Amazon.com Review 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 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.
I guess the Yanks are quite differentOctober 29, 2008 The short stories were nicely written, drawing on the presumed real life experiences of the author. As an author of humour, I found the style too self-consciously witty and trying to hard to be hilarious. In short, I found it tedious and barely raised a smile, let alone a chuckle and certainly not a belly laugh through the whole production. I put this down to the cultural differences between USA and Australia. It appears that readers in the USA have to be belted over the head and told when to laugh before they can appreciate humour. I prefer something more subtle. I am sure the author is a nice person, but there you go....
Painful to read, mostly plotless, but entertainingOctober 26, 2008 The seventeen short stories in this book are entertaining and make for a fun read, but they mostly revolve around the humiliation and embarassment of the author. On more than one occasion the author ends up hiding in a ditch while others are searching to beat him up. It pains me to think that these tales actually occurred.
Most of these stories do not have plots nor any closure, since they're simply the retelling of past events, and as a result I was bored with many of them. My favourite, by far, was "Something For Everyone," which had well-developed characters, revealed the author's deepest impression of himself, and (unfortunately) ended in a humiliating tragedy.
In summary, this book is recommended but requires a fair amount of wincing.
Not so naked after all.September 21, 2008 Naked is a light-hearted collection of wit and satire, a collection of short lyrical stories from his life. Nearly every reader will enjoy the wit and humor. But thoughtful readers can also appreciate how Sedaris succeeds in easing us closer to difficult material, such as the death of his mother and living with OCD. Naked, however, is not completely naked. The title misleads. Sedaris, in fact, keeps readers at a distance that I ultimately found disappointing.
Absolutely fantasticAugust 28, 2008 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!!!August 22, 2008 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!)
