Author: David Sedaris

Reader: David Sedaris

Short review: One of Sedaris’ best books of essays and stories, read tenderly and hilariously and scathingly by the author. Several pieces are live performances, and many of them are downright great.

Long review: I’m a fan of David Sedaris, and this book has a lot to do with that. This time around, he includes more stories about his family and growing up in North Carolina, including some really poignant pieces about his own weaknesses. “Repeat After Me” is particularly important to me, because Sedaris deals with his guilt and his family’s anguish over being used as fodder for his work. Sedaris is generally funny, but he’s also clearly a man who loves his family and isn’t particularly comfortable with the way he exposes them to scrutiny by writing about them. I love that about him, in part because I’m always terrified that I’ll hurt my family and friends in my own (nowhere near as successful) writing.

“Six to Eight Black Men” is a side-splittingly funny story about Dutch Christmas traditions. Sedaris’ pieces about travel and other cultures always get me, but this one succeeds because of both how very ridiculous the traditions seem to Americans and the reaction of the live audience.

Sedaris’ significantly-younger brother Paul is perhaps the star of this book. He features in two great stories: “Rooster at the Hitchin’ Post,” about Paul’s wedding, and “Baby Einstein,” about Paul’s daughter’s birth. The first is read in front of a live audience, which I particularly appreciate. Within the confines of the stories, the contrasting sexuality and temperaments of the two Sedaris brothers make for a wonderful dichotomy. Paul pokes at David’s homosexuality (referring to him as “Big gay hoss”) and David explains that his would-be macho brother is short and sloppy, with a higher voice than David’s nasal high tenor. The portrayal could seem cruel in another writer’s voice, but David Sedaris skewers himself right along with his little brother to keep things fair. But it all seems loving. Sedaris’ constant turns from the sweetness of love and birth to the family’s odd jokes about kids’ names, sexuality, in-laws, and the like keep the pace moving quickly and allow the shock of his humor to build over and over again.

 Author: David Sedaris

 Reader: David Sedaris

 Short Review: Sedaris’ funny, self-deprecating, heart-breaking stories about moving to France with his partner Hugh, learning French, his family, and his own flaws and experiences. The author reads his own work in his distinctive voice, never flinching as he excoriates himself either in front of a live audience or alone in a studio. Sedaris is an amazing, brave writer and reader. I’ve listened to this particular book three or four times, and I know I’ll keep returning to it.

Long Review: I adore Sedaris’ stories. I learned of his work listening to his pieces on NPR’s This American Life. I’ve read several of his books on paper, but because I fell for this writer reading his own work, I truly prefer his audiobooks to their paper siblings.

There are a few real standouts in the book. My favorites are “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” a description of his traumatic time in a French class taught by a heartless misanthrope; “Jesus Shaves,” a recounting of his French class’ strange discussion about how holidays are celebrated in their home countries; “A Shiner Like a Diamond,” about his sister Amy’s habit of transforming herself into strange characters and how it tortures their father; “The Youth in Asia,” about the Sedaris family’s relationship to their pets; and “I’ll Eat What He’s Wearing,” about his father’s strange views on food and frugality.

Some listeners may be put off by some of Sedaris’ topics. He openly discusses some medical and dental issues that may gross out the delicate. He’s gay and out, and there are some people who still take offense at that for whatever reason, though I doubt they’d settle on Sedaris’ work for entertainment in the first place. And he openly discusses some very self-destructive drug use when he was a student. None of those things throw me, though. It’s his honesty that makes me love Sedaris’ work so much, and I have a deep-seated appreciation for people who describe their faults without hesitation.

Into Thin Air

Author: Jon Krakauer

Read by: Jon Krakauer

Short Review: An author-narrated memoir of one of the most tragic seasons on Mt. Everest.

Long Review: This book was highly recommended to me by a family member, and I was very curious to literally hear the tale in the author’s own voice. Anyone familiar with the story of that tragic season on Everest is familiar with the controversy surrounding the actions of the guide companies and some of the climbers, and the flak that Krakauer himself has received. I’m certainly no expert on climbing, Everest, the 1996 tragedies, or on the validity of Krakauer’s version of events, but the book itself was riveting and seemed believable throughout.

I know some audio book fans aren’t particularly fond of author-read material, but I think it’s absolutely vital in this instance. Krakauer’s book is intensely personal in parts, and reliant on journalistic integrity and accuracy in others. Throughout, his grasp of the facts is vital–speaking for his own work as a journalist is one of those acts of bravery any non-fiction writer should face. But the personal material is even more important to transmit in his own voice. In the book, Krakauer recounts his friendship with several of the people on the 1996 climb, his own role and experiences on the climb, his work for Outside magazine, his own survivor’s guilt–and none of it would have rung as true in another person’s voice.

That said, he’s not a professional actor or speaker. Krakauer doesn’t have a Voice voice. But he does a great job all the same. His pacing is good, he’s careful in pronouncing names and words that come from other languages, and he is meticulous when he reads the really important bits–facts about elevation sickness, oxygen tanks, times and messages, historical material, and the like. At no point did I feel like his voice or pacing was keeping me from taking in the material.

Overall, I came away from the book pretty impressed by Krakauer’s honesty and his reporting skills. He’s critical of several of the guides and climbers who were on that mountain with him, but he’s intensely critical of himself as well. I’m glad to have heard his story, and have no ambition whatsoever to court that level of danger on a mountain anytime soon.