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)

I was mislead

I was lead to believe that this was a laugh out loud book. I had a handful of half laughs but that was it. He is a good story teller though.

Grab your pocket dictionary

A word beast was he, such a sad loss, I am grateful for every word Rakoff graced us with. This book is dangerously tempting me to look deeply into myself- could I be as brave as he?

A View Off Skew

"This American Life" has exposed us to so many superb essayists that it's hard to lift one above the crowd, but David Rakoff is one of the best. He presents himself unapologetically and with just enough of a sense of self-absorbtion that any apology would seem, well, fraudulant. Rakoff's tight writing, keen observation, and wry wit combine to produce a work of self & social satire that stands with the best. I wish I could give 4 1/2 stars instead of 4, because a 5 star rating is just too much, implying perfection. The imperfection of the presentation is only that it's abridged.

Thoughtful, intelligent and captivating.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this funny, poignant collection of observations of lives many little challenges and joys. We miss David and his fabulous talents.

deliciously dry in it's delivery, a true insight.

a wonderfully artful insight into "a" human mind. I highly recommend, witty and an easy listen.

David R is a treasure lost too soon

His first effort is his best, as is his second etc. A soul lost well before...

Perfect

I adore David Rakoff and am so sad he died young. He was brilliant and killingly funny, a master of metaphor. One of a kind. So glad he narrated his own books so people can still discover and enjoy him.

A journey

Intelligent, witty and genuine. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. In addition, I enjoyed the author/narrator's voice and tone.

Funny, real, a great listen

Rakoff’s last few sentences speak about his incessant need to push away emotion and substitute it with wisecracks, but I couldn’t disagree more. His sensitivity comes through with every sentence, and I take in more with every re-listen. It is a tragedy he was not able to write more. Fraud and his other books are modern literary jewels.

Exceptional performance of brilliant work

Reading humorist literature is second only to hearing it read by its author. This standout work is the quiddity of that experience. The intimate presentation feels like a private author-reading, similar to those given in bookstores on tour, replete with the exceptional delivery of not only a talented writer, but moreover of a tactful performer. The passages between the bon mot are far from insipid setups for punchlines. They are the platform for some of the most percipient observations recorded about the occidental human experience.
While David’s unique identity as a gay, Jewish, genius is on display, his ability to move and connect with readers and listeners is the real tour de force here. With this work, as with the rest of his oeuvre, Rakoff garners a place among the genre elite, like Lebowitz, and among (if not, even, above) his contemporaries, like Sedaris.