FRAUD

David Rakoff

[Ed Note: If one more mention of the word 'Sedaris', even if in a strictly non-David Sedaris centric context, is going to loosen your bowels, save yourself the trouble and just skip to the Ron Jeremy movie review thing now]

So, I was thinking I was pretty clever when I came up with the idea to rip into David Rakoff's Fraud by saying how he's soooo clearly trying to be David Sedaris, and how he's soooo clearly not. I bet I was even feeling more proud of my own cleverness then the 58 or so other people who posted their reviews on Amazon.com and came more or less the same conclusion.

David Rakoff isn't David Sedaris: the difference is real, but not all that great. It's like comparing Jet Li to Jackie Chan (Li probably being the better martial artist, Chan being, undeniabley quicker and more entertaining). A la Li, David Rakoff is probably smarter, and though Sedaris trades on the the borderline unbelivable novelty of his life-experience, Rakoff has, unless Sedaris is holding back his essay on having walked in space, led the more worldly life. Sedaris is just the better writer. Rakoff has as much, if not more novelty to work with as Sedaris (having lived in Japan, had cancer, blah blah blah), but is so much less funny and sharp with it. Going any further into the difference between David and David is besides the point though. Between Hong Kong and Hollywood, there's more than enough room for both Li and Chan, and the world can accomodate both Rakoff and Sedaris, easily.

The fundamental problem with Fraud isn't who it isn't, but what it isn't; which is well organized. Out of the ten-or-so essays in it, there are some good ones - but they're all at the back, and you probably won't make it that far. The first couple essays are mediocre in their pacing and constantly making heavy, probably impenetrable, references to Audrey Hepburn era classic (i.e. classically gay) films, that you wonder how you're going to make it through the chapter.

How do you do it? You skip. After the second or third essay in the collection, you'll be skipping lines like Fraud were a biology textbook and you have an exam on it in three hours. That's how bad you'll just want it to be done. Things which rhyme with the author's last name which would be more fun to do than read his book: slack off, snack off, yak off, etc.etc.etc.