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I not only laughed but cried too. Excellent. Insightful and funny. Loved this book. Tumbleweed Logic
This is was my first "exposure" to David Sedaris and remains a favorite of mine. Listening to him read his own work is a much richer experience than reading it from a book. His humor is magnified, his stories even more humanized. These stories of his childhood are at once heartbreaking and hysterical.
I thought I'd enjoy this more, a little disappointing, mostly because I find him so entertaining on This American Life on NPR. This is the first Sedaris book I've read, I did enjoy most of the essays, but I got a little tired of the drug references and the "woe is me" stuff. I guess it's akin to why I never liked Al Bundy - always the loser, never a redemption. It didn't stop my from getting two more of his books, hopefully I will enjoy those more.
While these four stories alone (and "Tics" in particular) more than justify a five star rating, I also found balance of the collection uniformly funny and enjoyable to read. It is one of those literary touchstones that I am certain will stay with me forever.Of the 17 essays in the book, I found three or four others that contained this spark of genius.
Sedaris's soul and mind. Mr.
I join in the numerous positive reviews for David Sedaris' collection of essays entitled "Naked." And while I too found these essays funny, it is not their humor alone (or even mostly) which compels me to give this book my highest rating--its their humanity, their unflinching look into Mr. Sedaris description of his experience with this condition (and his inability to control the behavior) is so revealing in its intimacy, clarity, and pain, that it should be required reading for every psychiatrist, psychologist and special ed teacher, who pretends to know what is going on in the mind of another person.
Sedaris' ability to make us laugh through the pain and tears of our human foibles is what makes this book so very special.In that regard, I would particularly recommend the story entitled "A Plague of Tics," in which Mr. Sedaris describes his childhood of obsessively and repeatedly licking light switches, counting steps, touching telephone poles, jabbing mailboxes, and rocking back and forth, not because he wanted to but "because nothing was worse than the anguish of not doing them." Mr.
Those stories dealt with death, the author's homosexuality, and the title piece of the collection dealing with nakedness.
This one also has a more serious side than some of his others. This was the first David Sedaris book that I ever read, and it still makes me laugh every time I read it. This one includes a lot about his childhood and family, which I think make up his best stories. I really enjoyed it and I am anxious for a new book to be released. I know he is working on one, so I hope the wait isn't too much longer.
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