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  • Happy-Go-Lucky

  • Written by: David Sedaris
  • Narrated by: David Sedaris
  • Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (245 ratings)

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Happy-Go-Lucky

Written by: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
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Publisher's Summary

An Audie Award Winner

David Sedaris, the “champion storyteller,” (Los Angeles Times) returns with his first new collection of personal essays since the bestselling Calypso.

Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes.

But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most. To cope, he walks for miles through a nearly deserted city, smelling only his own breath. He vacuums his apartment twice a day, fails to hoard anything, and contemplates how sex workers and acupuncturists might be getting by during quarantine.

As the world gradually settles into a new reality, Sedaris too finds himself changed. His offer to fix a stranger’s teeth rebuffed, he straightens his own, and ventures into the world with new confidence. Newly orphaned, he considers what it means, in his seventh decade, no longer to be someone’s son. And back on the road, he discovers a battle-scarred America: people weary, storefronts empty or festooned with Help Wanted signs, walls painted with graffiti reflecting the contradictory messages of our time: Eat the Rich. Trump 2024. Black Lives Matter.

In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all. If we must live in interesting times, there is no one better to chronicle them than the incomparable David Sedaris.

©2022 David Sedaris (P)2022 Little, Brown & Company

What the critics say

"Sedaris's latest update on his family and society brings the funny. Still, there's growing depth and empathy in his writing and delivery. Sure, shooting guns with his sister and visiting his nonagenarian father bring laugh-out-loud moments. But profound reflections also pepper his writing as his tone and delivery match his heartrending observations. Sedaris chronicles the Covid-19 pandemic and all the absurdities of reactions to precautions. His voice matches the frustration and bewilderment of lockdown and life behind a mask." (AudioFile)

“A sweet-and-sour set of pieces on loss, absurdity, and places they intersect… Sedaris remains stubbornly irreverent even in the face of pandemic lockdowns and social upheaval.”—Kirkus Reviews

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What listeners say about Happy-Go-Lucky

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A solid 5/5

My first foray into David Sedaris’ work, and I found myself laughing out loud, whether it was listening to it in my car, while walking, at home doing chores, you name it. I couldn’t stop because each story was so engaging and surprising. Absolutely loved this collection Andy will now start delving into the rest of his work!

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Sedaris sharp as ever

I enjoyed this collection, many stories about his nonagenarian father and the pandemic. I basically refuse to read him now as listening to him narrate is far more delightful and makes my work commute a treat.

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  • VS
  • 2022-09-03

Loved it

David S, is really easy to listen to, relate to and his humour sometimes over the top, yet very funny! Enjoyed this book as much as others by him.

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  • MQ
  • 2022-06-19

Loved the younger David, Love the older one more

We listened to David on CDs. I always laughed so much he made my face hurt. Now I find the older David more pensive and softer. Still so funny, but wiser and smarter (how did he get even smarter?) I like his new pace, the humour that comes with age. He always saw the outrageous in life, but what's funnier than looking at it in retrospect?

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Brilliant

Good from the first word to the last. Honest and hilarious. One his best works.

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  • Amy
  • 2023-04-14

Snazzy story Telling!

Love this book. I find David Sedaris to be an incredible story teller and super engaging.

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Life on a balance beam.

This wonderfully written book kept me off balance throughout. Wildly funny accounts of the absurdities of navigating a world wide pandemic, hurricanes & love that are “laugh out loud funny” entwined with heart wrenching stories of a complex but tight family. Brilliant!

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Highly recommend

David Sedaris delivers again. He’s one of the best writers/narrators out there. I would highly recommend.

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Loved it!

Listening to David Sedaris is like listening to a long lost family member that you didn’t realize you missed until you found them.

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David at his best

phenomenal as always, really feels like David is talking directly to you, his performance makes it even better

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