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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
My recommendation of this book is sort of conditional. It is a compilation of stories that have already been published, "the best of me." If you haven't read all his other works, then certainly go for it. If you have read his other stories, especially recently, this may be a duplication. I do always enjoy Sedaris stories. I recently read Calypso in January, so some of the stories at the end I had just read. I've read the ones from his earlier works as well, but it had been long enough ago that I enjoyed reading them again.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
I got about halfway through this book before resigning to DNF. I've been told that the second half is the better half, which may very well be true, but I don't think I'm invested enough to see for myself.
Echoing what many other one- and two-star reviewers have said, this book felt to me more mean than funny. I'm fully aware that I'm a generally sensitive person, and this may be a personal failing. But I just don't find cruelty funny. The rest of my book club (who are all very smart and funny people whose opinions I respect a lot) seemed to love this (and Sedaris in general), but almost everything about this book just made me want to cry.
Two stars because there were genuinely funny moments. Turns of phrase and one-liners hit perfectly with me, on occasion. But on the whole, this one just wasn't for me.
Echoing what many other one- and two-star reviewers have said, this book felt to me more mean than funny. I'm fully aware that I'm a generally sensitive person, and this may be a personal failing. But I just don't find cruelty funny. The rest of my book club (who are all very smart and funny people whose opinions I respect a lot) seemed to love this (and Sedaris in general), but almost everything about this book just made me want to cry.
Two stars because there were genuinely funny moments. Turns of phrase and one-liners hit perfectly with me, on occasion. But on the whole, this one just wasn't for me.
When I started this book, I didn't realize it was a best-of, despite the fact that it is literally its name. I listened to a lot of David Sedaris audiobooks over the summer, so these were mostly pretty fresh for me. I also didn't realize that it contains a helping of his unpleasant, uninteresting fiction. The audible app made it difficult to skip these sections. I don't like them. David Sedaris, at his best, is a fun-house mirror: he shows us unpleasant sides of our nature and makes them funny. Sometimes he's even poignant - I found some of his essays here, especially about his family, quite moving.
But it doesn't count if it's just made up. What does making up a horrible person tell us? Anyone can do that. I realize that all of his work is, to some extent, made-up; it's been a minor controversy. That doesn't bother me especially; it's storytelling, not journalism. That said, there needs to be a spark of truth, some inciting incident, or else I don't think the humor works.
But it doesn't count if it's just made up. What does making up a horrible person tell us? Anyone can do that. I realize that all of his work is, to some extent, made-up; it's been a minor controversy. That doesn't bother me especially; it's storytelling, not journalism. That said, there needs to be a spark of truth, some inciting incident, or else I don't think the humor works.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Reading this book was akin to listening to the greatest hits of your favorite musicians. There were stories that I remembered fondly, stories I’d forgotten and somehow, stories I’d never read before. Overall, it was a fantastic escape from reality.
More poignant that things I've previously read from him. The few essays I found funny were REALLY funny. I remember laughing more the last time I read him, but I was a lot younger then so it may just be me.
Hilarious for the first three stories, flailing after that.