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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
October 2010
On Sale: September 21, 2010
240 pages
ISBN: 0385525249
EAN: 9780385525244
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The inimitably witty David Rakoff, New York Times bestselling author of Donβt Get Too Comfortable, defends the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst, because youβll never be disappointed. In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, Rakoff examines the realities of our sunny, goshΒ everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams wonβt come true. The book ranges from the personal to the universal, combining stories from Rakoffβs reporting and accounts of his own experiΒences: the moment when being a tiny child no longer meant adults found him charming but instead meant other children found him a fun target; the perfect late evening in Manhattan when he was young and the city seemed to brim with such posΒsibility that the street shimmered in the moonlightβas he drew closer he realized the streets actually flickered with rats in a feeding frenzy. He also weaves in his usual brand Oscar Wildeβworthy cultural criticism (the tragedy of Hollywoodβs Walk of Fame, for instance). Whether heβs lacerating the musical Rent for its cutesy depicΒtion of AIDS or dealing with personal tragedy, his sharp obserΒvations and humoristβs flair for the absurd will have you positively reveling in the power of negativity.
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