David Sedaris est un humoriste américain dont le travail est fréquemment autobiographique et autodépréciateur. Ses essais et nouvelles explorent souvent des thèmes tels que la vie de famille, son éducation de classe moyenne et diverses expériences de vie, y compris les relations et la vie à l'étranger. Sedaris possède un talent d'observation aiguisé et un esprit ironique, insufflant à ses récits un profond élément humain et un humour qui résonne à l'échelle mondiale. Il capture magistralement les absurdités de la vie quotidienne avec une précision inébranlable et une touche comique.
Porter un noeud papillon nuit-il gravement à la vie sexuelle? Peut-on larguer son copain quand on ne sait ni cuisiner ni lire un plan? Faut-il avoir peur des microbes dans les salles de cinéma? Complexé, capricieux, névrosé ou exubérant, l'écrivain-comédien épingle l'absurdité des situations les plus banales avec un humour décapant: avis aux amateurs!
" Quand je suis parti en France l'été suivant, je ne connaissais qu'un mot de français : bouchon. En atterrissant à l'aéroport, j'ai dit bouchon ; dans le train qui m'emportait vers la Normandie je disais bouchon, et mon seul commentaire a été bouchon lorsque je me suis retrouvé en présence de l'amoncellement de pierres que Hugh désignait comme sa maison de campagne. L'été suivant nous sommes revenus en France. J'ai pu ajouter 420 mots à ma collection, la plupart piochés dans Voici ". Roman drôle, burlesque et insolent, Je parler français est l'autobiographie d'un Américain né en Caroline du Nord qui partage sa vie entre la France et New York. Best-seller aux États-Unis. N°1 des ventes au classement du Los Angeles Times, 20 semaines dans la liste des meilleures ventes du New York Times.
Ces nouvelles renouent avec des figures emblématiques de l'écrivain : Hugh, le petit ami souffre-douleur, les parents excentriques, D. Sedaris lui-même, écolier puis adulte immature, etc. Le pays du père Noël -- Gros malin -- La courbe d'apprentissage -- Bon, je vous dis à hier -- La ville lumière dans le noir -- Mes souvenirs d'enfance en Afrique -- Un fléau de tics -- Quadri incomplète -- Le Tanazi -- Sur la route -- J'aime les garçons -- Plat du jour -- Journal d'un fumeur -- Cassenoisette.com -- Tout le monde m'aime. Anthology of stories originally published in the works: Barrel fever, Naked, and Me talk pretty one day and now translated into French
"There's no right way to keep a diary, but if there's an entertaining way, David Sedaris seems to have mastered it. If it's navel-gazing you're after, you've come to the wrong place; ditto treacly self-examination. Rather, his observation turn outward: a fight between two men on a bus, a fight between two men on the street, pedestrians being whacked over the head or gathering to watch as a man considers leaping to his death. There's a dirty joke shared at a book signing, then a dirtier one told at a dinner party -- lots of jokes here. Plenty of laughs. These diaries remind you that you once really hated George W. Bush, and that not too long ago, Donald Trump was just a harmless laughingstock, at least on French TV. Time marches on, and Sedaris, at his desk or on planes, in hotel dining rooms and odd Japanese inns, records it. The entries here reflect an ever-changing background -- new administrations, new restrictions on speech and conduct. What you can say at the start of the book, you can't by the end. At its best, A Carnival of Snackery is a sort of sampler: the bitter and the sweet. Some entries are just what you wanted. Others you might want to spit discreetly into a napkin."--From publisher
A lavish gift edition of David Sedaris's best stories, spanning his spectacular bestselling career. Hand-picked by David himself, these are stories that will make you laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time, from "the funniest man alive" (Time Out New York).
A new roundup of personal essays from the No. 1 bestselling writer Time named America's favourite humourist
David Sedaris returns with his first new collection of personal essays since the bestselling Calypso. Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask - or not - was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he's stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most. To cope, he walks for miles through a nearly deserted city, smelling only his own breath. He vacuums his apartment twice a day, fails to hoard anything, and contemplates how sex workers and acupuncturists might be getting by during quarantine. As the world gradually settles into a new reality, Sedaris too finds himself changed. His offer to fix a stranger's teeth rebuffed, he straightens his own, and ventures into the world with new confidence. Newly orphaned, he considers what it means, in his seventh decade, no longer to be someone's son. And back on the road, he discovers a battle-scarred America: people weary, storefronts empty or festooned with Help Wanted signs, walls painted with graffiti reflecting the contradictory messages of our time: Eat the Rich. Trump 2024. Black Lives Matter. In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all
Sedaris is celebrated as a keen observer of the world's oddities. In this New York Times Notable Book of 2018, he presents an entrancing narrative that reveals not just the witty storyteller familiar to readers, but a man in his seventh decade confronting mortality and his darker secrets. His writing exudes an intoxicating essence that captivates, making his logic resonate deeply with readers. When Sedaris acquires a beach house on the Carolina coast, he dreams of idyllic vacations filled with board games and sunbathing alongside loved ones. Life at the Sea Section unfolds as he envisioned, yet he faces the vexing truth that one cannot escape oneself. Through his formidable observational skills, Sedaris explores themes of middle age and mortality. The stories are hilariously funny, capable of inducing laughter that resonates like family humor. His writing is sharper than ever, with an unmatched ability to provoke laughter even in the face of life's betrayals. The comedy arises from the unsettling realization of aging, where the past outweighs the future. This book serves as beach reading for those who dislike beaches and is essential for anyone who prefers meaningful conversations over small talk. It stands as Sedaris's darkest yet warmest work, potentially his finest to date.
SantaLand Diaries collects six of David Sedaris¿s most profound Christmas stories into one slender volume perfect for use as a last-minute coaster or ice-scraper. This drinking man¿s companion can be enjoyed by the warmth of a raging fire, the glow of a brilliantly decorated tree, or even in the back seat of a police car. It should be read with your eyes, felt with your heart, and heard only when spoken to. It should, in short, behave much like a book. And oh, what a book it is! ¿Acidly camp, bitchily kitsch and slickly satirical packages of out-there humour . . . very funny¿ Sunday Times
David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother's wedding. He mops his sister's floor. He gives directions to a lost traveller. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn't it? In his new book David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives - a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim finds one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today at the peak of his form.