I was a big fan of this. I'd read the first essay in this collection--about his efforts to become an American citizen--in one of the Best American Essays and loved it. A lot of people write essays about This Modern Life and how quirky Americans are, but Rakoff somehow points out our quirks, calls attention to the fact that not only are they funny but also selfish and reckless, and does so hilariously. Dig it like dirt.