It seems that David Sedaris sparked something several years back and there was suddenly a new crop of gay male memoirists. I didn't find any of them particularly funny (except for Sedaris himself) and so I approached Rakoff's book with skepticism.

But I loved it! This man is actually funny. He isn't incredibly self-involved (see: Augusten Burroughs). He writes about intesting things (the chapter on the Log Cabin Republicans was especially good).

The book is also an incredibly quick read, good for a lazy Saturday afternoon when you should be cleaning the bathroom but can't seem to find the energy.

Although I enjoyed reading this book, I found it disappointing for a number of reasons. First, the contents have nothing at all to do with the title--none of the essays mentions artisanal olive oil or low-thread-count sheets, for example. Second, I didn't really "get it"--I just couldn't figure out what the point was. And finally, the author's non sequitur cheap shots at Republicans and George Bush were off-putting (there's plenty to complain about without just inserting random anti-Bush sentences into an unrelated paragraph). In spite of all that, however, Rakoff is an amazing wordsmith. The beauty of his writing stopped me in my tracks several times, particularly in the chapters on the Concorde and plastic surgery.

First read in 2012, revisited in 2014 on audiobook. His voice is soft and elegant.

Smart, sardonic, witty, and ultimately much more loving and sympathetic than Rakoff would like us to believe. The final essay - about cryogenics and, ultimately, about accepting death - was difficult and eerily prescient given he died seven years after this book was published. His vocal delivery - lazily sensual, bemused, and teetering between boredom and cutting quickness - really enhanced the experience. I recommend this if you like David Sedaris but are cool with things going a bit darker and way more political. I look forward to reading his other works.

David Rakoff riffs on a number of subjects in this book of sometimes funny, sometimes informative, always interesting essays. There's so much here: citywide treasure hunts, finding food in the park, nude theatre, the rich denizens of Miami Beach, the Concorde, Log Cabin Republicans, and much more. All of it falls under the wicked, witty eye and pen of a writer who was taken from us far too soon.

Rakoff encounters people who range from sublime to (the far more plentiful) ridiculous. His writing is somewhat like David Sedaris or Amy Vowell, though because the essays are topical, some of them have aged out of relevance (his decision to become an American citizen – he was Canadian – in the wake of 9/11, for instance). The writing is no less trenchant and enjoyable for its distance, however. Some things that were true in 2005 remain true, while others may already be inspiration for nostalgia. Either way, the reading is entertaining, and it makes the reader all the more sad that Rakoff is no longer with us to cast his gaze on any current ridiculousness he might find.

I listened to this on audiobook...The author's droning, whiny, sad voice might actually detract from the humor of his writing. Maybe if I'd read the book, rather than listening, it would have been a lot funnier. Rakoff's reading of his work makes me wonder why he does the things he does, if they make him so miserable. But that is his style--I've heard his stories on "This American Life" already, so I knew what to expect--although not to such a high degree. You're just a spoiled-ass privileged white guy, after all. I'm glad I don't live with your attitude. Even though you are not alive anymore.

I listened to the audio book. It had it's moments, but I think it would have been better if it had not been read by the author, whose voice I found to be a bit annoying. By coincidence, I listed to a re-broadcast of the episode "Testosterone," on the podcast This American Life after reading this book (which I do recommend). I don't find it surprising at all that Rakoff had twice as much testosterone as the other people who work on that show. He was so full of himself!

Anyway, I know this book was supposed to be satirical, but the author himself comes off as the very thing he is satirizing. I suppose that's part of the point, and that he is intentionally being self-deprecating. Even so, this audio book was kind of like listening to some white, rich bore talk about himself for hours on end.

I had never heard of Hooters Air, and I thought the chapter on that was the best thing in the book.

David Rakoff is potentially even funnier than David Sedaris, and that's not praise I hand out lightly.

Like Rakoff’s other book, “Fraud,” “Don’t Get Too Comfortable” is a collection of wry observations made from a cynical remove. The subject matter is cultural excess, phenomena like fasting rituals that ostensibly put practitioners into a state of spiritual clarity, artisanal foods regarded with near-sexual enthusiasm, and the casual opulence of the supersonic trans-Atlantic flight.

Easily, Rakoff ridicules luxuries enjoyed by the rarefied few. But more than that, he skewers the false moral equivalency implied by that exclusivity. “Since anyone with taste buds will respond to the trans-fat bells and whistles of a hot fudge sundae or super nachos, how better then to show a nobility of spirit than by broadcasting your capacity to discern the gustatory equivalent of a hummingbird’s cough as it beats its wings near a blossom that grows by a glassy pond the other side of a distant mountain?”

It’s not just economic extravagance that Rakoff takes on. It is the indulgences of a culture that equates self-gratification with existential validation: exotic tropical resorts, seedy Times Square sex shows, the fleeting celebrity of appearing in the audience of Good Morning America, to name a few.

Today, this book reads as a diagnostic for America's malaise--our infatuation with a lifestyle that is simply too much, too much, too much. In that respect, it's very funny and a little bit heartbreaking.

David Rakoff is a man o' mine. With this riff he hits every high note and takes me with him. I love him for making the effort--he says writing is painful. I wonder if it is actually the writing or the remembering that is so painful. Let's face it: when we were kids and found out that humans were not really perfect, it bothered us. Later, when we found out our friends and lovers were not perfect, it was an even bigger bummer. Later yet, we had to admit some of our own errors were rather glaring and that human beings as a race were somewhat difficult to reconcile with a loving God.

But Rakoff did it so well--the remembering, the writing, the turning of the knife...He deserves to be remembered long.

I listened to "Half Empty" by David Rakoff in 2011 and optimistically ended my review "looking forward to more from this author soon!" even though some of the book was about his cancer diagnosis. He died in 2012, but now I am getting around to his backlog, like this title from 2006. Early in this book he complains vigorously about George W. Bush and part of me was almost relieved Rakoff is not alive to see the current administration, but not really, because he's so wonderful. Other essays cover his investigations of plastic surgery, playboy photo shoots, working as a pool attendant in an upscale hotel, fashion week, and a deep dive into the Log Cabin Republicans. I love Rakoff's voice and delicious use of vocabulary, and I wish he was still writing and narrating among us.

A complete grab bag of essays, loosely themed about privilege, hubris, and narcissism, as observed and told by David Rakoff. The book was largely compiled in 2003, so there is a lot of interesting post-9/11 and Bush-era synthesis, which (honestly) seems like a million miles ago. In that way, the book is a time capsule of the early/mid aughts.

Rakoff is at his best as outisder/social observer. This made for some great stories on his trip to Paris for Fashion Week, rubbing elbows with the designers, models, and celebrities, and his investigation of the Log Cabin Republicans (what ever happened to them? are they really still around in this political environment??) This skill also served him well on a trip to tropical Belize as a writer on a soft-core porn photoshoot. I also liked his experimentation essays on urban foraging, his 20-day juice fast, and his short stint as a 40+ cabana boy in South Beach.

His style of humor hits my funny bone directly - I actually laughed out loud ("HA!) several times while listening to this one, made all the better by Rakoff's own narration.