Calypso

Calypso is a collection of stories that focuses on heavy themes, including death, family and aging. Despite such themes, David Sedaris makes his book easy to read with the use of self-deprecating humor and relatable stories that anyone with a family could understand. The book almost acts as Sedaris’ way of grieving loss in his life. A pivotal character in Calypso is Sedaris’ sister, Tiffany, who Sedaris introduces to readers early in the book through the heart-wrenching story “Now We Are Five.” He speaks on the death of his sister and how her suicide affected him. Although Sedaris does not focus hard on his emotions in this book, you can still sense the feeling of regret and guilt as he talks about his sister. He has a way of making these moments in the book very moving, causing you to feel sorry for his family. Sedaris even brings in stories of gay marriage, politics, and other hot-button issues that some would be fearful to bring up in writing. Sedaris is not a sugar-coater; he takes the honest approach with these topics and provides a clear stance on his positions. “A Number of Reasons I’ve Been Depressed Lately” is one of the few stories in Calypso where Sedaris showcases his dislike of President Donald Trump, and even talks about how he became nervous at the time of the election when thinking about a Donald Trump presidency. This sounds rather intense, right? Don’t worry. Sedaris has his way of making these serious topics still laughable. His own awareness of himself is one way that Sedaris is able to be so successful with his humor. He knows that he is an older man who is dying, and he is very mindful of where he comes from. Therefore, it is easy for Sedaris to make fun of himself and allow readers to laugh at him. He also has an impressive way of taking the most mundane instances and turning them into something hilarious. A trip to the airport or picking up trash from the side of the road seem pretty lackluster, but Sedaris makes these moments come to life with his humor. He also does not drag out a topic for too long. He will not sit on a deep topic for an uncomfortable amount of time. As soon as you think you are walking into a depressing topic, you come upon a paragraph that offers a random, silly comment that makes you laugh. Some of the stories are made up of small tangents, keeping you on your toes and making you fit these things together. This puzzle-like aspect of Sedaris’ writing makes you focus more on what he is trying to say, which makes the reading that more interesting. The books personal touch and Sedaris’ impressiveness to turn the ordinary into the most entertaining is captivating. The reading truly is an experience and a whirlwind of emotions, making you fight back tears or fight back laughter. Give this book a try if you are looking for something different than a sappy romance novel. You will enjoy Sedaris’ take on his personal life and bask in his impressive ability to make nothing into something.

Sedaris is humorous, I loved the stories about his family and how comfortable he is asking strangers such random questions. His having someone close the door in his sister's face really bothered me. I almost stopped reading.

Calypso is David Sedaris’s most intimate book, a tender, funny, and challenging memoir from an author renowned for writing humor that lays bare his own and his family’s soul. In Calypso, he spares no one, especially himself. The central theme of the book is his sister Tiffany’s suicide and the emotional turmoil that follows. He writes with great clarity of the mental health challenges that she faced, the fights she inflicted on her family, and his own sanity-preserving estrangement from her. In the aftermath of the suicide, all the Sedaris family has left left are strange clues—like a phone number written on her apartment wall—to try to comprehend why Tiffany would take an overdose of prescription medication and then tie a plastic bag over head. Against the suicide’s backdrop, he is forced to face issues around caring for his elderly father, who lives alone and in increasingly-eccentric fashion, determined not to use electricity in order to leave a larger inheritance to the surviving children. More than two decades after his mother’s death, David grapples with residual sadness that she died before he achieved literary success, without their ever confronting her about the alcoholism that left her a mess each night. He expresses his poignant longing to have had the chance to spoil her. Still, Calypso is about a family drawing closer after a tragedy. Attempting to recreate the summer vacations of their childhood, Sedaris purchases the Sea Section, a duplex on the beach in North Carolina, where he encounters a deformed snapping turtle, a vacationing former FBI Director, and man-eating sharks that fail to terrify his boyfriend Hugh. In their own unique, strange, and often-hilarious way, the Sedaris family heals. Every step along their quirky journey is a joy to read.

this was a birthday gift, but I have read other books from this author and knew that it would be a good book to gift to someone. I did review it before I gave it away, and thoroughly appreciated the humor and authenticity with which this author describes the challenges of life as we go through loss, and change, as we age. I would highly recommend this book and any of the books written by David Sedaris.

I enjoyed much of the humor in Calypso - Sederis is very witty and fun at times - but too much of it descends into low-brow humor at the expense of others to whom he betrays an attitude bordering on arrogance. The potty talk is so juvenile and unfunny as is the feeding of his "tumor" to a turtle. And his horrible shutting of the door in the face of his mentally ill sister Tiffany who later commits suicide shows how hard-hearted and unfeeling he can be. At least the famous writer could have given her a couple of twenties and sent her on her way.

Writer and essayist David Sedaris first came to my attention on the BBC’s Radio 4 ‘Meet David Sedaris’ series a few years ago. Having found myself completely entranced and highly amused by his stories, I thought it was about time I got hold of one of his books. In this volume, many of the tales centre around the beach house he bought on the Carolina coast, and the various family interactions that take place at the property. The prospect of getting older and the inevitability of death are very much at the forefront in this collection, and while the author’s knack of turning an ordinary story into an hilarious escapade is still very much in evidence, he also has the power to move the reader to tears. I chuckled my way through this collection and had many genuine laugh-out-loud moments, so I can say with complete sincerity that this is the funniest book I’ve read in years. David Sedaris is an insightful writer with true comic genius. Buy his books today.

Well its just David Sedaris being onto of his game loved it it made me laugh so much and then slapped me in the face with it's human truths!! BRILLIANT!

Muito divertido. Um retrato inteligente e crítico da sociedade norte-americana atual e suas contradições. E muito, muito bem escrito, tornando a leitura muito prazerosa.

David Sedaris cannot wrote a bad book. This book, like his others was funny, wry and endearing on every page. I have recommended it to anyone who will listen.

著者は人気エッセイストで、内容は家族やボーイフレンドのこと、政治のことも含めてさまざま。ゲイ特有の？下ネタジョークもあって、思わず笑ってしまったりもするが、とても自分の口で人前で言えるような代物ではない。その一方で、自殺した妹のこと、アルコール依存だった今は亡き母親のこと、老いた父親のことなど、しんみりとしたところもある。ボーイフレンドのHughとのやりとりは楽しい。日本贔屓のようで、東京でのショッピングのことなどについても触れている。手術でとってもらった自分の腫瘍（良性）をカメに食べさせたり、”What do you say when someone cuts you off in traffic?” とサイン会の場で万国の女性からお国の罵詈雑言を引き出させたりと、まあ、決して上品な話ばかりではないのだが…面白かった。諸処における書評に釣られて読んでみた。