Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Half Empty by David Rakoff - Available

Half Empty

by David Rakoff
ebook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
2 of 2 copies available
The inimitably witty David Rakoff, This American Life stalwart and bestselling author, looks at the modern world and his own life in defense of the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst.
In this deeply funny memoir, David Rakoff examines his own life and the realities of our sunny, gosh-everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture. He finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won't come true. Although David has a long-nurtured abhorrence of "inspirational" memoirs, much of the book recounts his own personal experiences: the moment when being a tiny child no longer meant adults found him charming but instead meant other children found him a fun target; the late evening in Manhattan when he was young and the city seemed to brim with such possibility that the street shimmered in the moonlight — as he drew closer he realized the streets actually shimmered with rats in a feeding frenzy. He also weaves in his brand of acute and Oscar Wilde-worthy cultural criticism (the sad state of the outdated "House of Tomorrow" at Disneyland, for one). It all adds up to proof of the proposition: Always be a pessimist, and you'll never be disappointed.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 21, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780385670319

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780385670319
      • File size: 1944 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 9, 2010
      In this sardonic collection of essays, Rakoff (Don't Get Too Comfortable) plays the role of a naysayer who tries to convince the reader, with humorous asides and sarcastic one-liners, that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and the nerds and geeks will someday be the globe's financial and political tyrants. His topics are a hodge-podge lot that covers hopes and dreams, the meaning of a Jew who eats pork, optimism, a stunted childhood, and the New York City Exotic Erotic Ball and Expo. While his wise-cracking humor isn't always on target, he shines when discussing the acceptance of grief and mortality in "All The Time We Have," and "the bohemian myth" of artists and Rent creator Jonathan Larson's demise the day before his popular show opened, in "Isn't It Romantic?"

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from November 29, 2010
      As Rakoff begins reading his charmingly curmudgeonly essay collection, he seems like an odd fit—his voice, slightly breathy and fragile, seems like it’s about to give out. But he relaxes, and it quickly becomes apparent that he’s the perfect narrator—with his muttered asides, his sighs of self-deprecation—for these sharp, smart pieces. His conversations ramify magnificently, and this champion of contrarianism has smart things to say about money, media, certainty, growing up short, Jewish, and Canadian. Think Sedaris, but smarter, darker, and funnier. He may be, as he says in one essay, “prone to making bad calls,” but he seems to know exactly what listeners need. A Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 9).

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now