I met David Sedaris once. A friend and I drove to Arkansas, of all places, on a school night to see him perform. We stood in line and when it was my turn he said, "you look familiar-have we met?" It was my first omg, author star struck, stuttering moment and I'm not sure I said anything really even knowing he probably says this to every fifth person in line. My friend snickered at me until it was her turn and she too was speechless.

All that to say I have been a fan for a long time-I've seen him perform since, I would read articles as they were published and he was an automatic listen when his books came out then, several books ago, I quit connecting with the stories and I stopped listening (cause you always have to listen, right?). I picked this one up because it was checked in at the library and I couldn't find something that held my interest. I am so glad I did.

Calypso is the both comforting and familiar while also weaving a deeper level of introspection. Here he struggles with the suicide of his sister, his mother's alcoholism and time spent with his family at their new beach house on Emerald Isle, North Carolina. While this seems like a strange mix, it is one that only Sedaris can pull off. Grief is nostalgia wrapped in what haunts us and he pulls it off beautifully while pulling the laugh out from deep within.

In Calypso, Sadaris writes a biography of sorts describing how he sees the world as shaped by his family, by their relationships, and by their interactions. His unique style of writing made me sit back aghast at the mockery of situations and of other people and yet smile at the humor of the situation despite that mockery. I enjoyed his frank style and am looking forward to picking up his other works.

The short stories always start of quite compelling with a few funny jabs. Then the authors loses the thread with a story within the story. The end of some stories is so forgettable that you are looking for the funny jab in the start of the next one.

Reading Sedaris is like catching up with an old friend.

Mildly funny. I think I laughed 4 times.

Maybe I should have started with a different Sedaris book?

Wonderful, as usual.

I enjoyed this book. Every chapter was a story about the author’s family and every chapter I found myself laughing, smirking, rolling my eyes or feeling sad. It made me nostalgic about my family, even though I see my sister every day and my mom every weekend.

Hilarious! If you love dry witty humour you will love this book.

Sedaris makes any serious topic somehow funny. His lipoma tumor story and time spent at Sea Section with his seriously odd family is the best. However, my favourite part is the shopping in Japan.

Sedaris's character seems to have an answer for everything. Mic drops after every chapter.

Also I love how this book is written by a gay author and there are references to this throughout the book but it's not the main focus. A stark contrast to books released lately.