Awards

• Commended for Audies (Humor) 2022

Overview

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Finalist for the Audie Award in Humor There's no right way to keep a diary, but if there's an entertaining way, David Sedaris seems to have mas­tered it. If it's navel-gazing you're after, you've come to the wrong place; ditto treacly self-examination. Rather, his observations turn outward: a fight between two men on a bus, a fight between two men on the street, pedestrians being whacked over the head or gathering to watch as a man considers leap­ing to his death. There's a dirty joke shared at a book signing, then a dirtier one told at a dinner party--lots of jokes here. Plenty of laughs. These diaries remind you that you once really hated George W. Bush, and that not too long ago, Donald Trump was just a harm­less laughingstock, at least on French TV. Time marches on, and Sedaris, at his desk or on planes, in hotel dining rooms and odd Japanese inns, records it. The entries here reflect an ever-changing background--new administrations, new restrictions on speech and conduct. What you can say at the start of the book, you can't by the end. At its best, A Carnival of Snackery is a sort of sampler: the bitter and the sweet. Some entries are just what you wanted. Others you might want to spit discreetly into a napkin.

Full Product Details

9781549108464

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for Calypso: This book allows us to observe not just the nimble-mouthed elf of Sedaris's previous work, but a man in his seventh decade expunging his darker secrets and contemplating mortality... The brilliance of David Sedaris's writing is that his very essence, his aura, seeps through the pages of his books like an intoxicating cloud, mesmerizing us so that his logic becomes ours... The geeks really do inherit the earth. --Alan Cumming, New York Times Book Review Honest, reflective, and even tender... Eloquent and silly, Sedaris's collection could probably find unshakable life even in the dust kitties under the bed... He gets you laughing even as he gently turns you toward the darkness we all must face. --Caroline Leavitt, San Francisco Chronicle The beauty of David Sedaris's personality--and what keeps his readers coming back for best-selling book after best-selling book--is his unwavering dedication to a helter-skelter train of thought... Calypso is his most personal and open book yet, shedding light on his late sister's struggle with mental health, his mother's addiction, and his own experiences with the legalization of gay marriage, but it still finds plenty of room for laughs. --Seija Rankin, Entertainment Weekly The king of the humorous essay returns... Sedaris fans will find plenty of familiar delights: His misanthropic charms and wry wit are as delightful as ever, even if some of the subject matter has changed. From his new vacation home on the coast of North Carolina, he writes about the concerns of health and aging, treating us to a story about the persnickety doctor who refused to let him keep a noncancerous tumor that he'd planned to feed to a snapping turtle once removed. We can only assume that the audiobook version of Calypso will be the perfect travel companion during road trips and getaways this spring and beyond. --Maris Kreizman, New York Magazine Age and family occupy beloved humorist Sedaris's latest collection of essays. His observations feel sharper and often darker than in previous collections, as he ponders the inevitable breakdown of the human body, the shame attendant with illness and age, the nature of addiction, and the eccentricities of his family. Though middle age may have made his shades of gray blacker, the wit and incisiveness that make Sedaris much-adored remain.--Lauren Hubbard, Harper's Bazaar David Sedaris's new essay collection is the sharpest retort to anyone who thinks they know what our favorite curmudgeonly humorist will be up to next. His charming observational humor is still the engine, but there's nothing frivolous about it. In the wake of his sister's suicide, Sedaris grapples poignantly and satisfyingly (and yes, often hilariously) with death, the aging body, and just how far the bonds of family can stretch.--Alex Postman, Conde Nast Traveler With this tenth book, Sedaris demonstrates yet again what makes him the best American humorist writing today: a remarkable ability to combine the personal with the political, the mundane with the profane, slime with sublime, and hilarity with heart. --Heller McAlpin, NPR

Praise for A Carnival of Snackery: Mesmerizing and jolting... Sedaris' shrewdly sketched world travelogue, hilarious anecdotes, and frank reflections on loved ones, and life's myriad absurdities and cruelties major and minor, make for a delectably sardonic, rueful, and provocative chronicle... fans don't want to miss a word. --Donna Seaman, Booklist Praise for Theft by Finding Sedaris is no ordinary diarist. He's more like a private detective, sneaking around and capturing his subjects in moments when they think no one is looking. --Fiona Maazel, O, The Oprah Magazine Finding meaning and humor in life's interstices... is Sedaris's unique genius as a writer... What is fascinating about this book is that narrative coherence is not apparent from one sentence or paragraph to the next but emerges through the sequence of entries over many years. --David Takami, Seattle Times Perhaps his most intimate book... Sedaris has become a reigning master of crystalline social commentary and blisteringly humorous self-reflection. --Lauren Christensen, Los Angeles Times Randomly open to any page and you'll find a gem... Sedaris's gift is to make you stop and think one moment and laugh out loud the next. --Rob Merrill, Associated Press Sedaris fans will thrill to this opportunity to poke around in the writer's personal diaries, which he has faithfully kept for four decades and used as raw material for his hilarious nonfiction as well as his performances. --Paul S. Makishima, Boston Globe

Praise for A Carnival of Snackery: Sedaris is a singularly talented humorist who lands acerbic zingers with the calculating precision of a kamikaze pilot... Throughout the colorful, caustic yarns that fill his best-selling essay and story collections, he's maintained league-of-his-own status by staying light on his feet: Just when you're expecting a wry jab, he clocks you with a poignant gut punch. --Rachel Rosenblit, Washington Post Praise for Theft by Finding: Sedaris is no ordinary diarist. He's more like a private detective, sneaking around and capturing his subjects in moments when they think no one is looking. --Fiona Maazel, O, The Oprah Magazine Deeply satisfying... the diaries are as clear, direct and funny as his essays... [Sedaris] has such a gift for illuminating small things. --Liana Finck, New York Times Book Review Mesmerizing and jolting... Sedaris' shrewdly sketched world travelogue, hilarious anecdotes, and frank reflections on loved ones, and life's myriad absurdities and cruelties major and minor, make for a delectably sardonic, rueful, and provocative chronicle... fans don't want to miss a word. --Donna Seaman, Booklist Uproarious... a must for Sedaris fans. --Lesley Kennedy, CNN A rich trove for hardcore Sedaris fans. --Kirkus Reviews Finding meaning and humor in life's interstices... is Sedaris's unique genius as a writer... What is fascinating about this book is that narrative coherence is not apparent from one sentence or paragraph to the next but emerges through the sequence of entries over many years. --David Takami, Seattle Times Perhaps his most intimate book... Sedaris has become a reigning master of crystalline social commentary and blisteringly humorous self-reflection. --Lauren Christensen, Los Angeles Times Randomly open to any page and you'll find a gem... Sedaris's gift is to make you stop and think one moment and laugh out loud the next. --Rob Merrill, Associated Press Sedaris fans will thrill to this opportunity to poke around in the writer's personal diaries, which he has faithfully kept for four decades and used as raw material for his hilarious nonfiction as well as his performances. --Paul S. Makishima, Boston Globe

Author Information

David Sedaris is the author of eleven previous books, including, most recently, The Best of Me, Calypso and Theft by Finding. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and BBC Radio 4. In 2019, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor, and the Terry Southern Prize for Humor.

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