Product Description

Hip radio comedy fans and theater folks who belong to the cult of Obie-winning playwright/performer David Sedaris must kill to get this book. These would be fans of the scaldingly snide Sedaris's hilariously described personal misadventures like The Santaland Diaries (a monologue about his work as an elf to a department store Santa) seen off-Broadway in 1997. In a series of similarly textured essays, Sedaris takes us along on his catastrophic detours through a nudist colony, a fruit-packing plant, his own childhood, and a dozen more of the world's little purgatories.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1042 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.com Reviews
Hip radio comedy fans and theater folks who belong to the cult of Obie-winning playwright/performer David Sedaris must kill to get this book. These would be fans of the scaldingly snide Sedaris's hilariously described personal misadventures like The Santaland Diaries (a monologue about his work as an elf to a department store Santa) seen off-Broadway in 1997. In a series of similarly textured essays, Sedaris takes us along on his catastrophic detours through a nudist colony, a fruit-packing plant, his own childhood, and a dozen more of the world's little purgatories.

From Library Journal
Sedaris (Barrel Fever, LJ 5/1/94) has fashioned a funny memoir of his wonderfully offbeat life. To call his family "dysfunctional" would be enormous understatement and beside the point; Sedaris's relatives and other companions become vital characters on the page. We see his mother serving drinks to the string of teachers who want to discuss her son's compulsions to lick light switches and make high-pitched noises. We travel with Sedaris and his quadriplegic hitchhiking companion, listen to his foul-mouthed seat mate on a long bus trip, and accompany the author on a hilariously self-conscious visit to a nudist colony. Sedaris's humor is wickedly irreverent but not mean. Traveling with him is well worth it for the laughs and his generous human sensibility. Highly recommended.?Mary Paumier Jones, Rochester P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Craig Seligman
I recently made the mistake of reading David Sedaris while I was eating lunch. Fortunately, I was alone in my office, so there were no witnesses when I spewed a mouthful of pastrami across my desk. Not one of the 17 autobiographical essays in this new collection failed to make me crack up; frequently I was helpless.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely fantastic
This has become a very famous book and it deserves to be. It is certainly the type that has you lending it to all your friends and telling them about which pieces are your favorites. I love reading about his family and am a big fan of sister Amy so whenever there's a mention of her I get excited. So many of these stories are hilarious but there are also others that are incredibly sad. Ashes is an unforgettable read. The last selection, Naked, also has some very memorable moments, but the collection as a whole is extremely satisfying. Lots of reviewers make it seem as though reading the book is one marathon of comedy, but I find that a lot of his writing also has really interesting things to say about society and the way people treat others. A lot of the pieces seem to have pain in them but are presented in a generally light and humorous way. A wonderful book from a very talented writer.

FRANCINE!!!
Hey hey, this book is fantastic. I'm only a few chapters in but I am definitely laughing the whole way. Good suggestion for sure. And I think I need to go try some of those cupcakes too. I love a good cupcake. I had a fun trip with you a couple weeks ago, and I'll have to take a look at that other book you mentioned. In the meantime I'm laughing at this one pretty hard. Definitely a winner.

Ok Fran - email me if you want. I'd love to hangout sometime and quote movies and song lyrics and eat chicken nuggets.

(Oh, and for everyone else who's name isn't Francine... I'm not a big reader but I definitely like this book. I say give it a go!)

David Sedaris is hilarious
Naked is a collection of short stories and essays about David Sedaris' own life. He is so funny, and clever. You can really identify with his writing and it is the kind of funny that makes you seriously laugh out loud and have people turn to look at you weird. If you enjoy gay men, quirkiness, feel uncomfortable in crowds, ever felt your family was infested with aliens, had siblings, went to camp, went to college, didn't go to college. This is the book for you. It will also interest people above current trends and trival things like fashion.