David Rakoff

Around this time of the holiday season -- the end of the year, and cold weather, I always like to visit a favorite writer of mine – David Rakoff.

Rakoff is the author of two publications written in very different styles with different messages, that are usually enjoyed by two different audiences. While I enjoy both equally, I don’t want to assume what audience you may be. So, why not recommend both?

Half Empty is an essay collection released by Rakoff in 2011. In his 240 pages, Rakoff argues that we all must assume the worst. When we do, we will never be disappointed. This may not sound like a novel for the holidays and family, but his argument is actually best to read this time of year; what better time to wish for met expectations. The collection is funny, heartfelt, and shockingly inspiring. He may be pessimistic, but he is so beautifully pessimistic, that it almost makes you feel self-righteous in your own pessimism. This may be one of the few occasions in a review where I must say, “You just have to read it to see what I’m saying.”

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish, is a novel published in 2013, a year after Rakoff’s death. This piece spans one hundred years of American history all written in couplet form. You try writing about American history with rhymes and tell me it’s not a task to be held in awe. Rakoff contains with his same wit and fast-paced wisdom through this novel, while covering dark periods of time through the eyes of twelve different characters whose lives all intertwine. The novel toys with the emotions of the reader through acts of generosity, cruelty, love, kindness, and perseverance. You can never go wrong with a rhyming historical fiction novel.