Don't Get Too Comfortable (Unabridged Selections)

The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems

By: David Rakoff

Narrated by: David Rakoff

Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems.

David Rakoff's collection of autobiographical essays, Fraud, established him as one of our funniest, most insightful writers. In Don't Get Too Comfortable, Rakoff journeys into the land of plenty that is contemporary America. Rarely have greed, vanity, selfishness, and vapidity been so mercilessly and wittily portrayed.

Whether contrasting the elegance of one of the last flights of the supersonic Concorde with the good times and chicken wings of Hooters Air, portraying the rarified universe of Paris fashion shows where an evening dress can cost as much as four years of college, or traveling to a private island off the coast of Belize to watch a soft-core Playboy TV shoot, where he is provided with his very own personal manservant, David Rakoff takes us on a bitingly funny grand tour of our culture of excess, delving into the manic getting and spending that defines the North American way of life.

Somewhere along the line, our healthy self-regard has exploded into obliterating narcissism, and Rakoff is there to map that frontier. He sits through the grotesqueries of “avant garde” vaudeville in Times Square immediately following 9/11. Twenty days without food allows him to experience firsthand the wonders of “detoxification”, and the frozen world of cryonics, whose promise of eternal life is the ultimate status symbol, leaves him very cold indeed (much to our good fortune).

At once a Wildean satire of our ridiculous culture of overconsumption and a plea for a little human decency, Don't Get Too Comfortable is a bitingly funny grand tour of our special circle of gilded-age hell.

©2005 David Rakoff (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rakoff knows the incantatory power of a story well-told, the art of keeping words aloft like the bubbles in a champagne flute. He possesses the crackling wit of a '30s screwball comedy ingenue, a vocabulary that is a treasure chest of mots justes, impressive but most times not too showy for everyday wear." (Los Angeles Times)

fun, but OH that voice

Rakoff's observations about the state of American culture are amusing, sometimes rapier sharp, and quite thoughtful.

If only he hadn't read the book himself. His voice is more than a little annoying, a sort of pastel scraping.

Flawed also by being overwritten, a flowery elaboration that is at times almost poetic, at other times just silly.

Worth a listen, in my book, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it enthusiastically.

Very enjoyable listening

I really enjoyed listening to this. This is my first Rakoff experience, I I liked it. Healso has a a good narration style, so I think it added to the book quite a bit to have been narrated by him. What a treat!

Someone tell me if I'm happy or sad. I can't tell.

What did you love best about Don't Get Too Comfortable (Unabridged Selections)?

David Rakoff has a unique ability to make me laugh out loud (which is rare), and then catch me in the middle of my joy and make me think, "WOAH. Shoot. Let me think about that." His writing is engaging on literally every level.

What other book might you compare Don't Get Too Comfortable (Unabridged Selections) to and why?

It's not a book, but I would recommend the book to those who enjoy his essays and pieces on public radio. David Sedaris is a similar author, sharing in his poignantly funny style.

Have you listened to any of David Rakoff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. I've heard him many times. I would say that this is "as good as any," which is true, but they're all fabulous.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

It was fascinating to hear about him talk about the "Log Cabin Republicans." He was understandably dubious of their positions and forthcoming with his trepidations without sounding close-minded. Quite the opposite, actually-- his ability to evaluate himself and his prejudices was incredible.

Any additional comments?

This is not a one-topic book. Rakoff's essays are all over the place, and some are arguable more substantive than others, but they're all entirely worth the listen.

Not for Anne Coulteresque hate rant readers

Eloquent, wry, and brutally honest, the author takes us on a journey that forces us to discard our half-baked presumptions and petty prejudices, and consider a worldview that beckons us to take a closer, second look at our over-indulgent, mega-consumption, sense of entitlement and ignorance. Writing and narrating with rapid-fire, tongue in cheek, eloquence, the author paints a picture of decadence and misguided ambitions that leaves one both laughing and crying at times. Often aloof and uncomfortable in his environment, he tempers his sparsely sprinkled political diatribes and infrequent ad hominem jabs, with genuine humor and moments of real humanity and insight - always somehow delivering the challenge to see beyond our homophobic, bigoted, and often over-simplified view of society and world affairs, and to finally push away from the dinner table before we need a bucket. For a fresh and entirely different angle, I highly recommend this book.

David Rakoff a bit pissed off

Wonderfully articulate as all his writings, just a few moments that were a bit over the top ranting... I enjoyed Fraud more overall if you were to only get one of his books.

Feed your Brain

Smart, witty, sharp. Something to not only entertain but also make you think. David is a treasure.

Observations on life worth hearing

Rakoff’s observations - both those that were participatory and those viewed only from a distance - are entertaining and enlightening. He was a master of the English language and a delight to read or listen to. He was taken from us far too soon - a great injustice. Why is it that those who have so much left to contribute are snatched away while mass murderers and others who will do nothing but bring sadness and despair to so many are left to wander the world. I wish Mr. Rakoff could enlighten us on that topic.

PJ O'Rourke has nothing to worry about

Though the views of the publisher and selected Newspaper reviews term this book and author, "one of the funniest and insightful writers," of "crackling wit," who has created a "story well told," allow me to differ.

Within the first ten minutes we learn that the author has decided to immigrate to America, and that he seems to hate everything about America. Who would take the time and effort he describes to migrate to a country whose leaders and politics he can't stand? The writer definitely is not insightful.

As for "witty"? Perhaps one listens to a description of Barbara Bush, W's daughter, '.. liquor-swilling, girl-gone-wild, human ashtray of a daughter. I'm sorry, that's not fair; I've no idea if she smokes." and thinks it witty. Quite simply it is adolescent and immature.

One certainly will not hear anything as witty and insightful as Mr. O'Rourke's riff on Congress - far from it. Not worth the electrons to hold it in your computer, the CD on which to burn it or the window to throw it out of.

Abridged audiobook labeled as unabridged

Audible audio book is missing chapters eight ("beach bummer"), nine ("morning in America"), thirteen (whatsizface")
and fourteen ("easter"). These chapters/essays can be found in hardcover. A light four hour and 36 minute run time should of been a red flag.

a

Rakoff is a Neurotic Gay, Canadian exile and also a totally self adsorbed, navel gazing intellectual New York Jew. If you don't share all of these exotic personality determinants you will rapidly become annoyed rather than charmed by his seeming hopeless existential predicament. Long ago, Woody Allen did much, but not all, of this kind of complex shtick. He did much better and with much greater charm. Here, it starts to grate on your nerves long before it mericifully ends.
Who needs this.....