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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Twisted, bizarre, hysterical. Laugh-so-much-you-might-pee-your-pants hysterical.
I'm officially in love with David Sedaris. I want to be him. Or at least friends with him. I would say this is my third favorite of his books, after When You are Engulfed in Flames and Me Talk Pretty One Day. While the other books contain essays, this one also has short stories. They are very over the top, which is great, but sometimes too much so? I do think that some parts are legitimately offensive, but that's just me. Overall, I really enjoy his style and I think it pushes me to think outside the box both as a reader and a writer.
A curious mixed bag of short stories and “essays” from early in David Sedaris’s writing career. The best is “SantaLand Diaries”, giving a funny account of being an elf at Macy’s, but there are some other enjoyable pieces such as “We Get Along” about a boy and his mother dealing with the death of a cheating husband, “Firestone” about an inept fundamentalist Christian, “Giantess” about an inept decorator and wannabe writer, and “Barrel Fever” about alcoholism. Many of the characters he creates are absolute monsters, mostly self-deluded, with some shockingly dark humour. Some of the humour is very dated to the point of being insensitive by today’s standards but, this aside, it is often funny with a distinctive voice recognisable from Sedaris’s later writings.
Early stuff by Sedaris- not as great as his later books, but "Santaland Diaries" is a classic.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
First read 12/4/11. While I liked the conversational tone of Sedaris' stories, they began to sound the same after a few, and I tired of most not having a clear resolution. I preferred his essays, which showcased his unique voice - particularly "SantaLand Diaries".
Re-read 4/12/13. A collection of stories and essays. The stories are off the wall and it's fun to read them and imagine how Sedaris came up with the premises. I liked this collection a lot more this time around, knowing more about his style and writings, than I did the first time, when it was one of the first Sedaris books I read.
Re-read 4/12/13. A collection of stories and essays. The stories are off the wall and it's fun to read them and imagine how Sedaris came up with the premises. I liked this collection a lot more this time around, knowing more about his style and writings, than I did the first time, when it was one of the first Sedaris books I read.
DNF'd. And that's not usually a thing that I do. I like Sedaris but I just can't get into this one. I'm not sure if it's him or me this time...