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Dec 17, 2009

ari rated it:

So, I promised myself that I would stray away from the non-fiction universe after perusing a particularly disturbing online survey that noted that for the most part, unhappy people read non-fiction because they are unwilling to bask in the fervent imagination of a good fiction writer. This is to say that non-fiction writers are inherently unimaginative, and the people that read their work are depressed boors staving off suicide one "Chicken Soup for the _______ Soul" at a time.
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2 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Melissa rated it:

I went to the bookstore looking for a Sedaris book because I needed to laugh. I was distraught to learn that I'd read everything he'd written!

David Rakoff, like his peer David Sedaris, has occasionally been featured on Public Radio's "This American Life." His (writer's) voice is not as dark as Sedaris'... but he is quite hilarous; I bought this book in hopes of laughing, and was not disappointed. The man knows how to turn a phrase. May I please quote a passage where h More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2008

Jack rated it:

Ironically, as a secular humanist who shows no patience for groups like the Christian Right, Rakoff actually practies what those groups preach: He hates the sin, but loves the sinners. Or rather, he hates the stupid, shallow practices of modern American life, but shows a certain empathetic tolerance for the people who practice them.

Rakoff's criticisms of the absurd and narcisstic aspects of modern american life are intelligently snarky and, even better, consistently ring true. He More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2008

Charlotte rated it:

Although I enjoyed reading this book, I found it disappointing for a number of reasons. First, the contents have nothing at all to do with the title--none of the essays mentions artisanal olive oil or low-thread-count sheets, for example. Second, I didn't really "get it"--I just couldn't figure out what the point was. And finally, the author's non sequitur cheap shots at Republicans and George Bush were off-putting (there's plenty to complain about without just inserting random anti-Bu More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Trin rated it:

David Rakoff is my hero (and one of my many, many gay Canadian boyfriends). He's hilariously funny, but there's real meat to this volume, too. My favorite essays are the one exploring Rakoff's mixed feelings upon deciding to become an American citizen, and the chapter about the Log Cabin Republicans. In the latter Rakoff presents himself as sympathetic to their plight yet understandably completely baffled by gay Republicans' attempts to earn a place inside "the big tent" (the essay's More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

Highly entertaining, but I have to say, he uses lots of words I didn't know, and I consider myself to be a pretty educated person. The writing is a little awkward and lacks flow at times, but overall, it's a quick and funny read that covers lots of strange situations, from a flight on the hooters airline, to suspended reanimation conferences.

Some essays are funnier than others, but I love anybody that calls Barbara Bush (senior) a "stupid cunt" and Barbara Bush (junior) a " More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Denise rated it:

I knew this was gonna be good when, in the first half page, the author compares loving America as a Canadian to loving the schoolyard bully's daily battery and petty theft. If you're the kind of person who resents the blog "Stuff White People Like", this guy will probably rub you the wrong way, but honestly, it's funny because it's true and this guy will make you laugh regardless. This book was like an amalgamation of my seven funniest friends if they were sent on a trip around the w More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2007

Kate rated it:

Does anyone write like David Rakoff? I challenge you.

It's a book best listened to on audio. His rhythm of speech, the emphasis he gives some words really makes his elegant language choices and wit shine like something always freshly polished.
I listen to this when I've lost my faith 1. in nonfiction writing or 2. in my way of viewing the world...both of which take place more often than I'd like.

"A grass-soup situation is a self-dramatizing one based on such a p More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2007

Danielle rated it:

The title of this book is really catchy and I rushed out immediately to buy it. Instead of a critique of all the ridiculous things people do and care about in the first world, it was a random report of different experiences he did on purpose to see what it owuld be like. For example, is fasting a problem of the first world? Perhaps he means pushing aside food when there is plenty, but that is more like anorexia. Fasting is not a first world phenomena and I would say it is not widespread eithe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Joe rated it:

Like Sedaris, Rakoff writes in a dry, self-deprecating voice that makes him immediately endearing (unless you have a problem with left-wing gay men). These relaxed essays don't rely on family anecdotes as much as Sedaris, nor are they as sentimental. Rakoff is a humorist first and the satirical observations on Americanism and a culture of excess make for great light reading that's guilt free, so long as you don't pay $50/lb for imported sea salt from France.

David Rakoff makes me More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Devon rated it:

It seems that David Sedaris sparked something several years back and there was suddenly a new crop of gay male memoirists. I didn't find any of them particularly funny (except for Sedaris himself) and so I approached Rakoff's book with skepticism.

But I loved it! This man is actually funny. He isn't incredibly self-involved (see: Augusten Burroughs). He writes about intesting things (the chapter on the Log Cabin Republicans was especially good).

The book is also an in More...

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Jun 30, 2008

Heather rated it:

I didn't love all of the essays included in this book, but the last few chapters (essays on the Log Cabin Republicans, plastic surgery, and cryogenics) were fabulous.

And then there is this, "If for example, it came to light that the dangerously thin, affectless, value-deficient, higher aspiration-free, amateur porn auteuse Paris Hilton was actually a covert agent from some secret Taliban madrassa whose mission was to portray the ultimate capiltalist-whore puppet of a doomed so More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2011

sleeps9hours rated it:

Rakoff is a regular contributor to This American Life. This 2005 book of personal essays has some great funny parts and a snarky sensibility, but was immediately shadowed in my mind by his next book, Half-Empty (2010), which is leaps and bounds greater in writing ability. Still, a quick and entertaining read.

An example from a passage where he describes the experience of meeting a snotty designer while reporting at a fashion show:

"All of the designers I have met up to More...

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Jun 03, 2009

kailin rated it:

So I've heard this guy on This American Life and thought I'd try his book out. Now, I think the David Sedaris comparison has been made, but it's unavoidable. The voice of David Rakoff is very similar: witty, sharp, biting, dry, highly observant. However, whereas Sedaris writes about organic experiences--things that occur naturally in his life, most of Rakoff's experiences are "experienced" purely for the sake of writing about them. He actually sets out to find odd experiences so he ca More...

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Dec 24, 2011

Suzanne rated it:

I admit, I love pointing out "Rich People Problems" to my fellow educationed, white, middle-class family and friends as they bitch about their iPhones and the slightly undercooked beef at mediocre chain restaurants. That is until I had my problem with the Kindle Fire to be labeled as the same (shout-out to sister-in-law Ellen for that nail on the head). It is fun to point out the grotesque nature of excess, as long as we all recognize our true desires to experience it. I love that Dav More...

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Aug 10, 2010

jess rated it:

This book is a collection of nonfiction essays about the American culture of excess. Rakoff turns his attention to the obscene extravaganza that defines the lives of many here and now. From Hooters Air to beachside luxury resorts, Rakoff roasts the completely unnecessary things we do while we pretend they are totally normal. His time spent with his own manservant during a softcore shoot on a private island in Belize boggled my mind. "Is this real?" I asked myself. Rakoff stumbles most More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Sherrie rated it:

I want to really enjoy Rakoff’s essays because he desperately wants to be in the same league as Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris. Rakoff’s writing is just off/mean enough not to be included into their league. Quite frankly, looking back, I can’t remember too much about these essays…which speaks volumes. An okay volume of essays…not the best. I’ll read him again…give him another chance. Book #10 of my 2006 Book List, finished reading it on 2-20-06.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2009

Susan rated it:

I must make a confession here. While the book was certainly witty, and laugh-out-loud funny in some places, I think I was looking for something more. I was expecting more academic sociology--incisive commentary and analysis of society's excesses--and I got, well, light observational essays a la David Sedaris. Unfair? Maybe. Stupid of me? Guilty! Did I miss the point? Oh my yes, and we all know I'm very good at that. But I read an entire bookful of David Rakoff jetting to private islands and atte More...

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Aug 04, 2009

Cherie rated it:

Possibly my favorite contemporary writer. His fiction (like an excellent entry on "This American Life" about a holiday party gone wrong) is entertaining. But his essays on American culture are spot-on. They are well-crafted, well-researched, and clever. Rakoff doesn't need to resort to the same snark behind which many writers hide.

In this collection, Rakoff explores just how selfish we have become, and how that selfishness manifests itself. And the writer is not exempt More...

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Dec 16, 2009

gwen rated it:

These essays are solidly in the "I write essays about myself and things that happen to my upper-middle-class self blah blah" category, but Rakoff's self-awareness makes it totally palatable and drains away any pretentiousness. I think he is the best of the This American Life writers and their ilk... certainly I think he is a better wordsmith than Vowell or Sedaris, although truthfully I kind of love them all anyway.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2011

Osho rated it:

The title is a misnomer; Rakoff is not, in fact comfortable with luxury; he is in some ways even uncomfortable with the fantasy of luxury. A better title would be Discomfort. Though the book belongs firmly in the genre of Gay Men Observing Culture, Rakoff, though anxious, is less neurotic than David Sedaris and kinder than Augustin Burroughs. A quick read, gentle and enjoyable, but not momentous.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 28, 2010

Neil rated it:

I saw Rakoff on The Daily Show and he seemed like a nice enough guy so I thought I’d give his collection of high society/ pop culture essays a shot. But I’m not sure taking shots at the Hooter’s plane really warrants print publication. Mocking the Hooters plane is water-cooler comedy, not US Library of Congress comedy. If you want to mock them on TV at least we can see the waitresses. The other topics he covers are more a reflection him, than what he’s covering. Do I need to know what it’s like More...

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Nov 02, 2007

Kristin rated it:

This was disappointing. The first chapter had so much promise, so much hope to be a wonderful book, but then it was kind of...blah. And the cover line about "The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems"? There was nothing about ANY of those things in there. Bummer.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 12, 2010

Bryce rated it:

If real life had more Western movie moments, this would already have happened:

A small, wiry dark-haired stranger approaches David Rakoff on a dusty street, as the high noon sun beats down on them both.

"There's only room for one gay, liberal, self-deprecating essayist from New York in this town, David."

David Rakoff tips his hat. "I 'cpect you're right, David."

The other David being, of course, David Sedaris the reigning king of t More...

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May 13, 2011

Sherri rated it:

Rakoff is similar to David Sedaris. Like Sedaris he is funny, observant, gay and writes about the awkward and peculiar situations he finds himself. He isn't as autobiographical as Sedaris, at least not judging by this collection of short essays. He is snarky, witty and would be a great person to chat with at a party. Yet I didn't feel the same empathy with him as I have with Sedaris but again this is the first time I've heard Rakoff.

I found myself snickering over the first entry, when More...

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Dec 12, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

Less of a humor book and more of a collection of philosophical essays, Don't Get Too Comfortable narrates (with SAT-worthy diction) the author's personal experiences as a gay Canadian-American journalist. Published in 2005, some of Rakoff's insights, particularly regarding the wave of xenophobia post 9/11, feel dated. Other anecdotes, however, are still relevant, such as the discussions of cryo-preservation and of cosmetic surgery. Rakoff writes with the spirit of a poet; consider the evocati More...

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Aug 30, 2010

MariNaomi rated it:

David Rakoff, it seems, gets paid to investigate the odd results of a society with too much money and free time on their hands: a class on foraging in Central Park, a Playboy model shoot, gay Republicans, haute couture and cryogenics to name a few. Some of these essays were funnier than others (and there were definitely a number of hilarious moments, my favorite being an F-U he gives to a certain famous clothing designer who treats him rudely), and there were only a couple times that I got a lit More...

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Dec 14, 2010

Brian rated it:

David Rakoff is very witty and incredibly intelligent. The book had me laughing out loud at several points, which takes a lot for a book to do. His work also creates a strong argument for the idea that the larger your vocabulary is, the more humor you can divine. That said, the segments in which he is more genuinely outraged and has more substantive things to be more genuinely outraged about are far more interesting than his criticisms of the elitist excesses he chooses to involve himself in More...

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Oct 10, 2011

Jonathan rated it:

Ummmmm.....there are things in this book that are truly memorable...aesthetic moments, they are called- when you never really look at things quite the same way after...the book takes you to some interesting places, and you feel like you're on a really cool World-Class field trip with someone really special, someone with an inside track. I don't get that feeling very often these days. So, thus the three stars. And, I have to love someone who hates the Bush family the way I do. Also, the descr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 29, 2010

Katie rated it:

If I could give a negative number of stars for a book - this one would merit it. I am just SO grateful that Mr. Rakoff wrote this book. Without it I would never have known how much better and smarter and more intelligent the author is than the rest of us. Perhaps this book should be required reading in schools so that more people will be aware of what a pompous ass the author truly is. There was no way to win me back after he all but mocked the happiness of the new citizens as they took the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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