Books: "Low-Hanging Fruit" By Randy Rainbow

 

Low-Hanging Fruit: Sparkling Whines, Champagne Problems, and Pressing Issues from My Gay Agenda

By Randy Rainbow

St. Martin's Press; hardcover, 224 pages; $28.00

Randy Rainbow is a four-time Emmy-nominated comedian, actor, singer, writer, and satirist best known for his popular series of musical parodies and political spoofs, which has earned him international acclaim, especially in one of the craziest election years ever. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Playing With Myself. He tours all over the country, performing in front of sold-out audiences, and his viral videos draw millions of views across all platforms.

Low-Hanging Fruit is Randy's new book, a collection of essays delving into a few things on his mind that he wants to talk about, and is essentially a manifesto for a country in need of a makeover,

"When my literary agent asked me what I thought the theme of my next book should be, I told him that as a respected commentator with my finger on the pulse of public discourse and the current social climate, I strongly intuited that what people really want more of right now is privileged white males complaining about shit," Randy writes. "I'll never forget his response: 'Randy,' he said, 'I have to take another calls.' I never heard back from him. And don't you worry...I have already complained to management."

While his first book was about an America in crisis, Randy knew that what the country needed to get back on its high heels as a hard-hitting gay agenda, and this book serves that purpose, as it is filled with sparkling whines, some champagne problems, and a Birkin bag of the most pressing issues facing the United States, from dancing TikTok grandmas, Elon Musk, the GOP, and as Randy calls him, Donald Jessica Trump.

Randy looks into how he always has had a propensity for whistleblowing, going back to when he was four years old at a friend's birthday party. He noticed the other kids not eating their ice cream cones right, and stared at them with disdain, complete with a masterful side-eye game. 

As an adult, Randy has a deep aversion to any injustice, whether it's in his life, personal relationships, or business. He feels the same fire in the belly, whether it's the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade or a restaurant on the Upper West side not giving a side of secret sauce even though they have the never to charge $45 for a hamburger and $18 for fries.

In addition to reading Randy's thoughts on things, his longtime companion, the glamorous Chinchilla Silver Persian cast Tippi, makes an appearance to dish on her life Chez Randy.

This book also, not surprisingly, has a naughty side, as Randy also dishes up some sex talk about life on the dating apps. Craigslist hookups, and a certain fireman turned on by swim goggles. 

In what is being billed as the most anticipated sequel since Top Gun: Maverick, Randy continues the conversation with his mother, Gwen, because who knows better than the Jewish mother of a gay man about how to solve America's problems?

In this excerpt, Randy looks at the need to complain, and why it shouldn't get a bad rap: "In the age of 'the Karen,' the act of complaining has become intensely stigmatized. The time-honored tradition - dare I say art - of the complaint is now an endangered one. And before I go on presenting this vitally important albeit half-baked case in defense of complaining, I wish to state that I am in no way endorsing the kind associated with the aforementioned pejorative, which Wikipedia describes as 'elitist, racist, or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal.' I am no Karen apologist.

And before you start complaining...no, of course not everyone named Karen fits the mold of what we now consider arguably the most vile and obnoxious of all human subspecies. Every birth Karen is entitled (very, very entitled) to the presumption of innocence until proven shitty. In fact, there are many people who were assigned the name Karen at birth for whom I have great reverence and appreciation, and let me please take this opportunity to shine a positive light on all of them: There's Karen Carpenter...actually, that's the only one. Well, I tried.

It should be noted that I myself have always delighted in my own use of the term, taking cheap shots at - occasionally even brutally mocking - high-profile, bona fide Karens such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Jessica Trump. As a result, I've been publicly chastised - occasionally by my own base! During a talk-back moderated by CNN's Dana Bash at a stop on my last book tour in Washington, D.C., one audience member whose name was actually Karen took the opportunity to to stand defiantly amid a sold-out synagogue and express, with no hint of irony, her passionate displeasure and disappointment with my flippant use of the slang term in comedy videos and on social media. (Awk-warrrrrd...) She was on a mission and had clearly purchased tickets to the event with the sole intention of accomplishing it. It was super meta and had the potential to be somewhat charming had she been even slightly self-aware.

Listen, I appreciate that it's not an ideal time to be named Karen, especially if you're a jerk. Sometimes that's just the way the zeitgeist cookie crumbles. (Great...now I want zeitgeist cookies.) Don't blame me, though! I'm merely a social commentator molding the clay I'm given. And while I welcome all criticism and respect everyone's freedom of speech, as I told that woman in my audience before having her tased and thrown out by my security guards, I'm a flamboyant homosexual who's lived my entire life with the name Randy Rainbow, so you'll get little sympathy from me in this department."