Fraud

By: David Rakoff

Narrated by: David Rakoff

Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Critic reviews

"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)

Writing Worth Relishing

David Rakoff, an eviscerating humorist, writer, and public radio essayist, seems to place himself purposely in situations and locations that New Yorkers like him find uncomfortable. This man, who swears he avoids even going outdoors if at all possible, is sent (or sends himself) on assignments wildly unlike the familiar urban comforts of Manhattan.

He is a city dweller, on assignment behind enemy lines.

In this highly listenable collection of musings, Rakoff climbs a New Hampshire mountain on Christmas Day, attends a week-long Buddhist retreat featuring a vainglorious Steven Seagal, tours the anemic tourist traps around the Loch Ness in Scotland, and joins a kind of wilderness survival camp, Tom Brown’s Tracker School, where he learns how to forage for food and make clothing from animal pelts.

“Amazingly, almost nothing is better at turning rawhide into supple leather than the lipids in the animal’s own brain, worked into the skin like finger paint. A further beautiful economy of nature is that every single animal has just enough brains to tan its own hide.”

He is a penetrating observer whose deadly and deadpan commentary pops the pretentious conceits of every treasured culture and conviction like soap bubbles. He frequently skewers himself in the process.

“I am disheartened to learn that the place where I’ll be staying is a bed and breakfast, not a hotel. My heart sinks. That means there is probably neither television nor phone in my room. And I have very little patience for what is generally labeled ‘charming.’ In particular, ‘country charm.’ I have an intense dislike of flowered wallpaper, ditto jam of all sorts. The former is in all-too-abundant evidence when I enter the inn, and the latter, I’m sure, lies in ominous wait, somewhere in the cheery kitchen.”

The final meditation is titled, “I Used to Bank Here, But That Was Long, Long Ago.” He refers to a Toronto sperm bank, which he describes as “the conflation of climax and commerce.” He recounts his struggle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 22, “the dilettante cancer,” he calls it, fairly easily cured. “I was a cancer tourist.” We learn that he is writing this essay at age 35, describing his successful treatment of the disease that would return to kill him in 2012, at age 47.

No narrator could improve upon the delivery of the author himself, whose nuance of expression intensifies the finely honed scalpel of his writing.

So Funny!

I listen to a lot of humor (to try to write better humor), and Rakoff, in my opinion, is one of the best! I love all of his detailed descriptions too, self-talk, honesty, etc.!

Fall in Love with David Rakoff

This was my introduction to David Rakoff. His writing is beautiful, almost melodic. His voice is mesmerizing. Smart, funny and thoughtful.

Genius

There’s no one like David Rakoff. An original genius who died too young. And so grateful that his voice lives on as he narrates his own work.

You must HEAR these stories

I first heard David Rakoff on NPR's weekly radio show, This American Life, as I'm sure many of his fans have. Once I had heard him tell several of his stories, I knew I had to have them on audio, not just as books in text.

Many other writers I've come to love are also people I first heard on This American Life, like David Sadaris.

I love David Rakoff's voice. It's soft,carefully articulated, and has a wry quality bordering on "droll" which he uses to great and sometimes very humorous effect. Some people might first think this man who "prefers the indoors" is an artist and intellectual that could be inaccessable, perhaps asuming he's a cynic, or a wild eccentric; hyper critical of all everyday experience or emotion.

Soon enough, you realize this storyteller is both uniquely himself, which is a gift, and sweet and compassionate and like anyone else you'd want to learn more about living a thoughtful life from. He's not afraid to let you in on what he thinks about the world, North America, our society and its leaders. Nor does he keep secret his direct observations about people, how they sometimes confirm his worst expectations, or his own mistakes, disappointments and self-doubts; but it's his immediate honesty inside the experience of all this that I find so resonant and redeeming.

Experience, observation, what is learned. Or at least he makes it seem like what he gives you is this simple. But this brilliant author knows the secret to all good works of art: the personal becomes the universal.

Dark, witty, humorous, insightful.

David Rakoff is one of those authors whose works I feel are best appreciated in audio format. Listening to him read this alternating scathing, charming, funny, insightful and dark collection of personal essays really adds a component that is missing from the print. RIP David.

A monotonous performance of some lovely essays

Beware, this is an abridged version of the book, and the essays are good enough that I definitely would have liked more. David Rakoff writes about himself with wit and about others with compassion. I enjoyed all the essays, but I did not think Rakoff's deadpan delivery of his own essays showed them to their best advantage. If you are a fan of David Sedaris, as I am, you'll see some similarity between Rakoff's readings and Sedaris's frequently calm, relatively uninflected readings. But with Sedaris, there are always a few stories taped in front of a live audience, and they truly do bring him alive. Unfortunately, in Rakoff's book, there are no live performances and no relief at all from his very monotonous and emotionless voice--even when his words were expressing emotions.

OMG Laugh Out Loud

I am so very glad I downloaded this book, sadly however because we've just lost this great humorist. And now I've just found his books. I've heard him on "This American Life" and loved him. This book had me embarrassing myself laughing loudly while walking in to work. The first half was best but the whole book very worthwhile. Enjoy!!!!

Classic Rakoff

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The brilliance and bite of a wit so refined it makes my heart hurt thinking that we’ve lost such a mind and soul.

What other book might you compare Fraud to and why?

David Rakoff was a singular voice, if you like this you'll crave more.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

and the Oscar goes to

Any additional comments?

Smartly avoid if you find yourself politically correct. Authentic and original with a twist of dark wit makes many uncomfortable.

Must read

David Rakoff was one of the most clever and charming essayists ever. He is also superb at reading his own work. This collection is fascinating and hilarious.