I could seriously kick myself for not only not trying audiobooks before this Fall, but also for not thinking of collections like these as something that would fit into my short commute time perfectly. I was working in a cafeteria then but still honored a once-a-week babysitting job I'd held since junior high. Stories of himself as the odd and awkward kid growing up and trying to figure out how to live in this world.

One moment I’m cracking up silently next to my sleeping partner and the next I’m relating to a stranger who feels like a friend/ family member.Sometimes the novels chosen are new, often they are from the backlist and occasionally re-issued from way back. Each of his four subsequent essay collections, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004), and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (2008) have become New York Times Best Sellers. I don’t know if Sedaris really put a fly in a jar and shook it up, which knocked it out so he could put it on a spider web, at which point it woke up, wiggled around and be eaten.

Yes, he came across as kind of cranky and irritating at times, but I think that is probably part of his charm.

Prepare yourself for utter hilarity, and once again I highly recommend audio because there really is nothing like listening to Sedaris read his books. The subject matter can be too much for some people, especially if they've been told that David Sedaris is a humorist and then they encounter some the more depressing details of his real life experiences.