Particularize Books As 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 Other First World Problems
| Original 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 Other First World Problems |
| ISBN: | 0767916034 (ISBN13: 9780767916035) |
| Edition Language: | English |
David Rakoff
Paperback | Pages: 222 pages Rating: 3.72 | 9259 Users | 858 Reviews
Commentary To Books 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 Other First World Problems
A bitingly funny grand tour of our culture of excess from an award-winning humorist.Whether David Rakoff's 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, Don t Get Too Comfortable shows that far from being bobos in paradise, we are in a special circle of gilded-age hell.
Present About Books 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 Other First World Problems
| 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 Other First World Problems |
| Author | : | David Rakoff |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 222 pages |
| Published | : | September 12th 2006 by Anchor Books (first published January 1st 2005) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Humor. Writing. Essays. Autobiography. Memoir. Audiobook. Comedy. Adult |
Rating About Books 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 Other First World Problems
Ratings: 3.72 From 9259 Users | 858 ReviewsCriticism About Books 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 Other First World Problems
We have become an army of multiply chemically sensitive, high-maintenance princesses trying to make our way through a world full of irksome peas.All of the nice things I have to say about listening to David Rakoff narrating one of his audiobooks was said in my review of Half Empty and I would reiterate that it is a very enjoyable experience. The writing here in Don't Get Too Comfortable The Indignities of Coach Class The Torments of Low Thread Count The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive OilDavid 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 called
No spoilers.Blurb: David Rakoff is brilliant, funny, wry and self-deprecating. If you appreciate the work of David Sedaris, this is smarter. If you like Sarah Vowell, this is sharper and more cutting. If you don't know those authors, go check them out as well. Longer version: I've followed David Rakoff through This American Life, and occasionally read his works in various magazines. He's always smart, always a bit sad, but a genuinely talented observer of people. The hypocrisy of the first-world
Like Rakoffs other book, Fraud, Dont Get Too Comfortable is a collection of wry observations made from a cynical remove. The subject matter is cultural excess, phenomena like fasting rituals that ostensibly put practitioners into a state of spiritual clarity, artisanal foods regarded with near-sexual enthusiasm, and the casual opulence of the supersonic trans-Atlantic flight. Easily, Rakoff ridicules luxuries enjoyed by the rarefied few. But more than that, he skewers the false moral equivalency
The author does a fabulous job of narrating it himself! Very entertaining as well as intelligent! So sad that he died so young.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, this collection of essays is sold as a funny critique of American opulence. The reality is that it comes off as a upper middle class New Yorker complaining about rich people. The essays dont really have much of a narrative flow, and some of them arent critiques of anything. Some of the essays are just about fun stuff he has done.That being said, all of the essays are well written and some of them are even thought provoking. The essay
Someone recommended Rakoff to me after learning I am a huge David Sedaris fan. Well, they don't seem very similar to me. Sedaris can be coy, glib, self-deprecating, indulgent, shameless, sentimental, vulnerable, sweet... Rakoff's writing is skillful but generic. These essays are good enough to be published in many magazines, but I would never buy, open, or pick up one of those magazines because it contained his work. Finally, he always reaches a point in which he can condescend to his subject,
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