Rating: 
Summary: Just shows how great Sedaris really is...
Review: "Hmmm...National Public Radio commentator puts out book of 'humorist essays'. Sounds like David Sedaris. Knowing how much I enjoyed Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Barrel Fever, I shall give Mr. Rackoff a shot."No, no, no. Not good. I feel sorry for David Rackoff. I mean, here's his good friend David Sedaris achieving cult status with these hilarious stories, and he probably said to himself, "Why not? If he can do it, I can do it." HE CAN'T DO IT. Unfortunately for David Rackoff, David Sedaris has raised the "humorist essay" bar too high. Nothing in Fraud comes close to Sedaris. Sedaris is the only author who has ever made me laugh out loud. Fraud didn't even force a giggle.
Fraud definitely smacks of "I think I can, I think I can", and ends up offering nothing more than bland, uninteresting stories. If you want a few good essays, I suggest re-reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day". The experience will be far more satisfying than anything Fraud has to offer.
Rating: 
Summary: Is this really his only book?
Review: After reading Fraud I came back to Amazon to buy more of his work but there doesn't seem to be any. Drag. Well, I'll settle for writing a review instead. Fraud is really, really funny; kind of like a super-cerebral Barrel Fever. Plus, it improved my vocabulary. I am now actually toting around a little list of words I call my Rakoff Words, trying to use them in sentences - which is not easy. Buy this book with some three by five cards. You'll be glad you did!
Rating: 
Summary: doing it with integrity
Review: With Fraud, David Rakoff emerges as a real voice of truth and humor. The essays here are hillarious, shedding brutal honesty on some of the many intricacies of everyday life. The Christmas Freud piece, for instance, shines a bright light on New York City holiday mayhem. The narrator, Jewish, is playing Freud on 5th Avenue, observing the crowds observing him. I made my way to this book via David Sedaris, Dave Eggers, Nick Hornby, but David Rackoff, in the end, writes more sharply I feel. He does what they're trying to do. He writes with spirit and tells a good joke or two in the process. Read it. (And also read So Is This Wilderness and Other Stories.)
Rating:
Summary: "effete lexicon" indeed
Review: Only really made me chuckle a
couple times (it's ostensibly 'humorous'), and his smarm and 'effete
lexicon' (his words, not mine!) <B><I>do</I></B> get old after the third essay or so. I also wondered
a bit at what he has to 'say,' for someone publishing a collection of
essays, with no apparent unifying theme, and all in the same, almost
patronizing, negativistic/nihilistic (even for a New Yorker, whatever the
Hell that means) tone, and prolix to boot. I wonder what value this book, and hence
Mr. Rakoff's observations, add to society, or art, or literature, or anything, except
religiously skeptical (to the point of ignorance) almost-haughtiness which seem to already exist in spades. I
really cannot stand his preoccupation with self, aloofness (he insulates
himself from just about everyone with his oh-so-'effete lexicon'), and
judgementality (a word?) and then often tries to recoup at the end with a couple
paragraphs worth of homily a la Jerry Springer, where he tries unconvincingly to sound non-judgemental, objective, and open-minded
(open-mindedness doesn't just mean an acceptance of politically correct,
urban(e), Eastie values without judgement) and adds in a bit of psuedo-self-effacing nonsense which every reviewer on the jacket seems to 'buy.' Pretty unredeeming, useless stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Pigtails and Horse Love
Review: Oh my gosh! I love this man. I've read many humorists after falling in love with David Sedaris's "Barrel Fever". I've clicked on "If you like David Sedaris you'll love...." links all over the web. Strangely enough someone handed me a copy of "Fraud" at the pool one day and never made the famous comparison. Of course I figured it out soon enough but was overtaken with the difference. Rakoff's essays have much more meat to them. I felt as if I'd learned more at the end of each one, much like a good short story. Alice Munro perhaps...crazy comparison but something about his endings reminded me of her. Oh Canada! I do agree on one thing however. Whether Rakoff is a linguistic genius or a Dictionary-Thumper, I could have done without the impressive display of vocabulary. None of us know people who use these words and if we did we certainly wouldn't invite them over for dinner. Still, it's a small price to pay.
Rating:
Summary: Skewer
Review: Rakoff's humorous essays are about his life and experiences as a journalist. Mostly he's self-deprecating and skewering himself and his behavior and attitudes. Apparently sometimes he feels himself a fraud due to his various identities (Jewish, Canadian, queer), but overall his cutting wit zings to the heart of his observations. A fun collection.
Rating:
Summary: LAUGH 'TIL YOU HURT
Review: I first heard David Rakoff read his story "Christmas Freud" on NPR's THIS AMERICAN LIFE. Reading the reviews below I was struck over and over by the fact that people are comparing Rakoff to David Sedaris. Besides the facts that they are both young, gay and urban, what's to compare? Yes, they are both writers of humorous (North) American fiction, but then so were Dorothy Parker and Erma Bombeck. Reading Rakoff immediately reminds me of a time when I invited a television producer/friend to my home in upstate New York. He quietly, politely refused, "Gee, Stuart, I'm kinda frightened of places without sidewalks." Yes, Rakoff is that urban. Rakoff's urbanity makes Woody Allen seem like a suburbanite. Rakoff is not afraid to make fun of himself, knowing that there are lots of Canadian-fearing, antisemitic homophobes out there who are waiting with baited breath to put him down. And that's not paranoia. That's wonderful, funny, charming, clever, intelligent, witty, weird writing. I made the mistake of taking my newly purchased copy of FRAUD to a hamburger joint where I laughed out loud until I made a total fool of myself. It was the three kids at the table next to mine, pointing and staring, who made me close the book and leave the restaurant. If you have ever lived in New York or know someone who has or if you would simply like to laugh til you hurt, read Rakoff. You won't be far into the book when you'll be shaking your head, sighing, "Oh, God, it's me!" HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Like Having a Friend Smarter and Funnier Than Anyone Else
Review: Rakoff's humor is clearly not for everyone. If you think Everyone Loves Raymond is funny, or That 70s Show, you'll hate this. If you think Robin Williams is a great actor, forget about it. These short pieces are whiplash smart, the kind of humor Esquire Magazine once featured before it devolved into a GQ clone. Rakoff's humor depends on an assumed conspiracy of values between author and reader. These values include Jewish irony, urban angst, and a bit of homosexual camp. Rakoff's wry observational reportage doesn't play for cheap laughs (as David Sedaris' occasionally does). And the cynicism is directed as much at himself as his intended targets. Rakoff's writing is always vivid, sharp and economical. Imagine Philip Roth as a non-fiction writer and you get an idea of David Rakoff's talent.
Rating:
Summary: I'm not even comparing this to Sedaris
Review: Of course I picked up this book when I saw the comment by David Sedaris on the front. Being that he is my favorite celebrity (author is really not fitting, as he is incredibly funny in person as well), I assumed this book would meet my standards. Well, it didn't. I didn't even think to compare this book to any of those written by Sedaris. The writing seems very forced and thus leads to a certain dryness. The humor level is low - I cracked a smile every now and then but on the whole was not particularly entertained. Worst is that I had to _force_ myself to get through this book. I was hoping that I'd encounter something dazzling, but I was sorely disappointed. I got the overall impression that he was trying to mimic the style of David Sedaris. I think he would have been far more successful had he done it his own way.
Rating:
Summary: Smart, funny... and Canadian!
Review: (...and Jewish, too! What more could you want?) I don't care if he's not David Sedaris, and it's just plain weird that the two are lumped together almost constantly because of the obvious similarities in their first names and the fact that their career paths might have crossed once or twice. Rakoff is funny and insightful in his own right, and I'm glad that I came across his work. Compared to other young essayists of his calibre, there's something a little more human, a little less, well, "New York," about Rakoff (maybe it's the Canadian in him), and it makes his work stand out against a crowd who often try too hard to be ironic (or post-ironic, or whatever it is they're trying to be when they write stuff I just don't "get"). Whatever it is, I'm very much looking forward to seeing more from this particular David.
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