BOOK REVIEW: Stuff White People Like

Written by the same author who wrote the blog, Stuff White People Like is a book format of the blog but has at least half new material. This book is laugh out loud funny and summarizes many of the people at my alma mater, Trent University. Basically it describes liberal urban yuppies (and most of my friends). Why do I say this?

Going to an undergrad school filled with Birkenstock-wearing-Marxist-loving-hippies and a grad school in a program for policy makers/analysts grows one accustomed to having friends and colleagues with interests in many of things listed in the “stuff white people like” such as: farmer’s markets, organic food, Barack Obama, Non-profit organizations, having black friends, awareness, microbreweries, not having a TV, veganism/vegetarianism, Apple products, Indie Music, Sushi, Documentaries, knowing what’s best for poor people, modern furniture, hating corporations, having gay friends, music piracy, Noam Chomsky, natural childbirth, Che Guevera, Premium Juice, and dive bars.

A passage from # 82 Hating Corporations:

One of the more popular white-person activities of the past fifteen years has been attempting to education others on the evils of multinational corporations. White people love nothing more than explaining to you how Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Microsoft, or Haliburton is destroying the Earth’s culture and resources....WARNING: When engaging in a conversation about corporate evils it important to never, ever mention Apple computers, Target, or Ikea in the same breath as the companies mentioned earlier. White people prefer to hate corporations that don’t make stuff they like.”

In fact, I actually pictured a few of my friends or people I have known over the years when reading certain parts of the books. Did I see myself in this book? Not really.

According to Lander’s rating scale I am 11% white because I like: coffee, yoga, gifted children, wine, architecture, brunch, living by the water (I am writing this review on the deck at the cottage staring out at the beautiful lake), bicycles, expensive sandwiches, recycling, water bottles, multilingual children, grad school, bad memories of high school, outdoor performance clothes, dinner parties, New Balance shoes, red hair (duh!), scarves, high school English teachers, acoustic covers, not having cash, books, glasses and cheese. (16/150)

Overall rating 8/10