Calypso by David Sedaris

I’ve not been reading much the last couple of months and when I have, I haven’t been reviewing them. Even this book I waited a number of days before remembering that I should review it. I am hoping I get back into the flow of reading and reviewing as the weather warms up.

I really like Sedaris and I think his writing is getting more personal and better as he gets older. I think his humour and writing style is polarizing. I am not sure exactly why I enjoy his writing so much. In many ways, we are not similar at all. I am much more of an optimist and sometimes do find what he says and does to be rude. On the other hand, there is an honesty in his writing that feels real and human.

I laugh out loud at the weird situations him and his family are in. He writes in this book about getting a small tumor removed in the middle of the night by a fan. It’s so odd. It’s stranger than fiction really. There’s a lot of weirdness and absurdity to the stories, but there is also pain especially in regards to his departed sister Tiffany and his ageing father. It’s fascinating and painfully human.

I guess one of the reasons I like his personal essays are that while he does want to make you laugh and there is an aspect of him that wants to show off, I do get a sense of rawness with humor in his writing. There isn’t a lot of personal essay writers I feel that way about.

Read April 8-11, 2019.

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