Never mind that some people criticized him for appearing in the 2007 live-action adaptation of Alvin and the Chipmunks, David Cross has had an amazing career so far and will no doubt be remembered as one of the best comics of his generation.

Need proof? First off all, there’s Mr. Show, the subversive HBO sketch comedy series he co-created and co-starred in for four seasons during the ‘90s. There’s his excellent stand-up comedy recordings, 2002’s Shut Up, You Fucking Baby! and 2004’s It’s Not Funny. And there’s his role as Tobias Funke, the self-deluded psychiatrist and “never-nude” in Fox’s critically-acclaimed and short-lived sitcom Arrested Development.

Plus, the guy’s appeared in music videos by Yo La Tengo, The Strokes, The New Pornographers and he hangs out with the members of Tool. Tool!

Now Cross has put out his first book. Published this past August, the topics covered in I Drink for a Reason are diverse, and so is the way they are presented. It’s a 236-page collection of personal essays, satirical fiction, advice for rich people, information from a fictional rabbi and a variety of lists.

Highlights include: fictional minutes from the development and programming meeting for Fox television’s new season, in which reality TV show ideas like Muslim Hunt, Infant Swap and Now That’s What I Call A.I.D.S.! are discussed; Breaking Up, an achingly accurate portrayal of the stages one goes through after the end of a relationship; a free list of quirky personality traits aspiring independent filmmakers can attribute to their characters in their next film (including “has never eaten pie” and “precociously inventive cook at age 11”); and previously published material like An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy and Top Ten CDs to Listen to While Listening to Other CDs.

Still, the laugh-out-loud material is at a minimum in this book. More often than not, Cross is mining the same territory he did on Shut Up, You Fucking Baby! and It’s Not Funny, critiquing religion, making fun of the political left and right and skewering semi-celebrities and pop culture in general.

Mining the same territory would be fine if he were coming up with new insights, but there’s little here that Cross hasn’t said before.

It doesn’t help that he’s been criticized as being contemptuous, patronizing, condescending and arrogant in the past. In the book, he comes off that way even more so.

That may be his voice as a comedian, or the persona he’s created for himself, but it would be nice if the guy lightened up every once in a while.

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)