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Fraud
Fraud | David Rakoff
10 posts | 8 read | 10 to read
A frequent contributor to the New York Times magazine, Outside, Salon, and GQ, and a regular on Public Radio International's "This American Life,"David Rakoff's debut collection of essays is simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny and take-your-breath-away poignant. David Rakoff is a fish out of water. Whether he finds himself on assignment climbing Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire donning a pair of Timberlands for his trek, only to realize with horror that "the shoes I wouldn't be caught dead in might actually turn out to be the shoes I am caught dead in." sitting quietly impersonating Sigmund Freud in a department store window...for a month, or musing on the unique predicament of being undetectably Canadian in New York City ("...what's more spicy than being Canadian, I ask you?"), Rakoff has a gift for exposing life's humour and pathos. Fraud takes us places even we didn't know we wanted to go: expeditions as varied as a search for elves in Iceland, a foray into soap opera acting, or contemplating the gin-soaked olive at the bottom of a martini glass. With the sharpest of eyes, David Rakoff explores the odd and ordinary events of life, spotting what is unique, funny and absurd in the world around him. But for all its razor-sharp wit and snarky humor, Fraud is also, ultimately, an object lesson in not taking life, or oneself, too seriously. From the Hardcover edition.
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review
britt_brooke
britt_brooke
Fraud | David Rakoff
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rakoff‘s first essay collection, published in 2001, is a mix of journalistic fieldwork-type endeavors and personal stories. I love his wit and dark humor. The last essay was strongest, still funny, yet profoundly heartbreaking, as he touched on his radiation treatments. Cancer ultimately took him from the world in 2012 at age 47.

ImperfectCJ I love Rakoff's writing. His last speaking engagement (I think it was an on-stage This American Life) was incredible and heart-wrenching. 4y
Suet624 Ah, yes. This book was so interesting. 4y
britt_brooke @ImperfectCJ I‘d love to hear that. I‘ll have to look for it. 4y
See All 7 Comments
ImperfectCJ @britt_brooke Out of curiosity, I went looking and found it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ldqjM7x6NhE 4y
britt_brooke @ImperfectCJ Thank you so much!! 🤗🤗 4y
ImperfectCJ @britt_brooke You're quite welcome! I also loved Rakoff's book Half Empty, which introduced me to the phrase "defensive pessimism," the best description I've found yet for my way of moving through the world. ;-)
[tagged book]Half Empty
4y
britt_brooke @ImperfectCJ I‘m listening to Half Empty right now! 💚 4y
78 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
Ruthiella
Ruthiella
Fraud | David Rakoff
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I don‘t really do monthly TBRs (commitment-phobe) BUT I am pretty certain I will read these three in May. The memoir is for the pop-up nonfiction Tournament of Books round in May & the essay collections are for read along/discussions hosted by www.citizenreader.com in May/June😎

#ReadingResolutions by @Jess7

BkClubCare Oh good. I missed that post by citizen reader. I thought we were reading Pollysyllabic Spree. 7y
Ruthiella @BkClubCare we are reading the Nick Hornby in May. The Radkoff & Didion are for June & July😀 7y
TiredLibrarian I'm along for the Citizen Reader read too! Just got the book in. Glad to be reading more NF! 7y
Ruthiella @TiredLibrarian Oh yay! 😀 I‘ll “see” you there! She has already posted on The Polysyllabic Spree😀😀😀 (edited) 7y
19 likes4 comments
review
bookwrm526
bookwrm526
Fraud | David Rakoff
Pickpick

This was my first introduction to Rakoff other than stories on This American Life. I thought it was beautiful - just the right mixture of snark, humor, darkness, and introspection. I've heard his later books are funnier, so I am looking forward to reading more.

20 likes
blurb
bookwrm526
bookwrm526
Fraud | David Rakoff
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Me too!! I collect them! Friends and family collect them for me!

14 likes
blurb
bookwrm526
bookwrm526
Fraud | David Rakoff
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I sacrificed a good deal of reading time for an outdoor (geocaching) adventure. We tried to make it to a waterfall, but we got a bit lost and ended up on the wrong trail, but a great time was still had by all!

Yournewfriendsams Beautiful view 😍 8y
bookwrm526 @Yournewfriendsams it's the view from Caesar's Head State Park in South Carolina 8y
19 likes2 comments
blurb
bookwrm526
bookwrm526
Fraud | David Rakoff

I sacrificed a good deal of reading time for an outdoor (geocaching) adventure. We tried to make it to a waterfall, but we got a bit lost and ended up on the wrong trail, but a great time was still had by all!

blurb
bookwrm526
bookwrm526
Fraud | David Rakoff
post image

The not-so-traditional Labor Day Mexican Feast. #septphotochallenge #somethingforseptember

15 likes
review
seebiscan
seebiscan
Fraud | David Rakoff
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Pickpick

I loved David Rakoff's pieces on This American Life and I really loved this essay collection, too. Funny, insightful, and able to be read one at a time or all at once.

MrBook Looks like your pooch enjoys it too 😊. 8y
4 likes1 comment
quote
JodiLynnS
JodiLynnS
Fraud | David Rakoff
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In a society fixated precisely on how much money one makes, what kind of car one drives, how big one's house is, and whether or not one is famous, the education of young people isn't just undervalued and underpaid work. Pg 162

blurb
JodiLynnS
JodiLynnS
Fraud | David Rakoff

I am 4 pages in and pretty positive that I will love this book!