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“I swear I can hear a smile on the late David Rakoff’s face as he reads from his essay collection, Half Empty. His stories are hilarious. His stories are gut-wrenchingly sad…Listening to him rail against the musical Rent and the romanticization of entitled starving artists living in garrets as they whine and refuse to pay the bills is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. A triumph.”
— Phyllis Grant, author of Everything Is Under Control (audio review)
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“Half Empty balances its darker aspects with wickedly amusing takes on a variety of subjects.”
— Toronto Star (Canada)
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Winner of the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor
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[F]rom the mordant mind of one of our funniest writers
— People Magazine, 4/4 Stars
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Rakoff has a self-awareness that could be recreated only by a team of geneticists working in a lab. The conviction with which he writes is, at the risk of blowing his jacket, uplifting....Writing like this can only be a positive experience for all concerned.....To file Rakoff under 'essayist, brilliant' would be to overlook his formidable gifts as a reporter
— New York Times Book Review
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Write[s] beyond irony and ridicule to the solemnity of wisdom and meaning....Brilliant.....writes movingly....astute observations of the American scene, funny , clever....often wise.....For the sake of the future, come back soon, David Rakoff. Be scathing, biting, outrageous, savage. Be brave. America needs you.
— San Francisco Chronicle
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An anthropologist's eye for the irrational.....finely sharpened sarcasm that makes our collective stupidity seem so comically pathetic.....powerful prose.....As Rakoff tenderly probes his fears, he makes clear....he is part of our tribe. He's just funnier
— The Miami Herald
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Dry, sardonic wit
— The Daily Beast
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Some people believe in the power of positive thinking. The rest of us believe in David Rakoff....sharp-tongued, self aware....you won't be disappointed
— Daily Candy
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A collection of humorous—albeit pessimistic—essays on humankind’s incalculable foibles......Throughout the book, the author hones in on this disconnect, debunking the myth of the power of positive thinking while arguing that 'the bleak' (not the meek) will most likely inherit the earth. Rakoff manages to make pessimism sexy, whittling optimism into little more than an irresponsible fad, a modern opiate of the masses. .....The author regularly employs non-sequiturs as a literary technique, casting his arguments to the fringes of possibility before reeling them back in. His droll humor proves an asset when describing humankind’s failures, allowing readers to roll their eyes while empathizing with the argument.....While Rakoff seems to revel in his role as a modern-day Thomas Hobbes, it’s evident that he remains responsible in his critique, never trouncing a subject without provocation while simultaneously opening the reader’s eyes to everyday lunacy. An unsentimental comic depiction of our inability to recognize our own short-sided logic.
— Kirkus Reviews
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Maintaining his signature and singular charm, Rakoff analyzes the heck out of common- (and not-so-common) place culture....Rakoff is so keenly observant and dead-on [with the]....elegant, smart conclusions he draws....a writerly collection to make giddy even the most erudite lover of words.
— Booklist
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Rakoff is especially adept at weaving gratifyingly gloomy tapestries from the loom of bad judgment and calamity....
— The Advocate
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Rakoff dissects a variety of cultural phenomena....with insight, sharp wit, and deep wariness.
— Tablet MagazinePraise for David Rakoff
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A cannily satirical tour guide.
— New York Times Book Review
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To be sure, Rakoff can issue a 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
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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 ’30s screwball comedy ingenue, a vocabulary that is a treasure chest of mots justes, impressive but most times not too showy for everyday wear.
— Los Angeles Times
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“There’s another side to Rakoff the Outraged. In spite of himself, a sweetness comes through . . . He can make you laugh, and then, suddenly, there comes a passage that touches you with wonder.
— Gotham magazine
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“Rakoff’s strength is the turn of phrase that deftly and wittily dissects its subject at a stroke.
— Chicago Tribune
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Combining journalistic tenacity, literary smarts, and a talent for gut-busting one-liners . . . His blend of withering wit and self-effacing humor makes these essays soar.
— Entertainment Weekly
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“Rakoff possesses a sociologist's eye for places where today’s consoling myths reside.
— New York Times