The Best of Me

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When Sedaris was small his family moved to North Carolina, where young David heard that a neighboring family, the Tomkeys, had no television. David went to school with two of the Tomkey children, and he sometimes tried to view the world through their eyes. Because humor is a life saver and a tried and true vent valve much needed these days, this collection of the best work of David Sedaris couldn't have come out at a better time. Perfect for old and new fans alike, it serves generous helpings of his witty prose. It often takes a sharp turn towards sadness and, at times, even morbidity but never misses a beat in casting a comic light on everything, EVERYTHING, that makes us flinch. His essays are mostly autobiographic, his recurring themes focusing on an assortment of social embarrassments (especially in-flight ones), his middle-class suburban childhood, life abroad and the awkwardness of trying to fit in and absorb a foreign culture, his relationship with his quite normally dysfunctional large family. The earlier ones are hilarious, insolent, a tad unforgiving. As the years pass his writing changes, becomes more sensitive and charitable but never falters in finding the droll side in every misfortune, small or big. As each story unfolds you find yourself eagerly awaiting for the twist that will unfailingly offer the anticipated comic relief. While it seems counterintuitive for me to call David Sedaris relatable (he’s a man, he’s gay, he’s decades older than I am, he’s incredibly rich and famous), his inner thoughts are just that. As he describes his aging father in the quote below, I’m 100% positive that both my brothers and I have thought the same thing about our own father: I won’t get too much into the specifics of the stories themselves, but it’s a good mix of work from him. Having only read Calypso, the majority of what I’ve seen has been stories about his life, particularly as it relates to his family. So I was pleasantly surprised at the number of works of fiction that Sedaris has authored as well! Glen’s Homophobia Newsletter was utterly fantastic. And the fact that it was written in 1994 but somehow completely holds up speaks to the lasting-power of his writing skills.

Sedaris did this on a trip to Germany, with German audio programs. In one program, the teacher explains that German and English are closely related and thus have a lot in common. In one language the verb is 'to come', and in the other its 'kommen.' English 'to give' is Germen 'gebben.' America's 'That is good' is Germany's 'Das ist gut.' When the teacher asked who brings the chocolate, Sedaris replies, "The rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate."What could be a more tempting Christmas gift than a compendium of David Sedaris's best stories, selected by the author himself? From a spectacular career spanning almost three decades, these stories have become modern classics and are now for the first time collected in one volume. Every summer the Sedaris family rented a vacation home on the North Carolina coast, where the houses had clever names like The Skinny Dipper, Lazy Daze, Loony Dunes, etc. The family was in the car one day when David's dad said he would BUY a summer house. Sedaris notes, "It's an excellent way to start and leaves the listener thinking, 'Hey Ich kann do dis.'

Taken together, the stories in The Best of Me reveal the wonder and delight Sedaris takes in the surprises life brings him. No experience, he sees, is quite as he expected - it's often harder, more fraught and certainly weirder - but sometimes it is also much richer and more wonderful. For more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to read without laughing. David thought she had something in her mouth until he realized she was speaking in code. So David said, "Okay, but can you tell me WHICH hour ott?"In a foreign language class conducted exclusively in French, the teacher asked a question about Easter. A Moroccan student asked "Excuse me, but what's an Easter?" Book Genre: Autobiography, Biography, Biography Memoir, Comedy, Essays, Humor, LGBT, Memoir, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Writing I absolutely blew through this. David Sedaris is a once in a generation talent and this collection of stories is no exception to that rule. Some of his die-hard fans might find this redundant, but as I’ve only ever read Calypso (and loved it), a greatest hits album is exactly what I want from this author! David Sedaris’s best stories and essays, spanning his remarkable career - as selected and read by the author himself. Featuring fresh and classic recordings, including a new essay and an interview exclusive to the audiobook. I always give this author five stars because his insane humor appeals to my own twisted sense of what makes me laugh. I lowered it to four stars but it is not the fault of the author but my own. The title should have told me that these were his favorites from previous books. I have read all of his books and this collection of stories is taken from them with some additional columns/essays that he has written. So, I was basically re-reading chapters from books that I have read,, several, many times. It was a bit disappointing, although the blurbs from his essays/columns were new to me and I enjoyed them immensely.