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thecriticalreader's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
4.5
Review:
I’m a longtime David Sedaris fan, but it’s been about a decade since I’ve read some of his older works (and I read them way too young—I think I read Barrel Fever when I was fifteen?). I decided to pick up Barrel Fever again to see how I would feel about it as an adult.
From the first short story, “Parade,” Sedaris had me howling with laughter. His trademark humor and wit are in full force here, and he delightedly inhabits the mindsets of his delusional and narcissistic fictional characters. I found “Parade,” “Firestone,” “We Get Along,” and “Glen’s Homophobic Newsletter” to be particularly brilliant. On the other hand, some of his stories rely too much on shock value for their own good. The worst offender in this camp is “Season’s Greetings,” which instead of being darkly humorous comes across as needlessly racist and edgy for the sake of ‘satire.’ Additionally, he repeatedly uses disabled people as props for jokes (an unfortunate habit he continues to indulge in his recent writing, as well).
His essay section, which includes the classic “SantaLand Diaries” showcases Sedaris’s characteristic observational humor and quirkiness that make him so popular. I found these essays to be delightfully funny, albeit somewhat unfocused—his recent essays convey much stronger organizational and thematic cohesion.
Overall, Barrel Fever isn’t perfect, but it’s quintessentially David Sedaris—and for that, I loved my experience with this long overdue re-read.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like Barrel Fever if . . .
· You have enjoyed other work by David Sedaris
· You like to read short stories from the perspective of delusionally horrible people
· You love dark humor and satirical wit
You might not like Barrel Fever if . . .
· You haven’t liked other work by David Sedaris
· You don’t want to read short stories about horrible people doing horrible things to family members, children, and animals
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Child death, Racism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Child abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Stalking, Vomit, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, and Toxic friendship
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