Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook4 hours
Fraud
Written by David Rakoff
Narrated by David Rakoff
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
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.)
From the Hardcover edition.
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.)
From the Hardcover edition.
Unavailable
Related to Fraud
Related audiobooks
Feverborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hostage Zero Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rhino Conspiracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Penrod Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nightfall Duology Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Roil Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Brothers In Arms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joren Falls: A Short Horror Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reamde Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deception Game: Ryan Drake Book 5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dodging Temptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iron Dog: Carmel McAlistair Mystery, Book Three Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNathaniel Hawthorne: The Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpellbinding Blend Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Refuge [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Audrey Craven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Masquerade Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeart Strike Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ralph Compton The Burning Range Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Plague of Zombies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deadwood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Fire Cannot Burn Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rules for Heiresses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River of Teeth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of de Marco Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shockscape [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thunder of Giants Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Smitten by Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Successors [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Personal Memoirs For You
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Night: New translation by Marion Wiesel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer of Fall: Gravity is a bitch, but I'm still standing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Married Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love, Lucy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Fraud
Rating: 3.6348882374100717 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
278 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty darn cute.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hilarious book. I can't get enough of this author! I
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5loved it
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Generally amusing - the Tom Brown Jr camp essay was particularly interesting to me, as was the Freud-in-the-window experiment. Rakoff's essays mostly struck me as too self-serious to be really funny, but he's clearly very sharp and a good writer.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The essay on Steuben seagull leading a spirituality retreat at Omega House is to die for. If you like David Rakoff on "This American Life" you will not be disappointed by this funny collection.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have enjoyed David Rakoff's essay on PRI's "This American Life" for years, so I was quite excited to read this book of essays. The first several essays were quite light and clever, with just a hint of darkness...classic Rakoff. As I read on, however, the essays lacked any hint of snarky and, well, just wern't funny. Now, this might have been by design. Mr. Rakoff is not David Sedaris (although on the radio they have very similar voices) and his goal is not to make us laugh. Perhaps, he intended to ease the reader in with the lightness and once we were hooked, bring on the deep. And this is not to say that they were not well written, just not exactly what I signed up for. I don't know if I will read him again...might just stick with listening to him on "TAL".
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book hoping it would be like a David Sedaris book. Silly me. No one is like David Sedaris! I still really liked the book and will probably read another one by Rakoff. I feel a little smarter after reading this book. I look up words I'm not sure of when I read and I lost count of how many I had to look up in Fraud! It was like he was writing with a thesaurus in hand.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I found Rakoff's book thoroughly funny, especially his experience working at a ice cream parlor for a funny Greek couple. Some of the stories though, I felt as though I was waiting for the funny/interesting parts. Overall, a very funny book!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like these more the second time. Verbose, yes, but oh, so true.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This collection of essays are the offering of a compatriot of the laudable “this American life” crew. After hearing him read on the show a few weeks ago I felt it likely worth my while to grab his book if he was anywhere near as thoughtful and entertaining as his fellows david Sedaris & Sarah vowell; lucky me, he is.Unabashedly intellectual and fiercely opinionated, this author has a facility of language somewhat rare in the ranks of the modern humorist. Not since twain and wilde has such a fierce wit been paired with such keen nuance of the written communique. Highly educated and ruthlessly self deprecating rakoff leads us into a series of fascinating excursions to places no less far flung than Tokyo, reykjavik, & new jersey,narrating with his distinctly wicked but undeniably compelling perspective. While not more than occasionally laugh out loud funny, this book felt somehow less trivial than most of the humor reading I do. Peppered with words and phrases I had to look up (she admits to her chagrin) I walked away from this one feeling edified; not just because I felt safer armed with my dictionary, but because of the amusing yet nonetheless consistently thought provoking observations of this transparently erudite author. Well worth it, recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Funny, witty with deep under currents and wider range then David Sedaris
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Briefest Review: Piss yourself funny. Dislike the cover, though.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes, they're both funny. Yes, they're both writers. Yes, they both contribute to the greatest radio show on earth, This American Life. And though they also both happen to be called "David," there are major distinctions to be made between Sedaris and Rakoff. I love them both, but I think I have to lean toward Rakoff purely on the basis of his cynicism, world-weariness and irritation. Having not only read the book but listened to the audio cd, I can say without qualification that this is one of the funniest books I've read/heard, ever. Period.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Reading about Rakoff's experience with Seagal was funny. The rest of it genuinely felt like the critics were defrauding me.