I only know him from a handful of This American Life podcasts I’ve heard him on, and I’ve greatly enjoyed each one.
I have a couple of his books on my Kindle. I started one, then lost interest about ten minutes in and have not returned. Maybe I was cranky that day, I dunno.
Anyway, he’s coming to down and I am thinking I might want to attend. Who here has seen him live? What are his live shows like?
Or, have you read his books? Enjoyed them?
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I’m a huge fan of his work; I own most (if not all) of his books, I think. He’s one of the few authors I have on auto-search when I’m in a bookstore; I’ll go to the Humor section and look for his name on the book spines, to see if any new books have been published.
That said, the quality of his essays can vary wildly, even within a single book. Plus (and this is strictly opinion), his best essays always seem to begin about halfway through each book. There’s the occasional gem in the first half of a book, but to me the best work is always in the latter half.
I’m tempted to relate some of the vignettes that have particularly tickled me from his books, but I’ll refrain. I’ll say this: Rare is a book from him that doesn’t make me laugh out loud a few times, and smile several more.
He has an understated (and very dry) sense of humor. I’ve never seen him live, but I would be tempted to do so. My understanding is his performance consists of reading some selected essays and answering questions.
If you’ve enjoyed his podcasts, I’d say go see him.
I saw one of his live shows – the book of animal stories had just come out, so I guess it was in 2013. He read some of the new stuff from the book, a new non-animal essay that got published in a magazine a short time later, and some unpublished stuff. Lots of banter, too. Worth the price of admission!
I think his work is much funnier performed than on the page; you should go see him if you can. He probably will be there to sign copies before the show, and during signing time he talks to fans quite a bit. During the show I saw, he worked a lot of those conversations into the act. (As I recall, he was asking everybody if they worked in retail, and if they did, whether anyone had ever taken a shit on the sales floor. Lots of yesses.)
I’m certainly a fan of his, though I’ve not seen him live. We just missed him coming to Durham many weeks ago.
I like to play his story “Six to Eight Black Men” for the family during the Christmas season. 
This is the impression I get from hearing his recorded stuff.
I adore his books, especially listening to them on audio tape. His reading of them adds a layer that is wonderful. I saw him live and he was great. Personable and he stayed to make sure every person who wanted a signature got one. He wrote very personalized notes after chatting to get to know you a little bit.
Great experience.
I seem to be tone-deaf to him. I’ve never heard him perform, which might be part of my problem. But when I pick up one of his books and browse through it, it doesn’t affect me, and I wonder what the fuss is all about.
This isn’t meant to b a criticism of him – I just wanted to observe that I just don’t get it.
I find I enjoy listening to the audiobooks much more than reading his essays (though I do enjoy them).
Have you ever heard the famous Santaland Diaries he read on NPR? That gives you a good taste of what listening to him sounds like.
I’ve listened to several of his audio books and there’s usually, for me, a few moments of gold, a good amount of smiles/smirks and then a lot of filler which is generally entertaining – enough to keep listening – but nothing I’d recommend. If I was to open a random book to a random page and start reading, statistically I’m probably on a filler section. So I’m not surprised that browsing through a book isn’t especially compelling for you.
I’m not recommending that you need to start reading his full stuff to find the gold; life’s short enough that if you don’t want to mine for nuggets then you should read other stuff. I’m sure that “Six to Eight Black Men” is available on Youtube (it is, I checked) so I’d at least give that a listen as, if that doesn’t interest you, I doubt anything from him really will. And it’s a funny enough stand-alone story that it’s worth a listen regardless. Mind you, most of his other stuff is more “him” oriented (his family, work, etc) and not him reacting to someone else’s story so “Six to Eight Black Men” is more indicative of his style or humor than directly of his other essays.
Go Carolina from Me Talk Pretty One Day is probably one of my hands-down favorites. That whole book is a gem.
Saw him live a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely worth the price of admission for me. I’d echo what others in here have said. Catch him if you can!
I’ve been a fan since I heard The Santaland Diaries on NPR. I just finished his new book, “Theft by Finding”, which is selections from his diaries, from 1977 to 2002. I love his work, and his diaries are like reading a greatest hits compilation. It’s fascinating to be able to trace the thread of his life from itinerant laborer to amphetamine addict impoverished artist, to impoverished student, to slightly less impoverished artist - and then, sudden success.
I’ve not *read *any of his books but I’ve listened to 2 or 3 as audiobooks and I thoroughly enjoyed them! I always love to see him on talk shows too.
I would definitely go see him in person.
I’m addicted to listening to him read his material. Reading it is not quite as good, but since I can tend to translate it into his verbal style, I still enjoy it a lot.
And I’ve seen him in person 3 or 4 times, and always thoroughly enjoyed it.
Part of our family tradition every Xmas is to listen to at least a bit of “Santaland Diaries” as we either put up the tree or open gifts.
I’m a big Sedaris fan, although I’ve liked his early stuff more than his recent stuff, all in all. I met him once when he did a public reading at a coffeehouse in Akron in the early 1990s. I’ve heard him do readings in much larger venues maybe three or four times since and always enjoy it. I always get the audiobooks of his works these days, because his delivery is more than half the fun. Just the words on the page don’t do it.
These previous threads may interest you:
Lots of recommendations, from lots of Dopers I trust. Thanks.
I’ll most likely see him. Unfortunately he’s not coming 'round these parts until November.
For those of you interested, he has quite an extensive tour schedule.
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And me too! I was the very first responder! C’mon, man, throw me a bone, here.
And thanks to you and your thread, I’ve just learned that Sedaris will be in my neck of the woods this very Monday. Ticket purchased. Woohoo! I’ll let you know how the evening goes.
Little Pianola LOVED his stuff, and has copies of a lot of his books in the house. I read him and enjoyed him and have completely forgotten everything he’s ever written.
In short, he’s no Benchley or Leacock or Perlman. To me, anyway.
I saw him live a few years back and while I enjoyed it, it’s exactly as he describes it in the Q&A session of his live disc. He sits on stage and reads from a book. It’s not thrilling theater, but it is amusing.
That’s cool, please do.
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