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Fraud

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Fraud

By: David Rakoff
Narrated by: David Rakoff
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Buy for $11.25

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You've heard him on This American Life! Now read his book!

Wherever he is, David Rakoff is a fish out of water. Whether impersonating Sigmund Freud in a department store window during the holidays, climbing an icy mountain in cheap loafers, playing an evil modeling agent on a daytime soap opera, or learning primitive survival skills in the wilds of New Jersey, Rakoff doesn't belong. Nor does he try to. Still, he continually finds himself off in the far-flung hinterlands of our culture, notebook or microphone in hand, hoping to conjure that dyed-in-the-wool New York condescension.

And Rakoff tries to be nasty; heaven knows nothing succeeds like the cheap sneer, but he can't quite help noticing that these are actual human beings he's writing about. In his attempts not to pull any punches, the most damaging blows, more often than not, land squarely on his own jaw--hilariously satirizing the writer, not the subject.

And therein lies David Rakoff's genius and his burgeoning appeal. The wry and the heartfelt join in his prose to resurrect that most neglected of literary virtues: wit.

Read the blurbs again on the back. They signal the arrival of a brilliant new American essayist. (Okay, Canadian.)©2001 David Rakoff; (P)2001 Random House, Inc.; Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, a Division of Random House, Inc.

Accolades & Awards

Lambda Literary Award
2001
Biographies & Memoirs Lambda Literary Award Funny Thought-Provoking Witty Nonfiction Essays Heartfelt Celebrity Feel-Good

Critic reviews

"Combining journalistic tenacity, literary smarts, and a talent for gut-busting one-liners, Rakoff reports on his wilted salad days . . . His blend of withering wit and self-effacing humor makes these essays soar." –Entertainment Weekly

"Rakoff possesses a sociologist's eye for places where today’s consoling myths reside."
–New York Times

"David Rakoff’s Fraud showcases his rapier wit, slashing in all directions with slice-of-life insights and cutting remarks, sometimes nicking himself with self-deprecation in his dexterous duello with the American experience." –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Rakoff likes to paint himself as urbane to a fault, an outsider anywhere unpaved. But then, in the woods or on a mountaintop, he reveals himself, despite his searing and hilarious observations, to be a completely unrelenting romantic."
–Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

"David Rakoff's hilarious, bittersweet stories are epic struggles–between smoky bars and the great outdoors, management and labor, Santa Claus and Sigmund Freud, New York versus everywhere else, and, not least, neighbor-to-the-North against South. Rakoff is such an American original it turns out he’s Canadian. Vive the brain drain!"
-Sarah Vowell, author of Take the Cannoli
Witty Essays • Keen Observations • Mesmerizing Voice • Finely Honed Writing • Insightful Content • Personal Reflections

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
If you could sum up Fraud in three words, what would they be?
Gay NYC Jewish Humor

What did you like best about this story?
I'm 75, female,straight, from a tiny. 2000 population, Southern town, The first adult book I ever read when in the third grade, (my poor little elementary school didn't have a library) was my mother's book club edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I learned that a book can carry you to another world, country, city--into another's mind. I loved it.

So here is a story by a Gay Jewish Man who hates dogs, knows nothing about the outdoors I have loved, doesn't enjoy Christmas or quaint B&Bs in New England, yet, the third time I heard it, we connected. I grew to like the book and him, although I'm sure that had we met in an elevator last December in Rockefeller Center, he would have ignored me as I managed a sideways peek at him. It would have been a longer peek had I known he was an author--but then this book--while a BOOK is still sort of a fraud, as he well knows.

Still he chose to climb a mountain in December for a magazine article. Was horribly out of comfort and place, But he did it, and shared the experience.


What does David Rakoff bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Immediacy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No

Any additional comments?
This book was out of my comfort zone. I began feeling sorry for this sad man, and ended understanding that people are different, They have different life experiences. Different approaches to life. I found that he and I share many values, dreams, and goals. Hear the book.

This book may be a fraud, I was looking for funny

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Overprivileged whinny gay Jew Ivy League graduate and son-of-psychologist David Rakoff relates tales of life in the big city. He overcomes being Jewish and gay, and goes on to beat cancer and donate sperm. He goes to a lot of weekend retreats too. His story about Steven Segal leading a seminar at a New Age seminar is pretty funny.

Whinny gay Jew surprisingly funny.

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Listening to someone courageous enough to tell the truth,and so very kind was a pleasure. Four more words yes

A brave and gentle man.

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I love David Rakoff. So sad he’s gone. Great perspectives and lots of laughs. I miss him❤️

A great listen

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I did not finish the book. I have listened to the first hour or so and then got really bored with it. I listened while driving and my mind would just drift away. The stories were not engaging or funny. It's witty at times, but too self-absorbed and self-centred. If you like Woody Allen's comedy, you may like this. It was not for me.

No as funny as Sedaris

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