Stuff White People Like

The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions

By: Christian Lander

Narrated by: Victor Bevine

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees. They believe they're unique, yet somehow they're all exactly the same, talking about how they "get" Sarah Silverman's "subversive" comedy and Wes Anderson's "droll" films.

They're also down with diversity and up on all the best microbrews, breakfast spots, foreign cinema, and authentic sushi. They're organic, ironic, and do not own TVs.

You know who they are: They're white people. And they're here, and you're gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here's a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So kick back on your IKEA couch and lose yourself in the ultimate guide to the unbearable whiteness of being.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2008 Christian Lander (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Hilarious...but maybe not for everyone

I laughed out loud throughout when listening to this book. It really hits home, with both obvious and insightful observations of 'white culture' that helped me see the humour in myself and others.

But when I went to write a review and rate the audiobook I saw that perhaps the style of humour (and the dead-on tone of narration) is not universal. Definitely check out the sample; if you think this sounds like your cup of tea after that, you won't be disappointed!

You can get most of this stuff on the website

This is not a bad audiobook. If it was all original material I would have given it a higher raiting but 99% of this material came from the writer's Stuff White People Like blog so I kind of felt ripped off after listening to it.

The material itself is rather funny by 'White' people the writer means educated, upwardly mobile, middle class types. There are some geniunely funny observations about modern middle class culture and "hip" culture. And the entries are all rather short so it is not exactly "Deep" or serious but a lot of fun.

If you have not read the blog or just want some light background noise you could do much worse.

1st 5 min is funny. After that...Boringgggg

Truely the first 5 min is very funny. I found myself chuckling and hoping that his book was going to go somewhere really funny. NO. If you listen to the first two minutes it sets the same format and tone for the entire book. Its someone reading a list of what white people do, thats it.

Listen to the sample

Listen to the sample. Kinda funny? possibly entertaining? Well, it gets real old after 30 minutes.

Stuff White People Like

This book was a hilarious guide to today's politically correct white culture. I laughed out loud the entire time!

Drivel - don't waste your time or money

Would you try another book from Christian Lander and/or Victor Bevine?

Not from this author. The narrator suffered from working with bad material.

Would you ever listen to anything by Christian Lander again?

I would never listen to this author again. Work is plagged with platitudes and absolutely no wit.

What didn’t you like about Victor Bevine’s performance?

Dry reading without much artistry. Mind you, consider the material.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I am disappointed. I had hoped for something that would get me laughing at myself and at the target community or maybe even teach me something.

150 Reasons for White People to Laugh

Written as a guide for the non-White person to understand his /her White friends, Lander's description leaves no room for misinterpretation: if you want to be friends with this "type" of White person, there are some things you're going to have to understand about his/her culture. Lander himself is a "type" of White man from Canada and writes with the expertise of a cultural anthropologist and with a sharp sense of humor. This book enumerates 150 ways to be White in one's actions, thoughts, and desires. The listener is encouraged to silently compare his/herself to the common White person and at the end, evaluate how "White" he or she is according to his/her tastes or actions.

Christian Lander's book is as much about about social class and race as it is comical. The pithy title shouldn't scare anyone way; everyone should be intrigued. With tongue firmly pressed in cheek, Lander points out the things that "White people like" as a social critique because absolutely no one would want to be these White people as they are described. It's not that these things are bad to like, quite the opposite; most are quite good things. What Lander points out is that this "type" of White people (and he does use this word "type", but to talk about those who do not like this stuff) tend to be spoiled, upper-middle classes, educated, self-absorbed, self described intellectuals and one-upping hypocrites, whose charitable interests are all about impressing other people and not at all about doing good deeds for others selflessly. They buy their groceries at Whole Foods and drive Priuses and are apt to talk about saving the environment, being against racism, sexism, and all the other ills of societies, but exoticize everything (historically ancient) Asian, South American, and African, and show no real concern for the workers being exploited by their favorite companies. That is, they basically have very little to do with the real world around them. This definitive guide will certainly remind you of some people you know and make you chuckle a bit, but surely, no one should see him/herself in this book. (In many ways, this book reminded me of the short-lived ABC animated program "The Goode Family".)

This is not a book for anyone who doesn't enjoy some humor based upon critical observations made by an insider; and it is certainly not for anyone who doesn't enjoy racial humor at least a little bit. If you are part of the demographic that Lander satirizes or you know people who may be, I highly recommend this book. It would make a great listen on a car trip with a few of your friends, especially if in an ethnically and/or economically diverse crowd. I can promise you, someone will discover they are 70% or more White, something s/he will deny emphatically.

Entertaining Book, Great Reader

This book is a good companion to the blog, but it really stands out because of the reader! Victor Bevine is the perfect voice for this droll subject and makes the pseudo-sociological study work really well in audio.

Great "Time-Passer" Listen

The short-form nature of each entry in the book make this a great listen for those times you've got a short commute or just a few minutes to kill listening to something. This is a great audiobook to keep on your device for a long time and work through slowly.

Read David Brooks Instead

As a just left of center white person, I thought this would either be funny or have some insights about our culture. It is neither entertaining nor informative. For a truly engaging account of the people and culture Mr. Lander describes, read Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks instead. This "pseudo-documentary" style is meant to by satirical I assume, but is really just boring.

Also, the author neglects to include the enormous fraction of the white population who are not college-educated liberals in his characterizations.