Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Uncollected David Rakoff by David Rakoff
Add The Uncollected David Rakoff to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

The Uncollected David Rakoff

Best Seller
The Uncollected David Rakoff by David Rakoff
Paperback $15.95
Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780307946478

Buy from Other Retailers:

See All Formats (1) +
  • $15.95

    Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780307946478

    Buy from Other Retailers:

  • Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780307946485

    Buy from Other Retailers:

Product Details

Praise

“The dizzying work of the late, preposterously talented Rakoff has finally been corralled in an anthology of profound entertainment.”
     –O, The Oprah Magazine, “10 Titles to Pick Up Now”

“A candid, hilarious, self-effacing grab bag of writings on subjects—the art of the wedding toast, tween angst, Frank Sinatra, friendship, New York tourists, and Rakoff’s many adventures abroad and on public radio—that tickled the prize-winning humorist.”
     —Elle

“A must-read for Rakoff enthusiasts. It includes all manner of LOL material. . . . Some of the wit on display here reminds [us] of vintage Fran Lebowitz. . . . But Rakoff’s best stuff emanates from his big gay self. . . . All in all, a veritable Rakoff cornucopia.” 
     —Bay Area Reporter

“An eclectic anthology of ephemera . . . and personal insights. . . .  A haunting epitaph to a talented writer. . . . Any Rakoff completist won’t want to overlook this essential collection.”
     —Out.com, “10 Books We’re Excited for This Fall”
 
“The shorter works—fiction and essays—of prize-winning author Rakoff needed to be collected. Here, in prose touching and thoughtful, detailed and just hinted at, he limns what it has meant to become a New Yorker; to come out as a gay man; to suffer the heartbreak of friendships when AIDS was new and, perhaps, scarier—in other words, a life well lived, with fleeting moments carefully observed. This wide-ranging collection encompasses all that brought Rakoff renown. . . . [And] will suit readers who seek thoughtful essays and the grace and the humor, in top form, of a top writer.”
     —Booklist
 
“[An] enjoyable anthology. . . . Rakoff writes with eloquence and grace. His voice is a sui generis mix of humor and misery. . . . Fans of David Sedaris and Jon Ronson will find the book a fine addition to Rakoff’s hilarious body of work; its publication further highlights the loss of his truly original outlook.”
     —Library Journal
 
“One of our funniest writers.”
     —People
 
“Rakoff can issue withering snark with the best of them. But once his rapier wit has sliced the buttons off his target’s clothing, revealing the quivering, vulnerable mass within, his fundamental sense of decency gets the best of him.”
     —Salon

Table Of Contents

Contents

Foreword by Paul Rudnick

My Sister of Perpetual Mercy
Sagrada Família
My First New York
An Open Letter to My Sisters
Goodbye to All of You
A Former Smoker Cheers
Diary, 1998
What’s Up, Dike?
The Wizards of Id
Laura Bush
The Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name
David Rakoff: Essayist, Mountaineer, “Comic Saint,” Fresh Air Interview
Fu Fighters
Evergreen Safari
Northern Composure
A Basket Case in North Carolina
Traveler’s Tale: A New Yorker Is Born
Walk This Way
I Like My Dog. Yours? Not So Much.
King of the Forest
Tweenage Wasteland
Unaccustomed as I Am . . . : How to Give a Wedding Toast
David Rakoff’s Half Empty Worldview Is Full of Wit, Fresh Air Interview 1
The Craft That Consumed Me
The Waiting
When Bad Things Happen to Do-Good People
Author David Rakoff Calms Himself by Keeping a Full Pantry
Oh! The Places You Will Not Go!, This American Life (Co-written with Jonathan Goldstein)  
Stiff as a Board, Light as a Feather, This American Life
Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish 

Looking for More Great Reads?
21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
Back to Top