At first I was disappointed with this book, having expected it to be written by David Sedaris. I was surprised this isn’t all great writers’ greatest writing. Did David choose jealously? But then I reread Jhumpa Lahiri and Lorrie Moore classics, found the hilarity I was looking for in Jincy Willett, the frightening in JCO, loved how The Garden Party was referenced in the story that followed it, and I could appreciate why Sedaris selected the driest of Dorothy and the racistiest of Flannery, and this collection of short stories hugged my David Sedaris loving heart.

I thought this was written by David Sedaris. Instead, it is a collection of short stories, one of which is read by Sedaris. The stories were good enough. I liked the first one a lot. The last one leaves you hanging. I could just hear my former students yelling out their disappointment.

This is a compilation of David Sedaris' favorite short stories by literary greats such as Alice Munro, Flannery O'Connor and Dororthy Parker, just to name a few. With a crowd like this, you can expect stories that will leave you ever so slightly unsettled, such as Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain" and Lorrie Moore's troubling tromp through a pediatric cancer ward in "People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk." The stories seem to gather eccentric value as the book progresses. They are provocative and probably not best read right before bed. But Sedaris has indeed gathered the best of the best, and each of the stories represents an intricate piece of literary art.

But there is another reason to buy this book. All the proceeds benefit 826NYC, an afterschool tutoring organization that also does community outreach by way of writing workshops for young people. Literature to help foster literature-it is a great idea and one worthy of support.
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I should have known Sedaris would have great taste in short stories...so much more entertaining than picking up the American's Best Short Stories of the Year book!