In David Sedaris's world,no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner,Fran Lebowitz and the National Enquirer,Sedaris's collection of stories and essays is a rollicking tour through the American Zeitgeist: a man who is loved too much flees the heavyweight champion of the world; a teenage suicide tried to incite a lynch mob at her funeral; and in his essays,David Sedaris considers the hazards of rewards of smoking,writing for Giantess magazine,and living with his scrappy brother Paul,aka'The Rooster'.With a perfect eye and a voice infused with as much empathy as wit,Sedaris writes and reads stories and essays that target the soulful ridiculousness of our behaviour. Barrel Fever is like a blind date with modern life - and anything can happen.
Publisher: Little,Brown Book GroupISBN: 9780349119762Number of pages: 256Weight: 179 gDimensions: 128 x 199 x 17 mm
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So often Sedaris's phrasing is beautiful in its piquancy and minimalism...His life is extraordinary in so many ways - the drug addiction,the eccentric family,the crazy jobs,the fame,the globetrotting - but one of the more unlikely achievements here is in making it all seem quite ordinary. Ultimately,his masterstroke is in acting as a bystander in his own storyHe makes me laugh so much. In an era when US satire is outpacing our own he's a sharp,humane and hilarious voice that never fails to make you smile - and sometimes weep. Apparently effortless humour is difficult,and precious. He's the real thingA deadpan,darkly comical portrait of the American underbelly...Sedaris shares something of (Alan) Bennett's detached curiosity,and they both have a thirst for amusementI don't very often find myself moved by a book to emit loud noises in public,but when I first read David Sedaris's essays and short stories,they made me laugh so hard I had to stop taking them on the tube. All his collections are good but'Barrel Fever#NAMENew YORKERBOSTON Globe
David Sedaris
Incisively quick,sardonic,risqué and riotously funny,American author David Sedaris is one of the world's most popular comic writers. An essayist and raconteur,his work is most often identified by his unique brand of autobiographical writing and performed readings.
He first made his name on American radio,marking his debut on American National Public Radio with his now-famed essay SantaLand Diaries about his time employed as a Macy's department store Christmas elf. Now resident in the UK,Sedaris tours regularly and is a frequent contributor to BBC R4. His books include: Me Talk Pretty One Day,Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk,Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls and Theft By Finding.
Visit the David Sedaris author page
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