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.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Being There are many thickets one can get caught in discussing a satire as effective as this one. (Did you see the "one-star" reader review with 74 comments? Go look!) So let me come at my topic this way:
I picked this book up in a bookstore, browsed it, chuckled in self-recognition at some of its entries, and later bought it. I did not regret the decision. Why? This book is funny. Very funny.
Of course, the objections one could raise to this book are legion, but to do so is to miss the point entirely. (In fact, the objections often help to prove the author's subtext, in a way.) I will point out that the type of white person skewered by author Christian Lander is a narrow demographic of the group entire; specifically, it's composed of liberal arts college graduates. (Non-members of this category are simply referred to as the "wrong kind" of white people.)
Fair enough; satire does need a focus. Oh hey, according to the chart at the back of the book, I am only rate as 25% white! That's weird; I guess I laughed more in recognition than self-recognition. I must know a lot of white people.
Sidenote: I was disappointed to find that Christian Lander is white. Rats! Here I initially thought this book was the work of a gimlet-eyed person of color.
Hilarious!! I LOVE IT!! As I was browsing through Borders, I happened to see this book, and, of course, the title caught my eye. This book is HILARIOUS!! It is sooo true in soo many ways, and yes, they are everyday examples, but they all have some truth in them. The first half of my life I lived in a predominantly African-American/Hispanic area, and the second half in a mostly white/Asian/Indian/Etc area.. This being the case, I can spot the differences in the people. For example, in my old neighborhood, people did NOT drink bottled water at school; the water fountain worked just fine. :) If you are offended by this book, you seriously need to get a life and re-think your entire outlook on life. I mean, come on, you have to admit, most of these are true! The best part is, I always tease my husband of being "so white" and have always used some of the examples that are in the book! So yaaaa its accurate. I say GREAT JOB dude!! You should pair up with people from other races/ ethnicities and write one about every racial group! I would LOVE to read one about Indian/Pakistanis (where my mom is originally from), or Arabs ( my husbands dad/ a lot of my college buddies), and Asians (as in Japanese/Chinese). The pairing up is necessary to avoid comments/ criticisms about racism. :)
Great Book and True I agree with 90% of this book, great read.. I knew it had to be true, and was thinking the same thoughts. I really know how 2 deal with white people better now.... Thanks.... I'm buying a ton of these books for all my Black Friends.... White People R Great...., Love em' 2 death....
We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83 . . And I stopped because I was tired of being stared at. A better title for this might be: "Ways to ingratiate yourself with white people and get free stuff from them by knowing how to manipulate them through the 150 things they like most."
OK, I have to admit I laughed at this (#103), but I don't like Sarah Silverman (#52) and I don't get John Stewart or Steven Colbert (#35), even though I could not imagine living with a TV (#28). Too many times I caught myself laughing then cringing with the realization that I had thought, said, or done something in the oh-so-white style Lander spears perfectly.
Of course, as is obvious from the picture on the back (and in #95 Beards), Lander is himself a prime exemplar of whitedom, so that he, like me in my enjoyment of his book, was expressing his desire to be something other, something cool, something hip, something . . . not white. I also realized, as I was snickering at the inanity of white people and their Apple fetish (#40) and at the same time seeing myself reflected in Lander's satirical wit, that Lander has hit on some of the same iconic consumer behavior that I just read about in Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. This new book by Rob Walker examines and explains the way we consume products and brands today, including Apple's iPods in words much like those here in Lander's book.
By the way, I'm 22% white. I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or blog it (#149). Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a new Netflix (#39) movie to watch--a foreigh (#3) documentary (#57) with subtitles (#116).
Score bonus white points by identifying the source of the quote in the title! Hint: You might have gotten the movie from Netflix.
Reverses white/black relations Racist. Here is a post from his website that describes the book perfectly.... ... what ticks me off is you're riling up a new generation ... and stretching the gap between whites and black which so many strong, dedicated people have worked and even died to close....
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
