I always find plenty to enjoy in David Sedaris books. Particularly if they're performed by him. And even more if his sister Amy is involved. I don't find every story incredibly funny but even those that I don't like a whole lot gives me something to chuckle about.

This is David Sedaris’s first published book of stories and essays and I found the writing not up to what I expected after enjoying his later books. In fact, after about thirty pages I considered leaving the rest of the book unread.

Fortunately I did not as the stories improved as the book went on. Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!! had me laughing out loud. The book concludes with Sedaris’s classic SantaLand Diaries which is worth the price of the book all by itself.

If you are new to Sedaris, you might want to start with one of his later books in which he has honed his writing to a sharp edge. Of course, you might start your Sedaris journey with this book and enjoy the progression of his writing in his later books.

Sedaris’ characters are mostly miserable, poisoned people in stories that go nowhere and leave a sour taste. Very funny would recommend

I'm a huge David sedaris fan and that said, if I had read this book before I read (all of) his other ones, I probably wouldn't have bothered to read his other stuff. Don't start with this book. I'd suggest me talk pretty one day or naked first.

Finally some literature that addresses the fundamental human experience of working a degrading crumpet-related job

I first read this book in spring of 2001 as a freshman in college. Before then, I think the only essays and short stories I’d read were kind of of the greatest hits; Poe, King, de Beauvoir, Carver. I loved the sharp wit of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and spent what I’m sure was a pretentiously inordinate amount of time joking about eating Irish babies with my other intellectual friends in our last year of high school.

But then came Barrel Fever. I had never read anything remotely close and it blew my mind in a way something new SHOULD during your first year of college.

Here was an author whose stories sometimes dealt with the fact that he was gay. Essentially by not dealing with them. The way you would not deal with any other character’s heterosexuality. If it came up at all, it was simply that when this author is attracted to anyone, it’s a dude. But then sometimes the whole gay persona skewed fantastical. Like there’s no way he ACTUALLY had a relationship with Charlton Heston. Right? I mean this was pre-wikipedia but probably not. I didn’t know you were allowed to combine pop culture and real life and make up stuff like that!

And then the book wraps up with SantaLand Diaries, which I feel should be required reading for anyone who has any sort of social interaction (especially with people in the service industry) between November 1st and New Year’s of any given year.

As much as I truly enjoy this book, and it holds up upon rereading (though sometimes more as a legit time capsule of “yup, sounds like the life adults were leading in the mid-90s”) it is possible I’m partially biased by what this book meant to me.

I was no longer living in my parents world. While they’d never really exercised censorship when it came to what I read -- my Mom had decided that Stephen King was ok when she thought about it and realized that, for the most part, good triumphs over evil in his stories -- I knew them well enough to know what I could or couldn’t “get away with” around them. Hell, even today I know my Mom would grimace at Barrel Fever’s cover of two guys sticking their tongues out. And I’d just roll my eyes. If she only knew what was between the covers...

Here was a world made by someone who surrounded himself with the same type of creative and weird people I’d always tried to befriend. He wasn’t working in an office or getting married or having kids. While he was actually older at the time of publication, David Sedaris was describing what I essentially came to realize was my 20s. It was real. And magical. And strange. And amazing.

Very obviously a book from early in his career if you’ve read the rest of Sedaris’ library but I think, on reflection, that makes it even more interesting. While he was very certain and sassy about where he belonged in the universe, he still hadn’t totally found his voice. He was growing and changing. Just like I was then. And still am now.

Sedaris non è uno scrittore umoristico nel senso più stretto della definizione e chi si rapportasse ai suoi libri animato da simili aspettative resterebbe senz’altro deluso.
Infatti le storie che racconta sono spesso spaccati di vita quotidiana, esperienze vissute o del tutto inventate che non hanno nulla di eccezionale o di insolito, tranne il modo in cui vengono presentate. È il suo tratto scarno, incisivo e graffiante nel caratterizzare i fatti e i personaggi a risultare umoristico, ma di un umorismo fine e intelligente che non trova riscontro in nessun altro scrittore a me noto. Ironia e comicità inoltre sono spesso soffuse di malinconia e affiancate dalla tenerezza, qualità che impediscono ogni possibile eccesso nei toni o caduta del buon gusto. Semplicemente entusiasmante.

Not your typical Sedaris work. Very disappointing collection of fictional essays that left me more uncomfortable than humored. Id give it one star if he wasnt one of my favorite authors. I guess I can forgive him for writing one flop.

again some funny stories, not all , but some laugh out loud

Although I love David Sedaris, I was disappointed by this collection of stories. I suppose I was expecting more of the autographical tales that left me laughing out loud in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and this book wasn't quite along the same lines. I had to give it up...

David Sedaris’s early work Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays had been on my bookshelf for years. I had actually read the Santa Land diaries as a separate piece. I took this book on this trip and found some of the pieces more compelling than others. His commentaries say much about families, this composite of people who are linked to us, but not really connected. In his pieces, the world is turned around in many ways and behavior is never predictable. This work is more juvenile that later pieces, but still important in opening up the diversity that is the world at a time when few people wanted to talk about sexuality, not to mention homosexuality.

Three stars for the included essay entitled SANTALAND DIARIES, but the rest of this collection of 'stories' and 'essays' is repetitious and unfunny. It's the same voice, the same instances, the same surreal universe set in similar households told in a 'trying to be so outrageous, you gotta laugh' voice.