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The Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set
Now updated with his latest releases, this audio boxed set features unforgettable stories by modern humorist David Sedaris. Includes "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Live at Carnegie Hall, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, Holidays on Ice," and "Barrel Fever and Other Stories." Abridged. 20 CDs.
Audio CD
First published June 1, 2006
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522 people want to read
About the author
David Sedaris
119 books28.1k followersDavid Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries". He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 26, 2008
This is the ultimate David S audio collection- it is Naked; Me Talk Pretty One Day; Holidays on Ice, Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy; Barrel Fever and Other Short Stories; and a live from Carnegie Hall special and I love it. He reads most of them and the only thing funnier than reading his stuff is hearing him read his stuff. Technically, I am "still reading" it because I haven't listened to all of the CD's, but since there are 19 of them and I've read all of the books, I decided to change the status of it. This would be a great birthday/Christmas gift for anyone David Sedaris lovers you know.
January 19, 2010
My brother gave this to me for Christmas, awesome gift.
June 1, 2010
He is brilliant!
February 23, 2008
PURE BRILLIANCE. A must have for any Sedaris fam!
March 16, 2014
Who doesn't love him, really?
July 17, 2012
This is a collection of abridged David Sedaris books on audio, read mostly by the author with some contributions from his sister, Amy Sedaris. The collection includes Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Live at Carnegie Hall, Naked, Holidays on Ice, and Barrel Fever and Other Stories. The only one I haven't reviewed separately is Live at Carnegie Hall, because there were so many repeats, it didn't seem fair to rate it separately.
Taken as a whole, it's sort of overwhelming for someone with no exposure to David Sedaris before, save random mentions on internet comments. This was the only form I could take out Me Talk Pretty One Day from my local library, though, so I figured I'd listen to the rest, while I was at it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for a beginner, because it is a bit much. But, there's plenty of context within the stories to introduce one to David Sedaris's sense of humor.
The live tracks helped a lot. As I noted in my first review, I realized I was supposed to be laughing at these wry, dark observations, and that I wasn't the only one mean enough to laugh at his pain. Sedaris's sense of humor is both dark and self-deprecating, and his delivery is quite dry.
Having listened to this audio set, I can't believe I made it this far in my life without having read anything by David Sedaris before. This is very much the kind of humor I appreciate.
If you're a fan of David Sedaris, or you're looking for a gift for someone who is, I think you could do a lot worse than keeping this set around for a gloomy day. I don't recommend you dive right in as I did, unless you're prepared for dark humor, delivered dryly. My immersion served me well, but it was a gamble.
Taken as a whole, it's sort of overwhelming for someone with no exposure to David Sedaris before, save random mentions on internet comments. This was the only form I could take out Me Talk Pretty One Day from my local library, though, so I figured I'd listen to the rest, while I was at it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for a beginner, because it is a bit much. But, there's plenty of context within the stories to introduce one to David Sedaris's sense of humor.
The live tracks helped a lot. As I noted in my first review, I realized I was supposed to be laughing at these wry, dark observations, and that I wasn't the only one mean enough to laugh at his pain. Sedaris's sense of humor is both dark and self-deprecating, and his delivery is quite dry.
Having listened to this audio set, I can't believe I made it this far in my life without having read anything by David Sedaris before. This is very much the kind of humor I appreciate.
If you're a fan of David Sedaris, or you're looking for a gift for someone who is, I think you could do a lot worse than keeping this set around for a gloomy day. I don't recommend you dive right in as I did, unless you're prepared for dark humor, delivered dryly. My immersion served me well, but it was a gamble.
June 24, 2012
I may be an alien from outer space, but I just didn't care for David Sedaris. My cousin gave me a copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim at Christmastime with the promise that I'd like it. I read a few essays, but there was just something off about Sedaris's tone--his stories weren't sympathetic enough for me to be able to wipe away the suspicion that Sedaris is, well, mean. I put the book back on my shelf and moved on to other things.
Then, on my last long drive up from Phoenix, I consulted the wisdom of the masses, which seemed to agree unanimously that everybody likes David Sedaris, and the best way to like him is via audiobook (where he reads the stories himself). So I checked out this collection and prepared to chuckle away the miles. My original impressions were confirmed. Story after pointless story, Sedaris didn't strike me as funny; he struck me as bitter--even his voice sounded to me like a whine (okay, that's probably unfair, but I did at one point wonder if I would have found Sedaris so distasteful if I was reading and not listening to him--but them I remembered I had in fact already read him and still found him distasteful). I haven't read a lot of what passes for creative nonfiction (mostly memoir) these days. One of my professors calls it navel-gazing, and having read Sedaris, I now see what he was talking about (though Sedaris has been famously outed as a bit of a liar--he bills his stories as true, but they're often not even in the ballpark of What Actually Happened. So, emphasis on the creative, not the nonfiction,I suppose.) I could never perceive any larger message than Sedaris's sense of persecution.
At the end of the day, Sedaris's sense of humor and mine just don't jive on the same plane. He did manage to make me laugh very occasionally. One laugh per hundred miles, however, was not a good enough average. I turned him off and listened to Bill Bryson talk about the formation of the universe and how scientists know how big the earth is instead. You can like Sedaris; that's okay. But I'll pass.
Then, on my last long drive up from Phoenix, I consulted the wisdom of the masses, which seemed to agree unanimously that everybody likes David Sedaris, and the best way to like him is via audiobook (where he reads the stories himself). So I checked out this collection and prepared to chuckle away the miles. My original impressions were confirmed. Story after pointless story, Sedaris didn't strike me as funny; he struck me as bitter--even his voice sounded to me like a whine (okay, that's probably unfair, but I did at one point wonder if I would have found Sedaris so distasteful if I was reading and not listening to him--but them I remembered I had in fact already read him and still found him distasteful). I haven't read a lot of what passes for creative nonfiction (mostly memoir) these days. One of my professors calls it navel-gazing, and having read Sedaris, I now see what he was talking about (though Sedaris has been famously outed as a bit of a liar--he bills his stories as true, but they're often not even in the ballpark of What Actually Happened. So, emphasis on the creative, not the nonfiction,I suppose.) I could never perceive any larger message than Sedaris's sense of persecution.
At the end of the day, Sedaris's sense of humor and mine just don't jive on the same plane. He did manage to make me laugh very occasionally. One laugh per hundred miles, however, was not a good enough average. I turned him off and listened to Bill Bryson talk about the formation of the universe and how scientists know how big the earth is instead. You can like Sedaris; that's okay. But I'll pass.
June 29, 2009
This is a 20 CD audio set of some of David Sedaris' best known humorous memoirs, including Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Barrel Fever & Other Stories, and David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall. I found Me Talk Pretty Someday to be the best of the bunch -- it had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. Sedaris' attempts to communicate to doctors in his limited french while living in Paris were particularly amusing. :) Naked was also quite well-written and laugh-out-loud funny. The live excerpts (especially at Carnegie Hall) were really enjoyable, too -- there's something about listening to a comedian speak live (or recorded live) and hearing them give the punch line at just the right moment that makes you realize what true talent it takes to make people laugh. Recommended!
May 1, 2014
I listened to this driving back and forth to work--not something I would normally listen to and definitely parts that I skipped but overall good. Humorous and sarcastic. Weird and interesting family.
May 23, 2011
This collection of short stories and essays was great for listening to during my commute. Me Talk Pretty One Day was definitely my favorite of the set. A good mix of humor and humanity.
December 1, 2014
Though I have read most of his books and really enjoyed them, I think David Sedaris is best listened to.
October 16, 2012
Mostly good, but also uneven in spots, as well as repetitive. It's hard not to enjoy David Sedaris, however. And his Billie Holiday? Outstanding.
April 13, 2013
Enjoyable and relaxing for a crummy cold night.
September 24, 2013
anything David Sedaris writes puts a smile on my face
August 12, 2014
I love best his stories about he and his family.
October 21, 2016
A little David sedaris goes a long way. He is funny but. Might have been better to read than listen to or if a different reader spoke it.
December 29, 2017
I live in NYC and have heard this name many times but was not familiar with his work. I even think I heard him speak at Symphony Space at a group book discussion. Since he was not the author of the book the group read, I still did not know for what he was known. Da! Finally, got to it and boy did I pick the biggest book of all, yes, that’s right, I picked up his BoxSet, which may very well contain every book he ever wrote. It took a long time to get through but the pleasure was immense once I got the groove of his unique sense of humor. It is a bit harder than I typically enjoy but it is so clever you surrender. In fact, I found myself wanting to know what this person was like in real life given all these random, often coarse, thoughts he puts to page. They are humane, comical, zany and give one a keen perspective that offers the needed relief for keeping your sanity as one traverses this crazy upside down world. He is funny and fun.
November 30, 2018
Stuffed with humor, honest portraits, memorable vignettes.
May 10, 2020
so good.
November 12, 2020
This one took me a wild to get through because I had a lot of things to do. This is the best longform collection of his that I can recommend to anybody that is a diehard fan
May 23, 2021
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
Laugh, Kookaburra
Laugh, Kookaburra
July 15, 2022
I didn’t like any of his satirical fiction stories. “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is the funniest of the bunch. The Christmas one is pretty exclusively mean.
May 12, 2014
listened to on a trip and laughed throughout
December 31, 2014
Same deal. I can't believe some of the things he writes. Funny yes - but I feel cruel laughing.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews