Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2018), Edition: 1st Edition, 272 pages
Description
Essays. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML: David Sedaris returns with his most deeply personal and darkly hilarious book. If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris' 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' 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' darkest and warmest book yet-and it just might be his very best..… (more)
Media reviews
The author’s fans and newcomers alike will be richly rewarded by this sidesplitting collection.
In which the veteran humorist enters middle age with fine snark but some trepidation as well.
User reviews
LibraryThing member arosoff
I've been a fan of David Sedaris for a long time, but this collection isn't his best work. Some of it is more mature and thoughtful, like his story about his mother's alcoholism, and he is reflective in his piece about his sister's suicide. But in several places, it feels like he tips from funny
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into mean in ways he hasn't before. Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
I had never read anything by David Sedaris before, but I had heard him on This American Life several times. He has a distinct monotone that makes him a character just through his voice. And his stories always seemed interesting and funny. So before the apocalypse closed all the libraries, I grabbed
Like John Hodgman, he’s a celebrity, but no one knows what he’s a celebrity for. Being a writer, I guess? Like Dave Barry or Lewis Grizzard? But when the essays you produce are mostly about yourself, can you really call that fameworthy? Seems a little narcissistic to me. But I digress.
My biggest beef is that the essays sound super judgemental. Hypocritical of me to complain about someone else being judgy, I know. I like judging. But judgement should be rendered with the right criteria, and for the right reasons. Not petty superficial ones that damn a region or race instead of individual behavior.
His writings have a background of disdain for America. He’s very into criticizing anything that’s not European or his beach house in North Carolina. Except for when those towns and states fund his lecture tour.
He has a dark streak that’s hard to describe. He’s like a George Carlin that’s too lazy to get off the couch. There’s no vitriol or irony, but the same disdain for poor language, travel, and stupid people. In one chapter, he gives an iPad to a sick kid in the hospital. But in another, he makes it his mission to feed his exsected tumor to a wild turtle for… reasons? He even went to extra effort to have a black market medical procedure done for this purpose. There’s something about a character who would take the trouble to do that that makes me ill.
I wish one of his other collections has been at the library that day, like Me Talk Pretty One Day. This book, his latest, sounds he’s taken the turn of old age, losing hope and gaining cynicism.
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this.Like John Hodgman, he’s a celebrity, but no one knows what he’s a celebrity for. Being a writer, I guess? Like Dave Barry or Lewis Grizzard? But when the essays you produce are mostly about yourself, can you really call that fameworthy? Seems a little narcissistic to me. But I digress.
My biggest beef is that the essays sound super judgemental. Hypocritical of me to complain about someone else being judgy, I know. I like judging. But judgement should be rendered with the right criteria, and for the right reasons. Not petty superficial ones that damn a region or race instead of individual behavior.
His writings have a background of disdain for America. He’s very into criticizing anything that’s not European or his beach house in North Carolina. Except for when those towns and states fund his lecture tour.
He has a dark streak that’s hard to describe. He’s like a George Carlin that’s too lazy to get off the couch. There’s no vitriol or irony, but the same disdain for poor language, travel, and stupid people. In one chapter, he gives an iPad to a sick kid in the hospital. But in another, he makes it his mission to feed his exsected tumor to a wild turtle for… reasons? He even went to extra effort to have a black market medical procedure done for this purpose. There’s something about a character who would take the trouble to do that that makes me ill.
I wish one of his other collections has been at the library that day, like Me Talk Pretty One Day. This book, his latest, sounds he’s taken the turn of old age, losing hope and gaining cynicism.
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
As the Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert was airing on Livestream I opened my ebook and began to read. I was soon laughing out loud. A few paragraphs later I laughed even longer and harder. I had to read out loud to my hubby. And then I knew. I could not read Calypso by David Sedaris while
I could not read it in bed. I would laugh my husband awake. When could I read it? During the day, with the windows open to let in the fresh spring air, so inviting after a very, very, long winter? What would the neighbors think?
Sedaris, Sedaris. You are such a problem, I thought.
Then I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride because the next story was about David's youngest sister's suicide. All of the siblings had pulled away from the family to "forge our own identities," he explained; except Tiffany stayed away. And later in the book, he remembers his mother's alcoholism and her early death, his father's eccentricities, living with a defunct stove so his kids could inherit more money.
You laugh, you shudder, you feel slightly ill, and you feel sad. Because Sedaris is ruthless enough to write about life, real life, his life in particular, and we all see our own families and own lives in his stories.
I loved Sedaris's chapter on the terrible tyranny of his Fitbit, and how he was adamant that he got to keep his fatty tumor to feed to a turtle. That crazy moment with his dad drove past a man exposing himself and then u-turned to take another look, his young daughter in the car.
Looking at family photos, Sedaris recalled "that moment in a family's life when everything is golden" and the future held promise. In middle age, looking forward ten years "you're more likely to see a bedpan than a Tony Award."
Ouch. Too close to home, David.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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listening to the symphony.I could not read it in bed. I would laugh my husband awake. When could I read it? During the day, with the windows open to let in the fresh spring air, so inviting after a very, very, long winter? What would the neighbors think?
Sedaris, Sedaris. You are such a problem, I thought.
Then I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride because the next story was about David's youngest sister's suicide. All of the siblings had pulled away from the family to "forge our own identities," he explained; except Tiffany stayed away. And later in the book, he remembers his mother's alcoholism and her early death, his father's eccentricities, living with a defunct stove so his kids could inherit more money.
You laugh, you shudder, you feel slightly ill, and you feel sad. Because Sedaris is ruthless enough to write about life, real life, his life in particular, and we all see our own families and own lives in his stories.
I loved Sedaris's chapter on the terrible tyranny of his Fitbit, and how he was adamant that he got to keep his fatty tumor to feed to a turtle. That crazy moment with his dad drove past a man exposing himself and then u-turned to take another look, his young daughter in the car.
Looking at family photos, Sedaris recalled "that moment in a family's life when everything is golden" and the future held promise. In middle age, looking forward ten years "you're more likely to see a bedpan than a Tony Award."
Ouch. Too close to home, David.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member writemoves
Many, if not most people who know Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis and Jonathan Winters find them very funny. I don't. Evidently many, if not most readers of David Sedaris really enjoy his books and find them humorous. I don't. This is my second or third attempt at reading books by Sedaris. His reviews are
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generally very positive. I read about four stories in Calypso and just could not generate any interest in reading more. I'll chalk this up to my inability to appreciate the author's humor and writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
I have somewhat variable feelings about David Sedaris. Occasionally, I find him slightly annoying or silly. Often, I find him really astute and funny. There is a little bit of that first thing in here, including a piece about phrases he hates that kind of made me roll my eyes and some stuff about
Much of this collection, though, is something else entirely, a surprisingly effective blend of the irreverently humorous and the deeply poignant, as he talks about things like spending time at a beach house with his family shortly after his estranged sister's suicide, his relationship with his beloved mother that included never mentioning her alcoholism, and the worrying experience of watching his father age.
I may have laughed a number of times while reading it, but in the end I'm left feeling genuinely kind of sad. But the right kind of sad, I think.
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clothes shopping that feels just a little too "look how quirky I am!" But there's some of the second thing, too: a hilarious bit about cursing in various countries, for instance, and a painfully funny piece on Donald Trump.Much of this collection, though, is something else entirely, a surprisingly effective blend of the irreverently humorous and the deeply poignant, as he talks about things like spending time at a beach house with his family shortly after his estranged sister's suicide, his relationship with his beloved mother that included never mentioning her alcoholism, and the worrying experience of watching his father age.
I may have laughed a number of times while reading it, but in the end I'm left feeling genuinely kind of sad. But the right kind of sad, I think.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
Classic Sedaris. As Lou Sedaris would say, this was faaaaantastic! There has always been a bittersweet quality to much of Sedaris' work, and that is more pronounced here. A sense of an ending pervades every essay. The whole family is aging, Lou in his 90s and the siblings mostly in their 50s and
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60s, and Sedaris is very much aware of that. There is a lot of focus on the suicide of his sister (and what came before) which clearly haunts him. Loving someone who is mentally is is thankless and exhausting, and in response to things thankless and exhausting we retreat. Sedaris' actions and inactions are reasonable and were the only choices for him, but once someone is gone, a lot of second guessing goes on. There is an honesty here that is almost frantic, its lovely and often wonderfully funny. The same is true of what he writes about the action and inaction around his mother's alcoholism and his father's aging. As someone who uses humor to dispel sadness and discomfort I applaud how well it is done here. There is also a lot in here that is straight up hilarious. It has been a while since I read a David Sedaris book that left me clutching my sides in pain from the excessive laughter, but that happened several times here. A brilliant return to form. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
David Sedaris cracks me up but he also has a serious side. This collection of short stories starts out with Sedaris talking about the suicide of one of his sisters and how they had been estranged for some years. In subsequent stories he mentions this sister and how her suicide affected other
These serious issues are interspersed with stories about how Sedaris got a fitbit and ended up walking miles around his English home picking up litter. There was also a very funny account of Sedaris and his sisters shopping in Japan for the most outrageous clothing. I do have to ask myself if there isn't a smattering of hyperbole in these stories but they are very funny.
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members of the family. Family is very important to Sedaris. Although he and his boyfriend live in England he bought a beach house in North Carolina so he and his siblings and his father can all spend time together. In typical Sedaris fashion though the house is split in two with he and his boyfriend having one half and the rest of the family living in the other half. Others can come and spend time in his half on occasion but it seems only his father can wander at will. His father is in his 90s and still lives in the home the Sedaris family was raised in. One of the more touching stories is about a visit to the house where there is clutter everywhere and his father uses a flashlight to navigate around the house because he doesn't want to spend money on electricity. These serious issues are interspersed with stories about how Sedaris got a fitbit and ended up walking miles around his English home picking up litter. There was also a very funny account of Sedaris and his sisters shopping in Japan for the most outrageous clothing. I do have to ask myself if there isn't a smattering of hyperbole in these stories but they are very funny.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
I listened to this audiobook. I’m so glad I did. Sedaris is so funny and to hear him read the stories makes them even funnier. Now I have to go find more of his collection.
LibraryThing member debann6354
Sedaris always so humorous and poignant. Recommend the audiobook, Sedaris' voice wonderful to listen to. He is so wry and a little twisted in a good way. With Calypso you can see how Sedaris is facing and is reflecting on his upper middle age status oh so gracefully. Would love to be a fly in the
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room during his family reunions. Please Sedaris give us more. Show Less
LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile
One of his best books, certainly the saddest and most serious, but still laced with his trademark humor and wit. I did this one on audio; it's the only way. He gives us reasons to laugh and cry as he faces late middle age, the death of his sister and mother and his father's twilight years. It's a
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wonderful memoir. Show Less
LibraryThing member streamsong
One of my favorites:
“”What do you say when someone cuts you off in traffic?' I asked a woman whose book I was signing in Copenhagen.
'We're not big on cursing,' she told me, so the worst we're liable to come out with – and it's pretty common – is 'Why don't you run around in my ass?'
I'd asked the same question in Amsterdam, and learned that in the Netherlands, you're more apt to bring a disease into it. Like if someone drives in a crazy way, it's normal to call them a typhoid sufferer, a Dutch woman told me. Or a cancer whore.
'I'd never thought of stitching those two words together ….
(When David asked whether someone would say, diabetes whore) 'She looked at me as if I were missing out on something so fundamental, it was a wonder I could dress myself in the morning. “Diabetes whore,” she replied, “No! It has to be terminal.”
“AIDS whore?”
“No! Oh, those poor people.” 'p 240/241
Sedaris's humor is a bit hit or miss with me. Sometimes, I laugh out loud, but sometimes it makes me so uncomfortable or sad that I can't see the humor of admittedly absurd situations.
This describes the sadness I felt about his father growing older, becoming less independent, living in his house which is becoming more and more crowded with useless objects and 'just forgetting to die.”
I know that many people see only the sheer absurdist humor in Sedaris's work. I'll continue to pick up his books – they work exceptionally well in the car as audiobooks with Sedaris reading his own work. But, at this time, he won't cross into my 'favorite authors' list', although some of the individual stories are definitely favorites.
“”What do you say when someone cuts you off in traffic?' I asked a woman whose book I was signing in Copenhagen.
'We're not big on cursing,' she told me, so the worst we're liable to come out with – and it's pretty common – is 'Why don't you run around in my ass?'
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….I'd asked the same question in Amsterdam, and learned that in the Netherlands, you're more apt to bring a disease into it. Like if someone drives in a crazy way, it's normal to call them a typhoid sufferer, a Dutch woman told me. Or a cancer whore.
'I'd never thought of stitching those two words together ….
(When David asked whether someone would say, diabetes whore) 'She looked at me as if I were missing out on something so fundamental, it was a wonder I could dress myself in the morning. “Diabetes whore,” she replied, “No! It has to be terminal.”
“AIDS whore?”
“No! Oh, those poor people.” 'p 240/241
Sedaris's humor is a bit hit or miss with me. Sometimes, I laugh out loud, but sometimes it makes me so uncomfortable or sad that I can't see the humor of admittedly absurd situations.
This describes the sadness I felt about his father growing older, becoming less independent, living in his house which is becoming more and more crowded with useless objects and 'just forgetting to die.”
I know that many people see only the sheer absurdist humor in Sedaris's work. I'll continue to pick up his books – they work exceptionally well in the car as audiobooks with Sedaris reading his own work. But, at this time, he won't cross into my 'favorite authors' list', although some of the individual stories are definitely favorites.
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
David Sedaris is a must read. I have ready every one of his essay collections and his diary. This book is one of his best because it contains both his trademark great humor but also deals with serious subjects such as aging, his sister's suicide, and issues with his parents. One of the main themes
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of the book is the time he spends with his 92 year old dad and his siblings at his vacation home on an island off the North Carolina coast. It is there that you see the great interplay that created his world view. If you have never read Sedaris then this book is a great introduction to one of the best essayists that you will ever read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Slevyr26
As someone who is a jackass, I can say with real peace of mind that this guy is a jackass. And I don’t mean that in a kindred-spirits sort of way. Full review to come.
LibraryThing member nicolewbrown
Sedaris and his boyfriend Hugh buy a beach house on Emerald Isle off the coast of North Carolina named the Sea Section in this book. While he hopes to recreate family vacations from his childhood things are different as they are missing one of them: Tiffany, who killed herself by taking Klonopin
But the book is still a funny book as evidenced by the chapter on when David gets a Fitbit and starts out with 10,000 steps which are four miles for someone his size, but soon is upping the ante and going 15,000 steps which is seven miles. He keeps upping the ante until he hits 60,000 which is twenty-five miles. But he isn't just walking. He takes a grabber with him and a bag and picks up trash on his route. The local garbage company let him name a garbage truck. He named it Roamin'. When his Fitbit died he lasted a couple of days before ordering a new one and heading back out there.
While on the road in America doing a book tour he learned that he had a harmless fatty tumor on his right side by his rib cage. He decided to get it taken off, but he wanted to keep it and feed it to the large snapping turtle back at the Sea Section that looked like he had a tumor on his head. However, the doctor refused to let him have it so he decided to not have the operation. He mentioned this at one of his talks and book signings and a woman who was a doctor told him she could remove it for him. So he later that night he went to her house and let her remove the tumor from his chest and packed it in ice and mailed it to his sister Lisa in Raleigh who put it in her fridge and when they went down to the beach at Thanksgiving he went to feed the turtle but found that he was hibernating. Then that Spring found that he had died. So he found another snapping turtle to give his tumor that was just as odd as the one with a tumor on his head.
Sedaris who doesn't drive decided to explore the things different drivers in other countries say to bad drivers. The Dutch call people a cancer whore. The Germans tell people to find a spot on my ass you would like to lick and lick it. Or if the driver is female, a blood sausage. But the real cursers of the world are the Romanians. They say things like: I shit in your mother's mouth, I fuck your mother's dead, I fuck your mother's Christ, I fuck your mother's onion, I will make skis out of your mother's cross, and the worst for them, I fuck your mother's memorial cake. A memorial cake is something you bake when a loved one dies. Of course, he got a really creative one from a Viennese woman: Shove your hand up my ass and jerk my shit. We Americans are purely amateurs compared to some in the world.
This book is funny as all of his books are funny in that darkly misanthropic way of his. But this one was also a bit more serious than his other books due to the fact that it was dealing with the tragic death of his sister and how the family comes to terms with it in their family's unique way. This is an excellently written book that delves into Sedaris's life with stories that examine his connection with his father, being sick on the road, five reasons he's depressed which was written around the election time, whether ghosts are real and can you communicate with the dead, and life with Hugh. I really loved this book as much as other Sedaris books I have read. I highly recommend it.
Quotes
At what point had I realized that class couldn’t save you, that addiction or mental illness didn’t care whether you’d taken piano lessons or spent a summer in Europe? Which drunk or junkie or unmedicated schizophrenic was I crossing the street to avoid when I put it all together?
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 56)
Is it my fault that the good times fade to nothing while the bad ones burn forever bright? Memory aside, the negative just makes for a better story: the plane was delayed, an infection set in, outlaws arrived and reduced the schoolhouse to ashes. Happiness is harder to put into words. It’s also harder to source, much more mysterious than anger or sorrow, which come to me promptly, whenever I summon them, and remain long after I’ve begged them to leave.
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 91-2)
Dad was discussing someone who goes to his gym. The guy is in his forties and apparently stands too close in the locker room. “He undresses me with his eyes, and it makes me uncomfortable,” my father said. “How does someone undress you with his eyes when you’re already undressed?” I asked. “By that point what’s he looking at, your soul?”
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 234)
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and then placing a plastic bag over her head and suffocating to death. His family's relationship with Tiffany was complicated as she was a difficult person to know and likely had a mental illness. Sedaris had not seen her in four years. This book explores how Sedaris and his brother and sisters and Dad deal with her death among other things. But the book is still a funny book as evidenced by the chapter on when David gets a Fitbit and starts out with 10,000 steps which are four miles for someone his size, but soon is upping the ante and going 15,000 steps which is seven miles. He keeps upping the ante until he hits 60,000 which is twenty-five miles. But he isn't just walking. He takes a grabber with him and a bag and picks up trash on his route. The local garbage company let him name a garbage truck. He named it Roamin'. When his Fitbit died he lasted a couple of days before ordering a new one and heading back out there.
While on the road in America doing a book tour he learned that he had a harmless fatty tumor on his right side by his rib cage. He decided to get it taken off, but he wanted to keep it and feed it to the large snapping turtle back at the Sea Section that looked like he had a tumor on his head. However, the doctor refused to let him have it so he decided to not have the operation. He mentioned this at one of his talks and book signings and a woman who was a doctor told him she could remove it for him. So he later that night he went to her house and let her remove the tumor from his chest and packed it in ice and mailed it to his sister Lisa in Raleigh who put it in her fridge and when they went down to the beach at Thanksgiving he went to feed the turtle but found that he was hibernating. Then that Spring found that he had died. So he found another snapping turtle to give his tumor that was just as odd as the one with a tumor on his head.
Sedaris who doesn't drive decided to explore the things different drivers in other countries say to bad drivers. The Dutch call people a cancer whore. The Germans tell people to find a spot on my ass you would like to lick and lick it. Or if the driver is female, a blood sausage. But the real cursers of the world are the Romanians. They say things like: I shit in your mother's mouth, I fuck your mother's dead, I fuck your mother's Christ, I fuck your mother's onion, I will make skis out of your mother's cross, and the worst for them, I fuck your mother's memorial cake. A memorial cake is something you bake when a loved one dies. Of course, he got a really creative one from a Viennese woman: Shove your hand up my ass and jerk my shit. We Americans are purely amateurs compared to some in the world.
This book is funny as all of his books are funny in that darkly misanthropic way of his. But this one was also a bit more serious than his other books due to the fact that it was dealing with the tragic death of his sister and how the family comes to terms with it in their family's unique way. This is an excellently written book that delves into Sedaris's life with stories that examine his connection with his father, being sick on the road, five reasons he's depressed which was written around the election time, whether ghosts are real and can you communicate with the dead, and life with Hugh. I really loved this book as much as other Sedaris books I have read. I highly recommend it.
Quotes
At what point had I realized that class couldn’t save you, that addiction or mental illness didn’t care whether you’d taken piano lessons or spent a summer in Europe? Which drunk or junkie or unmedicated schizophrenic was I crossing the street to avoid when I put it all together?
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 56)
Is it my fault that the good times fade to nothing while the bad ones burn forever bright? Memory aside, the negative just makes for a better story: the plane was delayed, an infection set in, outlaws arrived and reduced the schoolhouse to ashes. Happiness is harder to put into words. It’s also harder to source, much more mysterious than anger or sorrow, which come to me promptly, whenever I summon them, and remain long after I’ve begged them to leave.
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 91-2)
Dad was discussing someone who goes to his gym. The guy is in his forties and apparently stands too close in the locker room. “He undresses me with his eyes, and it makes me uncomfortable,” my father said. “How does someone undress you with his eyes when you’re already undressed?” I asked. “By that point what’s he looking at, your soul?”
-David Sedaris (Calypso p 234)
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LibraryThing member kimkimkim
Some parts were very humorous, some more poignant, some bordering obscene.
LibraryThing member dandelionroots
There are insightful passages:
Still, it seemed incredible to me that something like this could happen, for we were middle-class and I'd been raised to believe that our social status inoculated us against severe misfortune. A person might be *broke* from time to time - who wasn't? - but you could
And occasionally my shade of humor:
Do you have a godson?
He has cancer.
Oh, poor thing!
That's OK, I'm sure that within a year or two someone else will ask me to be a godfather.
But overall... meh.
Still, it seemed incredible to me that something like this could happen, for we were middle-class and I'd been raised to believe that our social status inoculated us against severe misfortune. A person might be *broke* from time to time - who wasn't? - but you could
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never be poor the way that *actual* poor people were: poor with lice and missing teeth. Your genes would reject it. Slip too far beneath the surface, and wouldn't your family resuscitate you with a loan or rehab or whatever it was you needed to get back on your feet? Then there'd be friends, hopefully ones who went to college and might at the very least view you as a project, the thing they'd renovate after the kitchen was finished. At what point had I realized that class couldn't save you, that addiction or mental illness didn't care whether you'd taken piano lessons or spent a summer in Europe? Which drunk or junkie or unmedicated schizophrenic was I crossing the street to avoid when I put it all together?And occasionally my shade of humor:
Do you have a godson?
He has cancer.
Oh, poor thing!
That's OK, I'm sure that within a year or two someone else will ask me to be a godfather.
But overall... meh.
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LibraryThing member BillieBook
As David Sedaris settles into middle age, his humor has become more tinged with melancholy and introspection. I've always felt that he was at his best when writing about his family and Calypso does nothing to dissuade me of that notion. What I got from this collection that I did not expect was to
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read the entire book through a scrim of un-shed tears. The humor is still there—it is, after all, David Sedaris—but between the suicide of his sister Tiffany, the 2016 election, and his father's advancing age and its inherent challenges, there is maybe less for him (and us) to laugh about. And that's okay. No. It's more than okay. It's good. It's given us a David Sedaris who has grown as both a person and a writer, but who still gets obsessed with his FitBit and buys outrageous clothes when he goes shopping with his sisters. Show Less
LibraryThing member jphamilton
It had been some time since I’ve read a David Sedaris book, as I thought I had grown weary of his writing, but with Calypso he has redeemed himself in my eyes—bigly. Much of his writing has always dealt with death and family, and here, with this book, he was writing with great humor and sorrow.
On the lighter side, when David finds out that he has a benign tumor (funny already, right?), he becomes fixated on feeding it to a wild turtle, but US medical standards don’t allow for that sort of thing. In a chance encounter, someone overhears him discussing/complaining about this in El Paso, and offers to set him up with a near-doctor in Mexico who will have no qualms about giving David the remains of his tumor. Whatever could be a problem with that? All goes well, right up to the point when the turtle has disappeared … and the tumor ends up in the freezer
The story that moved me the most was the one about the death of his sister Tiffany. She was a deeply troubled woman who had her problems with drugs. The very last time David saw her was when she came to one of his speaking appearances, where he saw here at the stage door, wasted on drugs. Believing that he couldn’t really help her, he closed the door in his sister’s face. As powerful as this scene was, Sedaris has his reader laughing as well.
There was a tradition in the Sedaris family of getting a house on the Carolina coast, and gathering all the family together there each year. When the mother (the organizer) dies, Davis and his partner Hugh take on the coordinating, and eventually even purchase a house there. The dynamics of a family on vacation together are always fascinating, and with the Sedaris family it thoroughly entertaining.
I felt that David let his guard down a little more than normal with this collection. There seemed to be more revealed about the family’s dynamics, and that combined with the starkness of Tiffany’s story and death, makes this collection a little darker than his others. It also feels closer to a very funny man’s heart.
In a New York Times review, Alan Cunning said of the book, “Death and family are what this book is all about. Maybe what all Davis Sedaris’s work is about?”
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Fans of Mr. Sedaris are used to his let-it-all-hang-out style, and here his revelations about relatives and friends are almost shocking.On the lighter side, when David finds out that he has a benign tumor (funny already, right?), he becomes fixated on feeding it to a wild turtle, but US medical standards don’t allow for that sort of thing. In a chance encounter, someone overhears him discussing/complaining about this in El Paso, and offers to set him up with a near-doctor in Mexico who will have no qualms about giving David the remains of his tumor. Whatever could be a problem with that? All goes well, right up to the point when the turtle has disappeared … and the tumor ends up in the freezer
The story that moved me the most was the one about the death of his sister Tiffany. She was a deeply troubled woman who had her problems with drugs. The very last time David saw her was when she came to one of his speaking appearances, where he saw here at the stage door, wasted on drugs. Believing that he couldn’t really help her, he closed the door in his sister’s face. As powerful as this scene was, Sedaris has his reader laughing as well.
There was a tradition in the Sedaris family of getting a house on the Carolina coast, and gathering all the family together there each year. When the mother (the organizer) dies, Davis and his partner Hugh take on the coordinating, and eventually even purchase a house there. The dynamics of a family on vacation together are always fascinating, and with the Sedaris family it thoroughly entertaining.
I felt that David let his guard down a little more than normal with this collection. There seemed to be more revealed about the family’s dynamics, and that combined with the starkness of Tiffany’s story and death, makes this collection a little darker than his others. It also feels closer to a very funny man’s heart.
In a New York Times review, Alan Cunning said of the book, “Death and family are what this book is all about. Maybe what all Davis Sedaris’s work is about?”
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
This collection is just great. This is Sedaris at his best, with personal essays continuing the story of his life and his colorful family, although like his other collections, this one has moments of melancholy and clear-eyed sadness, especially as he discusses his mother's alcoholism and his
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sister's suicide. In Calypso, Sedaris buys the beach house his father had always talked about buying and much of the action takes place as he meets up with various members of the Sedaris clan at the Sea Section to do everything from feeding a lipoma to a turtle to playing Sorry with his niece. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Another hilarious collection of short stories from Sedaris. This is one of my favorites from him in awhile. As he grows older he reflects more on family relationships, illness and death. His mother's alcoholism, his sister's suicide, his strained relationship with his father, it's all fair game and
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he manages to find humor even in the dark moments. Show Less
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
I read this after finishing A Little Life, and giving the latter 5 stars. Calypso is not its equal, but very very good in its own right (need an extra star for A Little Life!).
Sedaris has a sardonic voice, that in this collection sometimes becomes poignant. His writing takes you into his life in
Sedaris has a sardonic voice, that in this collection sometimes becomes poignant. His writing takes you into his life in
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that sardonic, humorous way, and then brings you up short as you feel for him, as aging sneaks up on him and threatens his father. Love the sections about Hugh, who must shudder sometimes at what is revealed about him! Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceaP
Quick note from me: Eagle-eyed readers of the blog will notice that I said I would be covering The Bear and the Nightingale today but actually I'm going to be reviewing Calypso by David Sedaris. I was working off of my memory instead of my notes and that's how that little boo-boo occurred. At any
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rate, today's book is a real treat! Calypso is an example of dark humor at its best. It's organized into short stories that cover the complete gamut of familial drama coupled with the woes of middle age. Sedaris divides his time between his home in England and a beach-side getaway he purchased for his family to use in Emerald Isle (among other properties briefly mentioned). I loved the parts where he talked about his relationship with his partner Hugh (who I fell in love with immediately) and his fears that he'll poop in his pants and Hugh will leave him for someone else. It also turns out that he's obsessive about tracking his steps and cleaning up every single piece of litter in the English countryside. He's a quirky guy and I strongly identified with him. He also touches on the tragic death of his sister Tiffany and the contentious relationship he has with his father who is in his nineties and stubbornly refusing to accept help at home. It's sharp, witty, shocking, tender, and hilarious. I laughed out loud at quite a few of the anecdotal stories (wait til you read about their visit to Japan). This would make a great gift especially for friends or family who do a lot of travel as this would be excellent to read on a trip. 10/10 Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
If you are not familiar with David Sedaris's writing, please do me a favor and stop reading this review. Do yourself a favor and run out and buy yourself a copy of any one of his books. Really. Any book Sedaris has written would be good. It really doesn't matter with which one you start your
But probably the best way to experience Sedaris is to hear him read his own work. He has a comedic timing that is impeccably smart. Coupled this with his sarcastic wit and he will have you laughing and crying at the same time. I don't know how he makes feeding a defrosted human tumor (his own) to a snapping turtle funny, or his mother's alcoholism, or his sister's suicide but really truly, he does. You find yourself in awe of how he chooses to see each situation. That viewpoint translates into a keen sense of the bigger picture and the world around him. From fashion from Japan to trash picking in England, Sedaris invites you to never see life the same way again.
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introduction. But probably the best way to experience Sedaris is to hear him read his own work. He has a comedic timing that is impeccably smart. Coupled this with his sarcastic wit and he will have you laughing and crying at the same time. I don't know how he makes feeding a defrosted human tumor (his own) to a snapping turtle funny, or his mother's alcoholism, or his sister's suicide but really truly, he does. You find yourself in awe of how he chooses to see each situation. That viewpoint translates into a keen sense of the bigger picture and the world around him. From fashion from Japan to trash picking in England, Sedaris invites you to never see life the same way again.
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
Sedaris on game is a pleasure.
LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
I don't remember laughing so much while listening to an audiobook. Sedaris is a comic genius and Calypso is one of his best. Highly recommend!
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Audiobook of the Year — 2019)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Selection — 2019)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Non-Fiction — 2018)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2018)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Adults (Memoir — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-10
Physical description
272 p.; 5.88 inches
ISBN
0316392383 / 9780316392389