Calypso

David Sedaris

May 2018 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this eBook

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.

Ratings and reviews

A Favorite - It’s a collection that gradually tightens its hold on your attention and heart: like a boa, it starts with the joys of the ‘spare room’, dedicated and used ONLY for guests with a luggage rack, real bed and en suite. Or, the ‘second’ guest room, upstairs, with a bathtub rather than a shower. A sign of being a ‘real grownup’ and with that frisson of “middle-aged satisfaction’, it is instantly clear that this series of stories is of the now – the changes as age creeps up, attitudes change and a dedicated guest room becomes a symbol that epitomizes arrival at that nebulous point of “success’. Of course, this leads to ‘proper behavior’ for the hosting couple: from choreographed displays of support and affection through reaction to oft-told stories, ‘who’ is responsible for and to the quests (His, Yours or Ours), the quirks of family and behavior (just walking out when the conversation / story isn’’t engaging, not saying goodnight, entering in the middle of a story), and every moment is eay to visualize, imagine and wonder about. From here – the stories range from questions you WANT to ask a stranger – mostly to get a reaction, but perhaps because you are a bit curious, to the words that should be banned evermore and never pass your lips, their banality and overuse make them nonsense platitudes, especially in the service industry. That’s where the beauty and joy of the observations and these stories reveal themselves. It’s a conversation, admittedly with one person monopolizing all the speaking time, but a conversation that has you comparing your thoughts, experiences and outlook to another person –and finding some common points in the humanity, the desire to connect and the equally strong desire to remain aloof and outside the drama, even as you are framing it within your own views of the world as it exists now, and how different that is from what you did, or could imagine. Sedaris has a knack of making you care about those moments that have become automatic, reacted to rather than planned for, the orchestrated interactions that never quite follow the sheet music as something or someone is consistently out of tune, and the need to move forward: being aware and adjusting as things come up, never forgetting to ask the unexpected question. I loved this (and other) books by Sedaris – the humanity that never quite loses that snarky, sarcastic and often spot-on observations make him a storyteller for these ages – I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Love his style of writing, his humour (yes, I'm a Canadian - and, Sorry ! about the smoke). I can relate so much to his relationships with family members.

Maybe not dinner than his previous works, but I'd say richer.

About the author

David Sedaris is the author of the books Theft by Finding,Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked, and Barrel Fever. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and BBC Radio 4. He lives in England.