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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
funny
I believe I read David Sedaris books out of chronological order and my expectations that resulted from his more recent work made his earlier work seem.... depressing. I got this sense that he was almost 'purging the demons' of a childhood of anxiety, loneliness and being mentally bullied at school. It was a cool read in that you could see how this kind of comical purging of all that angst would help someone feel better in the long run (and a bit o'vengeance against those asshat teachers in Raleigh doesn't hurt either). I don't want to say he seems to have 'moved on' in later work but his more recent books seems more light hearted. But overall, enjoyable as always!
I didn't realize that I was reading this book a second time until I got to the story "C.O.G.", and got to the part about the guy who makes jade clocks shaped like Oregon. I'd forgotten the story completely, except for the jade clocks and the certain queasiness I felt about the characters described therein. This time around, the characters didn't disturb me as much; in fact, I think I enjoyed the entire book significantly more. I have new motivation to catch up with the rest of his stuff (that I haven't read already)!
As always with David Sedaris, a lot of laugh out loud moments.
It's hard to rate this book. I don't really like it, but it's distracting, and Sedaris has a really strong / compelling narrative voice.
I read this when it first came out, and decided to revisit it via audio book after finishing Sedaris' excellent Calypso. I love hearing Sedaris read his work, and loved hearing these stories through the lens of Calypso and what we discover there about his family. The stories in Naked seem more poignant, for sure (but maybe I'm just an older, wiser reader, too). The final essay, Naked, is one of my Sedaris favorites. Such an amazing story teller.
I absolutely loved this book. 2 of my friends recommended it, and when I finally had time to read it I wished I had read it earlier. It was laugh out loud hysterical. I'm looking forward to reading more by Sedaris.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
What can I say? Another hilarious book from David Sedaris! David recounts his childhood, his family, and his travel adventures. His hitchhiking stories are the best. I can't tell how much is real or how much is exaggerated; nonetheless, his stories are entertaining. Be glad you don't belong to his family!! Onto the next and last book....until he publishes another one.
reflective
medium-paced