The only thing better than reading David Sedaris’ awkward, hilarious, autobiographical yarns is hearing him narrate them himself. You Can’t Kill the Rooster (new recording)įrom Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Demin 2004 How to Spend the Budget Surplus (new recording) 2.įront Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol (new recording) No experience, he sees, is quite as he expected-it’s often harder, more fraught, and certainly weirder-but sometimes it is also much richer and more wonderful.įull of joy, generosity, and the incisive humor that has led David Sedaris to be called “the funniest man alive” ( Time Out New York), The Best of Me spans a career spent watching and learning and laughing-quite often at himself-and invites listeners deep into the world of one of the most brilliant and original writers of our time. Taken together, the performances in The Best of Me reveal the wonder and delight Sedaris takes in the surprises life brings him. In these essays, Sedaris explores falling in love and staying together, recognizing his own aging not in the mirror but in the faces of his siblings, losing one parent and coming to terms-at long last-with the other. Nowhere is this clearer than in his writing about his loved ones. He drowns a mouse in a bucket, struggles to say “give it to me” in five languages, and hand-feeds a carnivorous bird.īut if all you expect to find in Sedaris’s work is the deft and sharply observed comedy for which he became renowned, you may be surprised to discover that his words bring more warmth than mockery, more fellow-feeling than derision. In these stories, Sedaris shops for rare taxidermy, hitchhikes with a lady quadriplegic, and spits a lozenge into a fellow traveler’s lap. Now, for the first time collected in one volume, the author brings us his funniest and most memorable work.

And it is almost impossible to listen without laughing. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. Featuring fresh and classic recordings, including a new essay and an interview exclusive to the audiobook.Ī New York Times Book Review Editors’ ChoiceĪ CNN and Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Monthįor more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. “Genius… It is miraculous to read these pieces… You must read The Best of Me.” -Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Reviewĭavid Sedaris’s best stories and essays, spanning his remarkable career-as selected and read by the author himself.

Sedaris the best of me