A peak at the writer Sedaris will become...October 20, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed both Holidays on Ice and Dressing Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. So when I was looking for a book to read this week, I picked up his first book, Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays. While entertaining in spots, his later books are far superior. But Barrel Fever does give you a peak and the writer he will become.
I think Sedaris is at his best when he's writing nonfiction stories about his life, his travels, his friends, his love-life, and especially, his dysfunctional family. Barrel Fever consists of mostly fictional tales, most of which are bizarre, over-the-top and not always very funny. I didn't always appreciate his level of satire. Two of the stories, SantaLand Diaries (the best piece in the book) and Season's Greetings also appear in Holidays on Ice. In spots, you can see the sharp wit that will be honed in his later books. SantaLand Dairies is based on the true story of Sedaris being hired as an elf in SantaLand at Macy's for the Christmas season and is extremely witty. Probably no writer can do as much justice to the chaos of working in SantaLand. At one point, Sedaris and another elf realize "that Santa is an anagram of Satan. Father Christmas or the Devil--so close but yet so far." They started substituting the word Satan for Santa.
But overall, I was disappointed in Barrel Fever. In another story, Giantess, an editor tells Sedaris that he has potential and that "I liked your story, Dave, but for `Giantess' you'll need to drop the silly business and get straight to the turn-on." Well, I think that Sedaris shows potential in Barrel Fever, but it wasn't until his later books that he figured out what type of stories are a turn-on for his readers.
Not for meAugust 10, 2007 3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Yeah, uh..., no. I didn't like 95% of this book. I have now read all of David Sedaris books and I can unequivocally say this is the book I liked least. I liked it even less than I liked "Naked" - or should I say I disliked it even more than I disliked "Naked".
This is Sedaris' first book and IMO it's obvious. There are twelve "stories" - allegedly fiction - and four essays, supposedly non-fiction. As far as I know, all subsequent Sedaris books are essay collections. I can see why. The difference between the fiction and the essays is night and day. I found the fiction to be just *too* disturbing. Seriously - really disturbing. Happily, it seems Sedaris' *real* life - albeit dysfunctional - is no where near as scary and twisted as his imagination.
My favorite entry in this book is the essay "Diary of a Smoker" - I thought it was very funny. In real life Sedaris is an avowed anti-non-smoker, he has said that's one of the reasons he left New York City for France where he now lives. It also includes his classic "Santaland Diaries", which is phenomenal - but you can read that in "Holidays On Ice" and not have to endure the rest of this book's unpleasantness.
In my opinion, this book is *leagues* away from my favorite "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and I would recommend it, warily, only to Sedaris fans.
I guess Santa Land diariers is the best but....November 8, 2006 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read so many reviews that mentioned the SANTA LAND DIARIES that I absolutely had to read this book...the SLD while entertaining and fun was a bit of a disapointment. Most likely because the way some people talked about it I was expecting it to be the best thing DS had ever written...it isn't. I loved NAKED and Running with Scissors (ha just kidding I know that isn't DS) and ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY and I think if you haven't read anything of his definetly go to one of these tried and trues instead. David is at his best when he writes non-fiction (or at least some sort of version of non-fiction) stay away from his fiction for the most part it disapoints when compared with his other stuff.
Barrel Fever-SedarisNovember 6, 2006 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoy reading Sedaris. I love how he can make you cringe & laugh on the same page. My favorite by far, "Naked". He's got a wonderful style of keeping you interested, you cannot read fast enough! If you enjoy his work, you will also like Augusten Burroughs.
David Sedaris: The Early YearsOctober 8, 2006 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Barrel Fever
It's probably best to read Barrel Fever AFTER you have read all of Sedaris' other works. As other 3-star reviewers note, Sedaris' more recent collections are far funnier and better crafted and stylized. If you pick up Barrel Fever and have not read Me Talk Pretty One Day, you may get the false impression that Sedaris is a so-so writer whose is variably funny and witty. I prefer to look at Barrel Fever as an early photograph of what Sedaris would eventually fully develop and polish.
Many of the stories/essays in this collection are too short to give more than a cursory glance at their subjects. When you finally get to the last work, SantaLand Diaries, you feel like Sedaris has finally reached you as a reader, and you (hopefully) will forgive the previous missteps and awkward experiments in style. Barrel Fever has plenty of funny moments, but it is simply not nearly as mature as Sedaris' later books.
