#2 - Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions
By: Christian Lander
224 pages
Published: 2008
ISBN: 0812979915
My Copy: Borrowed from friend.

Based on the website of the same name, this book is pretty funny. I had read many of these entries before on the site* (and you can too when you look in the archives), but the book has a couple of brand new entries and extras, like a chart telling me what I, as a white person, should name my child (I got Emily, which is pretty close to my actual daughter's name, Elizabeth, so well done, Christian Lander).

Throughout reading I fluctuated between thinking "Oh, yeah, white people are so pretentious! They do love organic food and film festivals!" to "Hey, wait... but I like writer's workshops and Arrested Development, and public radio. Does that mean I am a pretentious white person?" Yeah, it's kind of like that. In the end, according to the book I was 40% white, meaning I "liked" about 50 of the 150 total items listed. Of course (or so I told myself) who doesn't like stuff like The Simpsons and the Toyota Prius? But maybe that just something a boring white person like me would think!

The book is a fun joke read, be prepared to feel a little bit squirmy when going through it. I also kind of feel iffy about people take free content from a website and turning it into a book we are supposed to pay money to read. If you are already a fan of the site, there probably isn't any point buying this book (though I'd recommend borrowing it from the library if, for nothing else, the new content). If you aren't familiar with the concept, reading the website gives you pretty much the same experience, so you might be better off checking that out.

* I just looked over the site again. Re: entry #131: Now loving Conan makes me a pretentious white person? Ugg!

My Rating: B