Read Online Calypso David Sedaris 9780316392426 Books
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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.
Read Online Calypso David Sedaris 9780316392426 Books
"If you love David Sedaris’ writing, I promise that his newest book of stories entitled CALYPSO will make you laugh, perhaps cry a tiny bit, and love him even more (which I didn’t know was possible), and wonder how can a grown man have the imagination of a child (a slightly twisted one) at times, anthropomorphize foxes but not think it necessary for him to be locked up, realize that his siblings share the same language and sick sense of humor and should be crowned as our own American royalty because their humor is so badass, and I am still holding out for a Sedaris family documentary written by David, starring David, directed by David but equally starring his father, sisters, his partner Hugh, and bit roles to Hugh’s mother and sister, as well as his brother Paul’s wife and daughter must be playing Sorry! as they do so well and absolutely get producer credit.
If you need me, I’ll be re-reading CALYPSO. When you finish it and want to talk about escapades at his house in Sussex, their family trips to the beach on Emerald Isle, or when he and his sisters go shopping in Tokyo, think of me as your go-to virtual book club member."
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Calypso David Sedaris 9780316392426 Books Reviews :
Calypso David Sedaris 9780316392426 Books Reviews
- 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 times than I can count, and I snatch up his books the minute I catch wind there is a new one. And I get way sad when I finish them. Because I devour them. I read them typically in one sitting and can't get enough.
This one was devoured in about three hours flat. I know, I know. I should have paced myself. Savored it. But what I love the most about his witty stories - is those that revolve around his family. And this one is chock full of them - once I was in, it was all over. He delves into his deepest, tragic memories of his long passed mother, her alcoholism, his sister Tiffany and her 2013 suicide, his aging father, now in his 90s, and of course his sister Amy (love!) and his other siblings getting older as well. There's plenty of Hugh and snippets of the Hamrick family, and I felt a bit like I was getting the yearly family Christmas update letter of the Sedaris family - but with the good and the bad all mixed in with old memories and fresh ones being made...
It's peppered with classic Sedaris social commentary including some relevant political stuff - Trump and Comey are both mentioned, but it is not the focus of the book. Most of the essays take place at the family beach house - The Sea Section (lololol) and recollections of the past are aplenty. Some of my favorite parts revolved around Davids FitBit obsession, his signature stage culottes, "Your English is So Good" a guide to REALLY learning the language, the story of a lipoma tumor, learning about that cover image, and how the title Calypso came to be. I found a lot of animal themes that I loved as well! Stories and references to dogs, turtles, sharks, kittens, a fox, and many more.
I read several reviews that Calypso is "dark" but I felt it was more sad and somber, if anything. Not dark at all. As he gets older in life, his observational humor tends to head in that direction - aging, death, sickness, tragedy, tumors! But the sadness comes with a hearty does of one-liners and you will not be disappointed in this one! Dark and depressing - nope. not at all.
Calypso is fresh, it's funny, and it was so real and so honest, that Me Talk Pretty One Day has been bumped from my top DS book and Calypso has officially taken the crown. - Some parts of this collection of essays are exquisite, and even I read them twice, but as always with Sedaris, it ‘s a mixed bag. “Your English Is So Good†made me howl. However, for some reason Sedaris has this fascination with people pooping. Such humor is not my cup of tea, so to speak. The essay “I’m Still Standing†made me gag several times (elderly people bepooping themselves in the close quarters of a crowded plane doesn’t tickle my funny bone, I’m sorry); furthermore, poop allusions can be found splattered across the text. Come on, David! That is just so juvenile, or maybe I’m just a squeamish prude. And I do understand that Sedaris is trying to bring out the humor that accompanies the decrepitude and disappointments of getting older and then of getting much older. Of course, most of it is black humor that can be a little depressing, but some of it is just straight-foward humor related to the ironies of life. Overall, I still recommend reading this collection because it contains more gold than dung.
- If you love David Sedaris’ writing, I promise that his newest book of stories entitled CALYPSO will make you laugh, perhaps cry a tiny bit, and love him even more (which I didn’t know was possible), and wonder how can a grown man have the imagination of a child (a slightly twisted one) at times, anthropomorphize foxes but not think it necessary for him to be locked up, realize that his siblings share the same language and sick sense of humor and should be crowned as our own American royalty because their humor is so badass, and I am still holding out for a Sedaris family documentary written by David, starring David, directed by David but equally starring his father, sisters, his partner Hugh, and bit roles to Hugh’s mother and sister, as well as his brother Paul’s wife and daughter must be playing Sorry! as they do so well and absolutely get producer credit.
If you need me, I’ll be re-reading CALYPSO. When you finish it and want to talk about escapades at his house in Sussex, their family trips to the beach on Emerald Isle, or when he and his sisters go shopping in Tokyo, think of me as your go-to virtual book club member. - This is a collection of essays mostly about family and relationships between Sedaris and his husband; Sedaris and his siblings; Sedaris and his father. The author has the rare talent to make descriptions and observations about mundane day to day existence, extremely entertaining. Reading Calypso is like eating comfort food. It sits well and you don’t want it to end.
Chief among the characters is paterfamilias Sedaris. The Sedaris clan are a close-knit bunch and as Sedaris states their father waited until late in the game to steal their hearts. Growing up, their Dad was a somewhat detached figure. But with the passage of time and a softening of his edges; he is a lovable curmudgeon who regularly nags the author about looking after his health.
Among my favorite passages were Sedaris’s reflections on middle age, Fitbit obsession, shopping sprees and hanging out with family on vacation. Sales for the board game Sorry may have spiked as a result of his observations about game strategy and the play of his 12-year old “show no mercy†niece.
Sedaris muses about his sister Tiffany. She was estranged from the family (what fun she missed out on!) and lived a hard scrabble, tragic life. Also, very sad, is his description of an unfettered public expression of racism that he witnessed as a boy after his family had settled in North Carolina.
The only passage that didn’t work for me, was his comparison of swearing and cursing in various cultures. It goes on for way too long and it felt like filler material.
Reading Calypso often made me laugh out loud and usually had me grinning. I wholeheartedly agree with one sentiment that Sedaris expressed; I have zero interest in hearing about the dream that you had last night.
