{"title":"David Rakoff","description":"David Rakoff is the author of four New York Times bestsellers: the essay collections Fraud, Don't Get Too Comfortable, and Half Empty,  and the novel in verse Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish. A two-time recipient of the Lambda Literary Award and winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, he was a regular contributor to Public Radio International's This American Life. His writing frequently appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Wired, Salon, GQ, Outside, Gourmet, Vogue, and Slate, among other publications. An accomplished stage and screen actor, playwright, and screenwriter, he adapted the screenplay for and starred in Joachim Back's film The New Tenants, which won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. He died in 2012.","products":[{"product_id":"fraud-essays-paperback","title":"Fraud: Essays - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e alum David Rakoff comes a hilarious collection that single-handedly raises self-deprecation to an art form. Whether impersonating Sigmund Freud in a department store window during the holidays, climbing an icy mountain in cheap loafers, or learning primitive survival skills in the wilds of New Jersey, Rakoff clearly demonstrates how he doesn't belong-nor does he try to. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn his debut collection of essays, Rakoff uses his razor-sharp wit and snarky humor to deliver a barrage of damaging blows that, more often than not, land squarely on his own jaw-hilariously satirizing the writer, not the subject. Joining the wry and the heartfelt, \u003ci\u003eFraud\u003c\/i\u003e offers an object lesson in not taking life, or ourselves, too seriously.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom \"This American Life alum David Rakoff comes a hilarious collection that single-handedly raises self-deprecation to an art form. Whether impersonating Sigmund Freud in a department store window during the holidays, climbing an icy mountain in cheap loafers, or learning primitive survival skills in the wilds of New Jersey, Rakoff clearly demonstrates how he doesn't belong-nor does he try to. In his debut collection of essays, Rakoff uses his razor-sharp wit and snarky humor to deliver a barrage of damaging blows that, more often than not, land squarely on his own jaw-hilariously satirizing the writer, not the subject. Joining the wry and the heartfelt, \"Fraud offers an object lesson in not taking life, or ourselves, too seriously.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51375539159263,"sku":"9780767906319","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/4ZJdOpNnto9780767906319.webp?v=1789203688"},{"product_id":"dont-get-too-comfortable-the-indignities-of-coach-class-the-torments-of-low-thread-count-the-never-ending-quest-for-artisanal-olive-oil-and-othe-paperback","title":"Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Othe - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eA bitingly funny grand tour of our culture of excess from an award-winning humorist. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhether David Rakoff is contrasting the elegance of one of the last flights of the supersonic Concorde with the good-times-and-chicken-wings populism of Hooters Air; working as a cabana boy at a South Beach hotel; or traveling to a private island off the coast of Belize to watch a soft-core video shoot--where he is provided with his very own personal manservant--rarely have greed, vanity, selfishness, and vapidity been so mercilessly skewered. Somewhere along the line, our healthy self-regard has exploded into obliterating narcissism; our manic getting and spending have now become celebrated as moral virtues. Simultaneously a Wildean satire and a plea for a little human decency, \u003ci\u003e Don't Get Too Comfortable\u003c\/i\u003e shows that far from being bobos in paradise, we're in a special circle of gilded-age hell.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems \u003cbr\u003eDavid Rakoff's collection of autobiographical essays, Fraud, established him as one of our funniest, most insightful writers. In Don't Get Too Comfortable, Rakoff journeys into the land of plenty that is contemporary North America. Rarely have greed, vanity, selfishness, and vapidity been so mercilessly and wittily portrayed. \u003cbr\u003eWhether contrasting the elegance of one of the last flights of the supersonic Concorde with the good times and chicken wings of Hooters Air, portraying the rarified universe of Paris fashion shows where an evening dress can cost as much as four years of college, or traveling to a private island off the coast of Belize to watch a soft-core Playboy TV shoot, where he is provided with his very own personal manservant, David Rakoff takes us on a bitingly funny grand tour of our culture of excess, delving into the manic getting and spending that defines the North American way of life. \u003cbr\u003eSomewhere along the line, our healthy self-regard has exploded into obliterating narcissism, and Rakoff is there to map that frontier. He sits through the grotesqueries of \"avant garde\" vaudeville in Times Square immediately following 9\/11. Twenty days without food allows him to experience firsthand the wonders of \"detoxification,\" and the frozen world of cryonics, whose promise of eternal life is the ultimate status symbol, leaves him very cold indeed (much to our good fortune). \u003cbr\u003eAt once a Wildean satire of our ridiculous culture of overconsumption and a plea for a little human decency, Don't Get Too Comfortable is a bitingly funnygrand tour of our special circle of gilded-age hell.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376599728351,"sku":"9780767916035","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/4hoSuGCBwz9780767916035.webp?v=1789218125"},{"product_id":"the-uncollected-david-rakoff-including-the-entire-text-of-love-dishonor-marry-die-cherish-perish-paperback","title":"The Uncollected David Rakoff: Including the entire text of Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eBestselling and Thurber Prize-winning humorist David Rakoff was one of the most original, delightfully acerbic voices of his generation. Here, in one place, is the best of his previously uncollected material--most never before published in book form. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e David Rakoff's singular personality spills from every page of this witty and entertaining volume, which includes travel features, early fiction works, pop culture criticism, and transcripts of his most memorable appearances on public radio's \u003ci\u003eFresh Air \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese writings chart his transformation from fish out of water, meekly arriving for college in 1982, to a proud New Yorker bluntly opining on how to walk properly in the city. They show his unparalleled ability to capture the pleasures of solitary pursuits like cooking and crafting, especially in times of trouble; as well as the ups and downs in the life-span of a friendship, whether it is a real relationship or an imaginary correspondence between Gregor Samsa and Dr. Seuss (co-authored with Jonathan Goldstein). Also included is his novel-in-verse \u003ci\u003eLove, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e By turns hilarious, incisive and deeply moving, this collection highlights the many facets of Rakoff's huge talent and shows the arc of his remarkable career. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a foreword by Paul Rudnick.\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376684728543,"sku":"9780307946478","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/CvdiHN_RYB9780307946478.webp?v=1789221688"},{"product_id":"half-empty-paperback","title":"Half Empty - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this deeply smart and sneakily poignant collection of essays, the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eFraud \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDon't Get Too Comfortable\u003c\/i\u003e makes an inspired case for always assuming the worst--because then you'll never be disappointed. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhether he's taking on pop culture phenomena with Oscar Wilde-worthy wit or dealing with personal tragedy, Rakoff's sharp observations and humorist's flair for the absurd will have you positively reveling in the untapped power of negativity.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377591550175,"sku":"9780767929059","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/tXVotvQwAR9780767929059.webp?v=1789236137"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/david-rakoff.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}