Keynote Speaker - David Rakoff
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| David Rakoff | ||||
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Daivd Rakoff -- Humorist
David Rakoff’s New York Times bestsellers, Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable, have established him as one of today’s funniest, most insightful writers. A two-time recipient of the Lambda Book Award for Humor, David Rakoff is a regular contributor to Public Radio International’s This American Life and The New York Times Magazine. He is also a correspondent for Outside and a Writer-at-Large for GQ.
Critics have said
“Like a whore with a heart of gold, David Rakoff says all the
nasty things we want to hear and then reveals that, actually, it’s
all about love.”
--Ira Glass
“Rakoff knows the incantatory power of a story well told, the art of
keeping words aloft like the bubbles in a champagne flute. He
possesses the crackling wit of a ’30’s screwball comedy ingénue, a
vocabulary that is a treasure chest of monts justes, impressive but
most times not too showy for everyday wear.”
--Los Angeles Times
From Publisher's Weekly:
A talented new humorist springs onto the scene: Rakoff has a rapier wit, slashing in all directions with slice-of-life insights and cutting remarks, sometimes nicking himself with self-deprecation in his dexterous duello with the American experience.
Rakoff is a public radio personality, and his first collection contains his material from public radio's This American Life and from Outside and Salon, as well as a few new pieces. Assigned to visit a New Age retreat for a Buddhism workshop led by Steven Seagal, to look for elves in Iceland, to attend the Aspen Comedy Festival and to train at a wilderness survival camp, Rakoff endures urban dweller misadventures with a spin that occasionally remind one of Fran Lebowitz, such as during his hike up a New Hampshire mountain: "If only the mist would part to reveal a beautiful, beautiful parking lot, I will get through this."
Outstanding is "Lush Life," a look at the delusions and despair of low-paid NYC editorial assistants, "complicit believers in the mythic glamour of a literary New York" yet forced to subsist on "salmonella-friendly" free snacks in "unhappening bars" where they can avoid former classmates with six-figure incomes. Rakoff can be as funny as Dave Barry or George Carlin, but he adds a touch of pathos, peeling away poignant layers unexplored by other humor writers.