Stuff White People Like…The Novel!
March 27, 2008 by Michael
Christian Lander, (co?)creator of Stuff White People Like, pictured here doing something white people enjoy doing.
So I hear the the Stuff White People Like blog is being turned into a book. (I also just realized that their blog uses the same site-theme as mine.) Random House, who are known to take some risks (especially with bloggers), have signed Christian Lander, the creator/author of Stuff White People Like, to what is reportedly a six-figure book deal (here’s a link to the to-be-released book). I can just picture Lander doing a little white person jig of joy and celebration.
This is incredible. The blog started in mid-January and became a viral, infectious, wildly popular sensation in the matter of a few months. I first came across the blog on the post about Mos Def while looking through tags — and I ended up spending the larger portion of an hour browsing through a handful of posts. It was mildly offensive but I was drawn to its satircal and sarcastic tone. And it’s insanely funny a lot of the time. I found myself laughing out loud, all the while thinking in the back of my mind, “Oh…am I supposed to find it this funny?” It was strange to see white culture and race (and, in a larger sense, the upper-middle class) be confronted so bluntly and with such humorous bite that it could be a bit jarring at first. I mean, we see comedians do this all the time — making fun of their own race. But it doesn’t seem to happen too much with upper middle class white-folk (as far as I’ve seen).
The blog has also revealed that I may be a lot whiter than I thought I was — the same goes for a lot of people I know. Which makes it even more plausible to see it as more of a class phenomenon than a race issue, being that I feel I am closer to the middle class than the working/lower or upper classes. I’m not sure how the blog will translate to book-form, but we shall see. Lander says on his blog that 2/3 of the book will be all-new material. Sounds cool, but I think I’ll wait for the reviews on this one.
Check out the blog before it becomes a book. Then you’ll be able to say, “Oh the blog was sooo much better than the book.”
Would that qualify as something white people would say?
Songs of the Day:
The Killers - “Where the White Boys Dance”
Michael Jackson - “Black or White”
dc Talk - “Colored People”
Zero 7 - “This Fine Social Scene”
“Would that qualify as something white people would say?”
MOST DEFINITELY!!!
I would say White People are all about being the first person on the bandwagon, before something becomes an overly-commercialized sensation (ex: “I’ve only seen the first 3 Star Wars movies…” or “I remember when such and such band would play in little dive bars…they were so good back then.” etc).
Being members of the targeted audience, my roomies and I find this particular blog H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S simply because the author repeatedly hits the nail on the proverbial head time after time after time. Rarely does my day start off without a ping from Roomie on IM saying “Did you see ‘Stuff White People Like’ today? Sooo true!”
Oh, and props for the dc Talk SOTD selection…haven’t heard that song in forever!
So…I assume you’re getting the book?
dc Talk is a part of my childhood. Even though faith/religion isn’t too big of a part of my life (these days), I absolutely cherish the memories that worn out cassette tape of their “Jesus Freak” album provided. I used to play that thing from a-side to b-side all day, while singing along to every chorus and rap.
Well, I wouldn’t be a true “white person” if I didn’t, would I? After all…I’ve been reading this blog FOREVER. Well, ok for like, 2 weeks.
Wow, yeah. I am having a hard time getting past the dc talk part of your post as well. it reminds me so much of summer camp. And I just may buy this book as well. So long as it is not just all the posts re-written.
Hey… I used to have a casette of dc Talk’s “Jesus freak”… those were good times =)
Hey, thanks for the add in your blogs list!
wonderful site!!!! interesting stuff keep up the good work
I would say this is a bad investment. That blog is losing steam in terms of popularity. Also, this type of stuff works better in a blog than a book.
So I checked out that blog…
Either I’m very white-washed, or, like you said, these attributes have more to do with class than race.
(Whoo-hoo, Zero 7!)
see… i dont think its funny (the blog) …like, i dont really get it. its like “yeah…so? i do like that” then all my ethnic friends tell me i dont get it because im white - but they all find it hilarious. especially my asian friends. and they tease me constantly based on its content.
Katie: I apologize for the long reply…but you don’t find the blog funny! So I must try my best to explain why I personally find it funny.
Well, I found it funny at first because, like your friends, I thought it described many of my white friends and acquaintances to a tee. It was interesting to see how much of a culture there was…and humorous to see someone describe it in such a precise, matter-of-fact tone. And there’s just all too much dialogue about the culture of minorities but nothing about the vast majority of America…middle class white people.
But that level of amusement lasted only a short while, and I soon found more to laugh at, as I saw more and more that many of my non-white friends and people of all races (including me) fit many of these “traits.” It was like “Wow…we’re kind of white!”
So yeah…I now find it most humorous when I see a post on there that is reflected by either myself or non-white people I know…and this happens fairly frequently. At this moment, I don’t know exactly why I find that funny.
I have to say that I’m beginning to lose interest a little the more I see the blog describing things that aren’t really “white” per se, but more of a commentary on the college-educated, middle class, 20-30 something crowd. For example, like one of the recent posts about “downloading a whole bunch of music illegally.” Pretty much everyone does many of the things in that post. As opposed to one of the older posts about “dinner parties,” which is something, more or less, exclusively “white”…and hilarious. There’s gotta be that balance. It’s difficult to do, but that nice balance is what it started off so strongly with, and hooked me…but I think it’s becoming too generalized.
leafless: I’d have to agree with you. I’m not sure how much longer the blog will be able to hold the same level of interest and hype…I’d imagine it’d die down quite a bit by the time the book is released in August. I guess we’ll see how big of a phenomenon this thing really is by then.
This is too funny. Some of the articles actually rings true for me too, so I must be part-white. Ha. I wouldn’t go as far as buying the book, but good for Christian. He gets to make a check out of something that started as a hobby.
From a publishing standpoint, this is not a risk. In fact, for a blog, it’s more literary than most.
Well, yeah, but I’m not sure if it will be a success.
The hype, and quality, of the blog has gone down a few notches. Maybe he’s hoarding all the good stuff for the book now.