtly into the narrative is this wisdom and pers...more
My first acquaintance with Rakoff's work was hearing him on "This American Life" recite a hilarious take on William Carlos Williams's "This is Just to Say" in his Bond-villain voice. I thought it was delightful and brilliant, but failed to read any further until this book came along. "Half Empty" gives you the opportunity to tag along and listen to this master pessimist as he winds his way through post-lapsarian America. During the brief hours you spend with this book, Rakoff, alternatively fasc...more
This lovely book is dark and funny, and so very very sad. The final chapter was about the recurrence of cancer that killed him, so of course we read it knowing how it all turned out for him. He was such a lovely and complicated man. Although I highlighted many long passages, some hilarious bits, some poignant bits, and some great word choices, I’ll just share a couple here and hope you read the book.
* He was describing the movie “The Other Side of the Mountain,” based on the life of Jill Kinmont...more
* He was describing the movie “The Other Side of the Mountain,” based on the life of Jill Kinmont...more
I am venal and glib and too clever by half.
My daughter was just involved in the Sears Festival, an adjudicated presentation of youth plays from area high schools, and we showed up on the night that the awards were to be presented. When my husband and I entered, we saw her with some friends and asked how the plays went that evening. Her boyfriend told us that the first play of the night was really strange: A person would come out and start telling a monologue about how he was feeling and then a d...more
My daughter was just involved in the Sears Festival, an adjudicated presentation of youth plays from area high schools, and we showed up on the night that the awards were to be presented. When my husband and I entered, we saw her with some friends and asked how the plays went that evening. Her boyfriend told us that the first play of the night was really strange: A person would come out and start telling a monologue about how he was feeling and then a d...more
I listened to the audio version of this book on the way to and from work, and I find myself wishing I had bought the print version because there are so many quotes from this book that I love. Shayne checked it out from the library -- I think I'd like to go ahead and buy the kindle version so I can go through and highlight the passages I love. Rakoff has a quirky writing style that I really enjoy, full of little asides and parenthetical details. The book is wryly funny, but mostly it's dramatic a...more
Dec 27, 2011
Brendan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011,
audio,
history-journalism,
memoir-autobio,
humor,
non-fiction,
philosophy-religion,
politics
David Rakoff is one of those writers whose every word makes me wish I were a better writer. He dashes similes across the page with Raymond Chandler’s gusto, and his reading voice is downright heavenly. The only thing one can complain about is that the cost of his erudition must be speed, as he publishes far less than the other writers I put in his category: your Sarah Vowells, your David Sedarises, and so on. That said, Half Empty is another triumph. Some thoughts:
While Rakoff skewers everythin...more
While Rakoff skewers everythin...more
I don’t generally read nonfiction, but the description of this book won me over. (When I do read it, it’s either quirky memoirs like AJ Jacobs or snarky essays like David Sedaris.)
“In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, David examines the realities of our sunny, gosh-everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won’t come true.
“...more
“In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, David examines the realities of our sunny, gosh-everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won’t come true.
“...more
I first heard the author on either or both Fresh Air and This American Life, and enjoyed a few of his earlier books. The end of this book (on CD read by the author, who is a wonderful reader), closes in on his end -- it's about the pain in his neck, which we know now and he learns is a mets from earlier cancer treatment that will eventually kill him.
You know how they say we have vocabularies of (I'm making this up because I'm being lazy about seeking the actual figures) of 500,000 words, but we...more
You know how they say we have vocabularies of (I'm making this up because I'm being lazy about seeking the actual figures) of 500,000 words, but we...more
At times indicting, and at times heartbreaking, this collection by Rakoff really hit me in the final essay that allowed him the space to explore his own mortality and existence in the face of his second bout with cancer. I am not giving anything away in saying that it is the disease that he battled his entire life that eventually killed him in August 2012 at 47, but it was this essay that literally left me weeping with the knowledge that his optimism, his knowledge, his brain, his arm, and his e...more
Feb 13, 2013
Ryan
added it
Not being a fan of deliberately quirky and satirical essays (I still don't get David Sedaris), I went into this collection skeptical. But as I'd heard it was vaguely about death (not really) and Rakoff grappling with his own impending mortality, I was intrigued. I enjoyed the essays, mostly. They had more gravity than I expected, and the final essay dealing overtly with his cancer isn't particularly funny, and he doesn't try to make it so (in fact, he snidely criticizes the "take no prisoners,"...more
Dec 15, 2012
Laura
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-have-listened-to-while-comm
It was an odd experience reading this book, and especially listening to this book, which is narrated by Rackoff himself. The essays deal largely with themes of pessimism and sadness, and the last essay in the collection is the story of his lymphoma return and his treatment the second time around. Knowing that he eventually succumbed to cancer this year--two years after this book was published--put in under a certain kind of melancholic haze. Which was, actually, appropriate.
Rackoff's stories are...more
Rackoff's stories are...more
The day after David Rakoff died, I saw this book (on CD) prominently displayed on the circulation desk in my local library. After reading his obit in the NY Times the day before, I thought to pick it up. The librarian was a great advocate of the author. It was as if she had a personal connection with the author (maybe she did - it is in the NY metro area), felt the book was a great gift to be bestowed upon all who read it, and she wanted to share her delight in it.
It was read by the author, whic...more
It was read by the author, whic...more
Feb 03, 2011
Lisa Doublestein
added it
I am having the hardest time getting through this one. I typically love listening to David Rakoff and even wrote Audible.com, asking for this book on audio format. But I'm finding it to be smarmy rather than funny or even interesting enough to get me through a short run. His cynicism and snobbish observations are typically great to listen to - but are overly exaggerated in this book - now he just sounds like a snob.
First, I was halfway through this book when I found out that David Rakoff passed away. Certainly adds a different feel to a book about positive negativism and the vapid and misguided attempts at imagining or engendering the happy happy at Disney, in Hollywood, or at a porn expo in NYC.
The essays and observations herein are typical Rakovian expositions with big words, big ideas, and acute insight into zeitgeist and the human condition. Then he throws in one-liners that make you snort out loud.
I r...more
The essays and observations herein are typical Rakovian expositions with big words, big ideas, and acute insight into zeitgeist and the human condition. Then he throws in one-liners that make you snort out loud.
I r...more
There are so many quotable passages in the witty, thrillingly honest, satiric and sweet report from the fields of contemporary urban America, but I'll choose one. In writing about his serious and ongoing bout with cancer, and knowing how difficult it can be for people to say the "right thing" he says:
"people are really trying their best. Just like being happy and sad, you will find yourself on both sides of the equation many times over your lifetime, either saying or hearing the wrong thing. Let...more
"people are really trying their best. Just like being happy and sad, you will find yourself on both sides of the equation many times over your lifetime, either saying or hearing the wrong thing. Let...more
I checked this book out of the library the day after David Rakoff died. So I started out in a melancholy, bittersweet frame of mind which is perfect for reading this book. A close look at the cover sets the mood. There's the happy woodland creatures oblivious to the fact that there's a rifle pointed right at them, the smiling, waving canoer heading for the falls, and in the background fire and brimstone about to erupt.
I admire Rakoff's talent, but admit that in one moment he can seem like an ins...more
I admire Rakoff's talent, but admit that in one moment he can seem like an ins...more
ummm...i guess this is a book of essays. if i recall, david rakoff is a neurotic gay new yorker & his stuff is reasonably amusing, but he was also diagnosed with cancer & writes about that in a way that is very poignant but also self-deprecating. i have a dim recollection of enjoying this book enough when i read it that i was reluctant to put it down & go do something else, but that was like three months ago & as is so often the case with slice-of-life humorous essay compilations...more
Another Christmas present -- thank you Mom and Dad! This is a collection of first-person essays by David Rakoff, who most people have probably heard of from "This American Life." For a while I was pretty sure this would be a three star book, but the last essay tipped the scales and made it 4. Overall, Rakoff's style can be a little wordy and complicated, but his observations are so keen and honest that I forgave him by the end. (Note: After I criticized him for being wordy, I ended up writing a...more
It's a mixed bag. I was astonished by the ending, especially given the recent headline about Rakoff's death. This is a beautifully written book. Each sentence is a gem, but at times I got lost in what he meant and didn't care to go back and find out. At other times, I laughed so hard that I decided to write down his hilarious bits. Some great lines taken out of context:
"This woman...who wouldn't know me if I stood up in her soup, [...]"
"I once joked that if I knew the world would end in one day...more
"This woman...who wouldn't know me if I stood up in her soup, [...]"
"I once joked that if I knew the world would end in one day...more
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David Rakoff (November 27, 1964 – August 9, 2012) was an essayist, journalist, and actor. Originally from Canada, Rakoff is a graduate of Columbia University, he obtained dual Canadian-American citizenship in 2003, and currently resided for much of his life in New York City. His brother Simon is a stand-up comedian.
Rakoff has written for the New York Times Magazine, Outside, GQ, Vogue and Salon. H...more
More about David Rakoff...
Rakoff has written for the New York Times Magazine, Outside, GQ, Vogue and Salon. H...more
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“People are really trying their best. Just like being happy and sad, you will find yourself on both sides of the equation many times over your lifetime, either saying or hearing the wrong thing. Let's all give each other a pass, shall we?”
—
33 people liked it
“The only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out; a deeply lonely and unglamorous task of tolerating oneself long enough to push something out.”
—
21 people liked it
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