NEW DAVID SEDARIS BOOK!!!!!!!!

Mostly waiting for the audio version, of course.

it's silly that you haven't read "Naked"

Hey now, this is NEVER the best way to get me to read something.

But at the same time, there's no specific reason why you "need" to read him. But I like his stuff, especially when he reads it aloud. There's one particular essay in "Me Talk Pretty One Day" where he's teaching an English class which I think is the one I'd have you read first (but I can't remember the name, can anyone else help me out?).

Yeah, but so's McDonald's. ;-) (More seriously, and to expand on my earlier point, I sorta feel the same as I did when Tep said he distrusted people who didn't at least follow some TV because to not do so would be antisocial -- it just feels like an uncomfortable set of objective standards one is supposed/expected to live up to, less how one approaches 'art' as broadly defined, more some sort of social science standard. I'm sure I'll get around to Sedaris, but all in good time.)

He's been on the show many times; I believe NPR actually "broke" him, after he read "The Santaland Diaries" on Morning Edition.

xpost

I think I've already gone on here about his incessant irritating "hahaha I was the gayest kid ever" joke.

Yes, and I like me too.

I haven't read Sedaris. I don't have anything against him. We have Naked but it's so ubiquitous on the train that I am embarassed to be seen reading it.

That almost sounds like a Gary Numan song. (Which obliquely answers the question in that I'd rather hear him than them.)

If his mother was half as funny as she appears to have been, she was a comedy genius.

Anyway I agree Barrel Fever is the only non-essential book he's written - but this new one is second only to Naked as his best.

If there was a fan club, I'd join.

I sold my copy of a Sarah Vowell book to a cute boy.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

Anyone else reading this? I like it a lot, though it contains some stuff that was previously published elsewhere, which is a little disappointing to come across. (Not disappointing that he republishes stuff, but that it's not new to me.)

Discuss.

buying it as soon as we hit a bookstore.

racists love david sedaris

We do?

racists love david sedaris

yeah the grand kleagle recommend it at the last-

i can't stand this guy though i can't put my finger on why.

there was something in holidays on ice that really turned me off to him, but now I can't remember what it was. just some streak of meanness or something, a hint that made me think "wow this guy is funny but he's also got a kelsey grammer like dark side to his soul"

lol

Well I love him and hope he keeps on doing his thing.

I saw him read in Sydney. Hes a peach.

I like this review:

Keep it coming
David Sedaris's new book is finally out after me waiting, like, a whole month for it. It's about time.
Published 1 day ago by Mary T

"out after me"

ha!

http://www.observer.com/2008/barnes-noble-throws-gauntlet-david-sedaris-says-his-new-book-fiction

that essay about sedaris' alleged embellishments was one of the most clueless things I've ever read

the new york times pissed on his new book today "from a great height" which is an endorsement of sorts

yeah--i don't think it really matters if they are totally true or not. it's up to the publisher, right? i just think it's funny that B&N thinks they know better.

Seriously, who the fuck cares.

When I saw him read about a year ago, he made references to the embellishments in his stories. His point was not about his stories, but the conceit was that he was giving full disclosure regarding details such as the color of a car, or the exact wording of a conversation because the current U.S. administration considered all of their lies to be a matter of minor details, so he wanted to lead the way in honesty.

A Million Little Pieces aside (because it was considered so significant a piece of literature with real life consequence), most any "non-fiction" work that purports to give quotes or sequences of events engages in embellishment, synopsis, and other useful and convenient instruments. David Sedaris isn't writing about a lot of life and death matters, and what he does write doesn't begin to test the bounds of credibility. He takes odd events and serves them up in an entertaining and often enlightening way.

I've really enjoyed the new diaries collection A Carnival of Snackery. I'm on my second reading of it. I've decided that I don't have to like every single personal trait of a writer to appreciate the overall substance of the work. He's a shopaholic, he's kind of superficial, he owns too many homes. But his observations are hilarious nevertheless.

I was just thinking about him earlier today. In particular the phrase “I don’t care what they do on Mount Olympus!” showed up in my brain and wouldn’t go away.

What's that quote from?

Naked. Although I might be a tiny bit off on the wording.

Hm. Well this book covers the suicide of his sister and the decline of his father - who died a few months after the diaries end - not to mention the mental decline of his literary agent, so there's plenty of darkness in it. But he's not an angsty person by nature, so it's an odd juxtaposition.

Believe it was something his mother would say to his paternal grandmother.

Hadn’t heard that about his sister, I assume it wasn’t the famous one. I would be willing to read this.

Or maybe I will read Calypso, which I can get from the library. Or even reread Naked, looks like there must have been a sale and I bought an ecopy.

No it was the youngest sister, Tiffany. Two years younger than Amy,

Just read about that in the second story in Calypso.