Hear the toast and humorous retelling of a famous fable in rhyme from David Rakoff’s final book.
David Rakoff, beloved essayist and writer who passed away last year, has a book that is being released posthumously. It is his first (and last) novel.
Above is an excerpt of his book, “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel“, read by major writers and speakers of our time such as Ira Glass, Red Green, and Dave Hill.
I have read all of Rakoff’s books and a lot of the essays he has written for various publications like This American Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Salon, and many more. His writing, while sharp and often of a pessimistic tone, changed my life. He is incredibly perceptive, captures you with descriptions that are so accurate you can barely imagine a human create them, and spoke truely about culture and the state of humanity.
If you enjoy the writing of the likes of David Sedaris, David Foster Wallace, Chuck Klosterman, and Sloane Crosley, go to the closest bookstore to discover these incredible, witty gems that David Rakoff created for us.
Rest in peace, David.
[Via: YouTube]
Oh, but it’s so much better in David’s own voice.
The Scorpion and The Tortoise