David Sedaris returns with his most deeply personal and darkly hilarious book.
If you’ve ever laughed your way through David Sedaris’s cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you’re getting with Calypso. You’d be wrong.
When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And life at the Sea Section, as he names the vacation home, is exactly as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it’s impossible to take a vacation from yourself.
With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality. Make no mistake: these stories are very, very funny – it’s a book that can make you laugh ’til you snort, the way only family can. Sedaris’s powers of observation have never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.
This is beach reading for people who detest beaches, required reading for those who loathe small talk and love a good tumor joke. Calypso is simultaneously Sedaris’s darkest and warmest book yet – and it just might be his very best.
Very close to home I love David Sedaris, I’ve read most of his books and have enjoyed every one. I do think this might be his best work. I’d be laughing so hard one minute and wanting to cry the next. I too have a family history of alcoholism and there were 6 of us kids until my older sister passed away from her demons. This hit very close to home for me but was oddly comforting. I recommend it highly.
Amazing I think this is the best book he’s ever written. I was dying laughing in some parts, and teary eyed in others.
Classic Sedaris Explores Some Deep Subjects – Hilarious! I felt like it was Christmas, my birthday and all the holidays rolled into one when I won a print copy of Calypso on Instagram from Little Brown a few months ago along with a ton of Sedaris swag – jackpot!! His first collection of essays in almost 5 years! I sat on it, and savored the cover and the early reviews, and finally decided to sit and get lost in it. Only knowing how sad I would be once I had finished.I LOVE every book he’s written. I’ve gone to readings and shows more…