|
| Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions | 
 enlarge | Author: Christian Lander
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.85
You Save: $6.15 (44%)
New (32) Used (14) from $7.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 614
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 0.5
ISBN: 0812979915
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.602
EAN: 9780812979916
ASIN: 0812979915
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees.
They believe they’re unique, yet somehow they’re all exactly the same, talking about how they “get” Sarah Silverman’s “subversive” comedy and Wes Anderson’s “droll” films. They’re also down with diversity and up on all the best microbrews, breakfast spots, foreign cinema, and authentic sushi. They’re organic, ironic, and do not own TVs.
You know who they are: They’re white people. And they’re here, and you’re gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here’s a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So kick back on your IKEA couch and lose yourself in the ultimate guide to the unbearable whiteness of being.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 A Laugh Out Loud (or Secretly Snicker) Book About Human Foibles July 5, 2008
248 out of 261 found this review helpful
Christian Lander - with some photographic help from his wife Jessica Lander - has succeeded in transforming into book form his blog site STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE and the result is a compendium of 150 idiosyncrasies that mark white people as a groupie well worth 'mocking'. Lander writes so well that his zingers remain on target while providing entertainment for the reader instead of producing a mockery or lambast too personal to continue. The first clue to his universal approach is the subtitle of the book, 'A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions', and if you don't catch the humor in that then much of the book will be lost on you!
After reading some of the 'Stuff' Lander lists we begin to feel the artifice of Lander's thinking; the long list of everyday items, as defined or described by Lander, spreads in comic relief the pretentiousness, the shallow desire to be 'with it', the countless fads we indulge while denying the commonality of those items, and the way 'white people' are perceived by the world at large - both at home and abroad. It has been said that nothing is funnier than reality and this book proves that statement 150 times - with many more thoughts initiated by the book that extend the depth of comedy in the 'unique tastes' we claim. For instance, one favorite thing to discuss is public transportation, heralded as a big city luxury worth expanding into the little cities, but stopping short when the word 'bus' enters the conversation. 'When it comes to the subject it's best to understand that white people do not recognize public transit as a viable option until a subway line is built that runs directly from their house to their work. Until that time, public transportation is a luxury only for New Yorkers and Europeans, sort of like opera.'
Other topics addressed range from Netflix, Veganism/Vegetarianism, Microbreweries, Yoga, Tea, Black Friends/Gay Friends, Portland, Oregon to San Francisco prejudices, Bakeries, Hardwood Floors, Integrity (versus 'selling out'), Natural Medicine, Plays, Cheese, Therapy - the list seems endless. From Following Their Dreams, to where to visit/vacation (Third World Countries for all the wrong reasons) to the importance of knowing how to give 'the good dinner party', Lander finds truths that cause us to ache a bit in acknowledging but force us to relax and really laugh at how each of these item is so very true.
To continue on another thing ('stuff') that Lander addresses, Awareness of just how each of these traits define us in the brush with reality that will perhaps not only entertain us while reading this wisely humorous book, but will also turn on the light to the acceptance that 'white people' have become as marginalized as other social groups who have long since found audiences who delight in the 'truth confessionals' that fill our computer YouTube and TVs - oh, but then real white people don't own TVs.... Christian Lander has a major hit on his hands. Read this and share this. It is hilariously entertaining! Grady Harp, July 08
Tremendous Fun July 2, 2008
90 out of 100 found this review helpful
Stuff People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions, by Christian Lander, is laugh-out-loud funny. The book jumps right in with 150 things white people like. There are black and white photographs throughout, many of which were taken by his wife. The end of the book has a handy list of the 150 things white people like and a checklist to see what percentage of white you are.
Note: this is not a book about all white Americans, but a book on the white cultural creatives (cc's) (if you know who they are, then you are probably one of them,) that make up over one-third of the population. Many of the defining characteristics of the cc's can be found in the "stuff" Landers writes about, like enjoying the outdoors, organic food, being an environmentalist, caring about education and so on.
Another defining characteristic of the cc's is the belief that they are a unique and authentic bunch--something Landers has too much fun poking at.
There are tips throughout for those seeking to befriend a white person that are hilarious.
The following excerpts will give you a taste of the book:
* Coffee: "For the most part, white people love Starbucks, although they will profess o hate how the chain is now a multi international corporation."
* Organic food: "Because of the balance of global wealth and power, there is a general assumption that white people are pretty shrewd. And for the most part, history has proven this to be true. But white people have one great weakness: organic food."
* Having black friends: "...an abundance of black fiends (defined in white culture as two) also enables a white person to be the resident expert on African-American issues when there are no black people around."
* Multilingual child: All white people their children to speak another language. There are no exceptions."
Dinner Parties: Outside of dictatorships and a few murder trials, there might not be a more rigorous judgement process in the modern world."
I love that the bio on the back cover includes the fact that he is a Ph.D dropout.
I was also impressed that Landers is up on the water bottle and paper/plastic vs. canvas bag wars. He knows his culture.
Highly recommend.
From the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.
 Horrendous Elitism Masked As Satire. July 7, 2008
27 out of 160 found this review helpful
This book or the blog isn't worth a very detailed review. My title says it all, but I'll explain a bit.
The book was written by a white person and it's the hallmark of elitist whites to say they're not elitist and distance themselves from being white. Their "above the fray" attitude indicates that they're better than all other people who engage in whatever attitudes and behaviors they've pointed out to us with their super keen senses.
I've noted this behavior in English and Jewish people. The message is that even our ridiculous behavior is awesome and in fact speaks to our complexity. Humor that you might hear on the BBC is marked by making fun of English people. This doesn't indicate self-disgust but a type of narcissism, in that serious topics are serious, funny stuff is funny, and negative stuff is funny too. Thus, we are number one and our faults aren't actually faults. As I've said, Jewish people do this as well, there's endless jokes, complaints, and analysis, because, Gee, we're so fascinating!
I'm sick of this because it's tribalism which is the bane of humanity and the source of most bigotry. This book's pretend satire a form of cultural self-aggrandizement and is a masked aspect of bigotry.
To further illustrate my point I ask you to look and think about the points the book and blog make. White people support helping their friends, fitness, grammar, not polluting, using their minds, etc and all that amounts to things which are either innocuous or positive. The act of saying "white people are sooooo environmentally conscious that they're annoying," is equivalent to saying that white people really, really care more than other people. It's a compliment disguised as a criticism.
This "work" is filled with it.
What you won't see are real criticisms.
Even Better Than The Blog! July 2, 2008
16 out of 34 found this review helpful
I was worried that the book may not live up to all the hype surrounding its publication and may not be as good as the material in the blog, but it does not disappoint! Although all photos are black and white, they enhance the essays.
Neither funny nor insightful July 19, 2008
16 out of 89 found this review helpful
I'm not really fond of giving one-star reviews but I couldn't think of a single reason to give this even two stars. I read through most of this at Barnes and Noble because I read that Random House gave this author a humongous advance and I was curious as to why.
This book is in the humor section, but it did not even make me smile, let alone chuckle. Organic food? Farmer's Markets? Nonprofit organizations? Adopting children from third world countries? Barack Obama? This is supposed to be satire? Seems to me that supporting these things make for a better world. If he had gone after typical Republican or white trash stuff then maybe he could have squeezed out some humor, but that has all been done before.
I just don't get what the point is. And it is cheaply printed on crappy paper and with lame photos. I don't think Random House will make their money back. I wish they would have given the advance to me, I know I could have come up with something much wittier!
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
