"Genius... It is miraculous to read these pieces... You must read The
Best of Me." --Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Review
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A CNN and Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Month
For more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a
unique literary space. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is
also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is
at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost
impossible to read without laughing.
Now, for the first time collected in one volume, the author brings us
his funniest and most memorable work. In these stories, Sedaris shops
for rare taxidermy, hitchhikes with a lady quadriplegic, and spits a
lozenge into a fellow traveler's lap. He drowns a mouse in a bucket,
struggles to say "give it to me" in five languages, and hand-feeds a
carnivorous bird.
But 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. Nowhere is this
clearer than in his writing about his loved ones. Here, 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.
Full 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 readers deep into the
world of one of the most brilliant and original writers of our time.
