David Rakoff (1964–2012)
Autor(a) de Don't Get Too Comfortable
About the Author
David Rakoff was born in Montreal, Canada on November 27, 1964. He received a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies from Columbia University in 1986. He briefly worked in Japan as a translator before being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He moved back to Canada for more than a year of mostrar mais treatment and remained free of cancer for two decades. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as an editor and publicist for various publishers. His essays appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, GQ, Details, Salon, and Slate. He also wrote three essay collections. Fraud and Don't Get Too Comfortable received Lambda Literary Awards and Half Empty received the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He appeared frequently on This American Life. He also acted in several stage plays written by David Sedaris. He wrote the screen adaptation for, and starred in, a 20-minute film, The New Tenants, which won the Academy Award for best live-action short film in 2009. He died from cancer on August 9, 2012 at the age of 47. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Image credit: © 2006 Larry D. Moore
Obras por David Rakoff
Associated Works
The 50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion (2011) — Contribuidor — 237 exemplares
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Nome legal
- Rakoff, David Benjamin
- Data de nascimento
- 1964-11-27
- Data de falecimento
- 2012-08-09
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- Canada (birth, dual citizen)
USA (dual citizen) - Local de nascimento
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Local de falecimento
- New York, New York, USA
- Locais de residência
- New York, New York, USA
- Educação
- Columbia University
- Ocupações
- essayist
journalist
actor - Relações
- Rakoff, Ruth (sister)
- Prémios e menções honrosas
- Thurber Prize for American Humor
Membros
Críticas
Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel por David Rakoff
Really quite lovely.
First off, I really like the cynical (in all senses) and pessimistic (in most senses) point of view that Rakoff brings to most subjects. I enjoyed Don't Get Too Comfortable quite a bit.
So, having presented my credentials :), I must say that this collection was definitely weaker. The essays seemed to all follow a similar pattern of "90 degree turns": he will jump setting/subject/anecdote abruptly, half way through (and perhaps more than once) before bringing things to a close. And he does wrap things up rather than just leave you hanging; he is a skilled writer. As a device here or there such jumps are acceptable, even adding style; as a stylistic tick or habit, however, it gets a bit annoying.
The final essay is not at all pessimistic; it is real, raw even, and 'touching' (a word I don't think I've ever actually used before.) That essay, and my overall like for his conversational style, gives this collection three stars rather than two.… (mais)
So, having presented my credentials :), I must say that this collection was definitely weaker. The essays seemed to all follow a similar pattern of "90 degree turns": he will jump setting/subject/anecdote abruptly, half way through (and perhaps more than once) before bringing things to a close. And he does wrap things up rather than just leave you hanging; he is a skilled writer. As a device here or there such jumps are acceptable, even adding style; as a stylistic tick or habit, however, it gets a bit annoying.
The final essay is not at all pessimistic; it is real, raw even, and 'touching' (a word I don't think I've ever actually used before.) That essay, and my overall like for his conversational style, gives this collection three stars rather than two.… (mais)
This was a good collection of essays, I particularly liked, "Love it or Leave It," "What is the Sound of One Hand Shopping?" and, "Off We're Gonna Shuffle." I like a good slightly-pessimistic-and-yet-actually-deeply-optimistic essay, and many of these pleased.
There's something about essays that just doesn't touch me. At the end of reading this book, I could remember being engaged by certain moments but there was no great overall emotional or intellectual effect. I think I am naturally suspicious of ideas. I'm aware of how easily they can be proposed and justified. Clever ideas are more fun, but they're no more likely to be true than ungainly or ugly ones. That's why I love [b:Hopeful Monsters|151458|Hopeful Monsters|Nicholas Mosley|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347727695s/151458.jpg|146182] by [a:Nicholas Mosley|85345|Nicholas Mosley|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1309727858p2/85345.jpg], because he's one of the few authors who seems to understand that the most interesting thing to do with literature is to model how we might think, rather than what we might think about. My favourite novels don't have great ideas, they allow characters/narrators/readers to engage with ideas (or emotions, maybe) in new ways.
So this is as good as any book of essays, I suspect, if your sympathetic to the Rakoff's ideas, but it's a bit too light on for me.… (mais)
So this is as good as any book of essays, I suspect, if your sympathetic to the Rakoff's ideas, but it's a bit too light on for me.… (mais)
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Estatísticas
- Obras
- 6
- Also by
- 5
- Membros
- 3,729
- Popularidade
- #6,792
- Avaliação
- 3.7
- Críticas
- 106
- ISBN
- 45
- Línguas
- 2
- Marcado como favorito
- 16
- Pedras de toque
- 77
