Rating: 
Summary: Can somebody tell me what was funny about this book?
Review: From reading the reviews for this book it is clear that this book isn't funny to everybody. I was expecting at least a couple of laughs out of the 270 pages, but it never really happened. This book is written as an autobiography about someone to whom nothing significantly interesting happened in his entire life. The book is composed of banal anectodes that could happen to anybody but that nobody would ever think of writing a book about. The first part of the book is definitely not funny, whereas the second part is slightly better. I got this book as a present and I'm glad I didn't spend any of my own money on it. If you want to read a biography, read one about someone who lived an interesting life!
Rating: 
Summary: Can you say hysterical? I knew you could.
Review: It is very rare that I laugh out loud whilst reading. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book--read it in one day. Only people who have no sense of humor would not enjoy it. It is wonderful. I wished I had read it more slowly, but I couldn't stop myself.
Rating: 
Summary: Hysterical
Review: Sedaris manages to give us both a laugh-out-loud read and a wonderful portrait of a man and the way he relates to his world. His characters are vivid (in particular his siblings, the Rooster and Amy). His stories are typically self deprecating with a hint of regret or sadness. But he manages to keep it light, leaving you laughing the whole time. The myriad of essay subjects manages to portray so many aspects of one person's life.Since reading the book, everyone I run into who has already read it and I have spent time retelling the stories Sedaris tells. This will not be the most intellectually challenging or deep book you read this year, but it might be the most fun!
Rating:
Summary: A laugh a minute
Review: (...) I rarely buy a book when I do not know what it's about...but this was an impulse buy. I have never been so entertained with a book in my life!!!! Absolutely hilarious and intelligently sarcastic...my type of book! I now have tickets to hear him lecture and have already bought his other books, which i'm sure will be equally entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: When will it end?
Review: I found this book a struggle to get through. It had nothing substantial in it to hold one's interest. I wish I had been warned before commiting myself to reading it. Torture......Boring......I'm glad its over.......Never Again!
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes Sedaris Is Funny, Sometimes He's Really Not
Review: This is the first book by David Sedaris I have ever read and it will likely be the last. He writes well. The problem is I didn't find a lot of his writing particularly funny. Perhaps my expectations were set a little too high by the glowing reviews I had read, but I kept expecting to find myself rolling on the floor with laughter. That just didn't happen. I sensed the author often thought he was writing something funny, but that only made it worse. Oh sure, Sedaris got a chuckle out of me here and there - as I said, he writes well. But the peals of laughter never came. And what was with the homosexual references, interludes, and otherwise failed humor? At times it seemed like Sedaris was trying to laugh at himself, at other times it seemed like he expected everybody to see the humor inherent in his sexual preferences. In most cases, I found the display to be out of place. That is, Sedaris' perverse sexuality usually fit into his narrative like a road kill fits on a stretch of two-lane blacktop. Sure, you expect to find one now and then, but it doesn't make the trip any more pleasant. This isn't autobiographical humor along the lines of Mark Twain, or Jean Shepherd, or Patrick F. McManus. It just doesn't work the same way as any of the examples I've just given. In fact, as I see it, Sedaris' humor usually doesn't work - not for me, at least.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh-Out-Loud Funny...Most of it Anyway
Review: I can't add much that previous reviewers haven't already mentioned. I can say that this is a very funny and memorable read. Rarely do I laugh out loud at things I read but this one had me roaring. Especially "You Can't Kill The Rooster" - hilarious stuff. I'm withholding one star because the collection seems a bit uneven. It starts out strong but levels out towards the middle, eventually picking up some steam towards the end. The pieces become less slapstick and more speculative, concentrating on life abroad in the last section of the book. That's not a bad thing - it just makes the collection seem uneven. Everyone needs a good laugh, especially now. Read this. Soon.
Rating:
Summary: metamorphosis
Review: I am a wary reader. I hate fiction dated past the era of Hunter S. Thompson, Hemingway, and Faulkner. I'm comfortable with Kerouac. I'm agitated with anything written past the 1970s. And if I do pick up anything past 1970, it's usually something that can be found in the deepest, darkest dungeons of a brilliant but unnoticed 'zine. So I picked up Sedaris's book for the sole reason that I thought the title was funny. Much to my surprise, the title wasn't the only thing that was amusing about the book. Sedaris is witty without even trying and has this incredible ability to make the obvious and the every day brilliantly funny. He's taken all the things that we complain about--living in Brooklyn, parents, lovers, tourists, learning a language--and has given them a personality of their own, something that I believe that only Sedaris can do. He's turned this anti-contemporary fiction reader into a full-fledged fan.
Rating:
Summary: This Could Even Make Bin Ladin Laugh
Review: A word of caution: Do not, as I did, give this book as a gift to someone who has just had major abdominal surgery--They may have to be re-stitched. I'm a Sedaris radio fan, and his essays are always insightful, clever and hysterically funny. The French lessons were hilarious, and glimpses into his family were also a scream. Sedaris can take the most mundane incident and spin it into a highly entertaining tale. He also has a very humble, humane side that is really likable and sweet. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs cheering up.
Rating:
Summary: So funny you won't be able to stand it!
Review: I'm not gay, and have never been to New York city, have only briefly visited France, never done speed. Despite the differences between my life and Sedaris's, I found so much to relate to in this book! The stupid things we do to fit in, the absurdity of our families, aggravation with ignorant or rude people... these are things all people can relate to. And Sedaris has a way of telling stories that just make you laugh out loud. I agree with the people that say you must hear him speak to fully appreciate it, though. Being able to put that effeminate, sarcastic, weary voice, and the phrasing and emphasis that Sedaris uses with these words definitely enhances the experience. Recommended to any and all!
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