This book covers a lot of Sedaris's life, including his extreme OCD as a youth, which was cured by taking up smoking, something in his case I can totally support. We hear all about his miserly father and mother's alcoholism--after which she gets terminal cancer. The book concludes with the author's visit to a nudist camp. What makes Sedaris readable (or listenable in the case of this audiobook ready by him and his sister Amy) is not just that he finds the humor and irony in every situation, but that he also finds the truth. ( )

Put simply this is another of David's hilarious memoirs filled with outrageous characters, situations and commentary. If you've yet to read his stories, do yourself a favor and indulge. Whether his family, friends or neighbors, he invites the unusual into his life in ways never imagined! ( )

Dear Diary,

Today I learned that my brand of humor does not live on the same planet with Mr. Sedaris' humor. Which is disappointing, because I decided to listen to this specifically for the humor. It didn't even make me smile, let alone laugh. Sad times, truly. Maybe I don't have a sense of humor at all, or maybe it was the audio (I found Amy Sedaris' narration particularly obnoxious). Who knows.

The topics covered in the texts were interesting, sad, troubling and peculiar, but the way they were handled was just truly the worst way for me. Could be the time period this was written in, too.

I've always been curious about David Sedaris' writing, but now I feel like picking up anything else he's written is too big of a risk. ( )

I admire his honesty and enjoyed his road trips more than passages where he came off too distanced and aloof from his companions, but that was where he was at then. ( )

Fresh on the heels of listening to Calypso by David Sedaris, I went back in time to a collection of his essays published in 1997 entitled Naked. This is a very short audiobook coming in at just over 3 hours and I got through it quite quickly.

Sedaris' caustic humour is back, as are the family interactions and dynamics. David Sedaris' sister Amy was involved in recording the audiobook and acts out some of the dialogue mentioned in the stories. I imagine this would have been a terrific collaboration between the two siblings (Amy is an actor) however the volume of her contributions were way too loud and jarringly contrasted with her brother's smooth delivery. As a consequence, I found myself regularly adjusting the volume and being taken out of the stories each time she spoke.

The title essay (Naked) is a story about the author's weekend stay at a nudist colony and was very enjoyable. I'm still enjoying Sedaris' sardonic take on the world and am listening to Me Talk Pretty One Day next. ( )