Why are white people obsessed with girls with bangs? What's the deal with ugly sweater parties?
Christian Lander has the answers.
Lander, the best-selling author of the book Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Taste of Millions and creator of the famous blog by the same name, is scheduled to discuss his book at a signing at the Penn Bookstore tonight at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Since the blog's creation last January, Stuff White People Like has quickly become a household name. The site registered over 300,000 daily hits and over 40 million total hits by the end of September.
Like the blog, the book - which was released last July and has since made several bestseller lists - explores and remarks on all things adored by the upper-middle-class white community, like coffee, Asian girls, organic food and indie music. Although some disagree with these stereotypes, many praise Lander's originality.
"I think it's a really good idea," College freshman Wyatt Hilkene said of Lander's work. "It's cool that he says stuff no one wants to say, and he's right on. Everything he says is really accurate, which makes it funny."
College freshman Jinwen Sui, who plans to attend the event tonight, also wholeheartedly enjoys Lander's work.
"I love the [blog post] about assists," Sui said. "It's like, why practice jumping and shooting when you can just pass the ball and let other people do the work? I love that one! It's so true."
According to Lander's Web site, the author has made tour stops all over the country, most recently at the University of Minnesota Bookstore in Minneapolis and the Ohio State University Bookstore in Columbus, Ohio.
In addition to Lander's success in writing, he was also named the 2006 public speaking instructor of the year at Indiana University.
Risa Levitt, the events and marketing manager at the Penn Bookstore, said she expects a large turnout tonight.
"I am very excited to have [Lander] here," Levitt said. "His book has been a campus best-seller for over a month and I think he holds appeals with both the graduate and undergraduate community here at Penn."
*This article was updated on 1/28/09 at 3:25 p.m. to reflect the correct spelling of Christian Lander's name.
