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  • The Best of Me

  • Written by: David Sedaris
  • Narrated by: David Sedaris
  • Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (102 ratings)

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The Best of Me

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

“Genius.... It is miraculous to read these pieces.... You must read The Best of Me.” (Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Review)

David Sedaris’s best stories and essays, spanning his remarkable career - as selected and read by the author himself. Featuring fresh and classic recordings, including a new essay and an interview exclusive to the audiobook.

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

A CNN and Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Month​

For more than 25 years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to listen without laughing.

Now, for the first time collected in one volume, the author brings us his funniest and most memorable work. In these stories, Sedaris shops for rare taxidermy, hitchhikes with a lady quadriplegic, and spits a lozenge into a fellow traveler’s lap. He drowns a mouse in a bucket, struggles to say “give it to me” in five languages, and hand-feeds a carnivorous bird.

But if all you expect to find in Sedaris’s work is the deft and sharply observed comedy for which he became renowned, you may be surprised to discover that his words bring more warmth than mockery, more fellow-feeling than derision. Nowhere is this clearer than in his writing about his loved ones. In these essays, Sedaris explores falling in love and staying together, recognizing his own aging not in the mirror but in the faces of his siblings, losing one parent and coming to terms - at long last - with the other.

Taken together, the performances in The Best of Me reveal the wonder and delight Sedaris takes in the surprises life brings him. No experience, he sees, is quite as he expected - it’s often harder, more fraught, and certainly weirder - but sometimes it is also much richer and more wonderful.

Full of joy, generosity, and the incisive humor that has led David Sedaris to be called “the funniest man alive” (Time Out New York), The Best of Me spans a career spent watching and learning and laughing - quite often at himself - and invites listeners deep into the world of one of the most brilliant and original writers of our time.

©2020 David Sedaris (P)2020 Little, Brown & Company

What the critics say

“The genius of The Best of Me is that it reveals the growth of a writer, a sense of how his outlook has changed and where he finds humor… The subject, in many of the pieces Sedaris has selected, is the judgment and pain we inflict on one another, and by ‘we’ Sedaris does not mean people in general. He means him. And he means you. And he means me… You must read The Best of Me. It will be a new experience, knowing that enough time has passed to find humor in the hardest parts of life. More than ever—we’re allowed to laugh.”—Andrew Sean Greer, New York Times Book Review

"An excellent introduction to Sedaris’ work if, somehow, you’re not among the millions who have made him a mainstay on bestseller lists and flocked to his ticketed readings. Even if you’ve read or listened to every word he’s ever written, it’s a terrific highlights reel and a chance to view the arc of Sedaris’ development as a writer over 25 years… In his more serious moments, Sedaris expresses surprise and gratitude for his good fortune. Even his father, “that perpetual human storm cloud,” has finally, in his late 90s, acknowledged his elder son’s fantastic accomplishments. The Best of Me is a well-earned victory lap.” —Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor 

“The collection magnifies many of the attributes that have made Sedaris such a beloved writer, not least of which is the sense of wit... Across 46 stories and 400 pages, Sedaris’ clarity as a writer comes through. The pieces can be painfully funny and painfully poignant for the same reason: He’s economical with words, thoughts, jokes and emotions.”—Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle 

What listeners love about The Best of Me

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  • Q
  • 2022-06-13

Be Careful

Listening to this on train or plane will
create the kind of cackling laughter that will ruin the day for your fellow passengers. oh well

1 person found this helpful

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How do people think this is funny?

Everyone recommended this book for a good laugh. I only made it 1/3 of the way through. this is my first time giving up on a book but it really is a waste of time. I really don't understand how it's so popular. It's like listening to a depressed news caster try to slip in a joke he was instructed to say with a monotone voice that blends right back into the news.

1 person found this helpful

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Excellent collection

This was a great Sedaris sampler - fiction, non-fiction, and laughs throughout. Sedaris also includes real family moments that, while funny, can also be serious and heartfelt.

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nice

if you like David Sedaris you will like this collection. I wish he would come out with a live album of his essays. live read essays are my favorite

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The Best of the Best

David Sedaris is a talented writer and performer. He had me laughing out loud, and also contemplating my own existence and relationships. I will re-visit this book again and again.

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A wonderful collection

David Sedaris is a master essayist. He weaves his stories with great language, humour and pathos that feel real and deeply felt, especially the essays about his family and the sister who died young. There is nothing in this book that is flawed, in my humble opinion. Bravo!

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You can't go wrong with Sedaris

Brilliant, dark, hilarious. This collection of Sedaris's previously published favourite pieces includes some of his fictional pieces and many of his most poignant essays. Narrated, as always, by Sedaris himself. A must read, even if you've already read/heard all of these essays before. In this new collection, juxtaposed against each other, these collected works really sing.

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  • Lizardectomy
  • 2020-11-05

Almost No New Material

I love the author and have purchased nearly all of his work. I listen to them repeatedly. Which is why I pre-ordered this book and eagerly awaited some fresh Sedaris material. However, the only new material (for me) was a wonderful essay about his brother Paul. I was not interested enough to listen to the interview with the author, which would have added further "new material." But is that truly a work by the author? I am in it for the essays. They are hilarious and profound. Also, I believe I was expecting fresh recordings of his favorite works, but they seem to be the old studio recordings from the audioboks that I've previously purchased. Please, Mr. Sedaris - - write (and record) more!

99 people found this helpful

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  • natalie
  • 2020-11-10

Copy and Pasted

I'm a big Sedaris fan so I can't be all that surprised that a book titled "The Best of Me" is a collection of pieces I've already listened to. I thought they would at least do new recordings but it's the exact recordings from other audiobooks and the audio quality is inconsistent throughout. Not worth the money if you have already listened to his other work.

40 people found this helpful

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  • Darlene Adams Sligar
  • 2020-11-08

warning

save your money this book is a collection of older works.Save your time and energy

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  • Karyn Myers
  • 2020-11-11

This is just stories from his other books

If you have listened to his other books no need to buy this one. It is mostly just a compilation from other books.

28 people found this helpful

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  • ap
  • 2020-12-03

Old Stories

You guys. I love David’s stories so I just purchased this without even checking the reviews. Bummer. It’s almost all old material, all of which I have previously heard because of the aforementioned fact that I love David’s stories. You can skip this one.

17 people found this helpful

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  • Mal
  • 2020-11-07

David does it again!

Davis Sedaris does it again! Funny, yet believable, real stories from Mr. Sedari’s life. I just love everything he’s ever done! Highly recomend!

8 people found this helpful

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  • Theresa Sage
  • 2020-11-16

Saving Grace during Pandemic!!

This book has been the best surprise during COVID, it reminds you to laugh, it reminds you to continue to move forward through tragedy and it reminds all of us the importance of the human connection through all walks of life, in all places in the world.

7 people found this helpful

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  • Liz
  • 2020-11-10

Never disappoints

I’ve read everyone of his books and an audio version as well which I think is so much better hearing the author read it…

6 people found this helpful

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  • Samara Price
  • 2021-01-11

not my thing, I guess

Though it came highly recommended and he's been heralded as a comedic genius, I couldn't put up with this book for even an hour. The stories were odd and somewhat crass (which I wouldn't necessarily mind), but overall felt in poor taste. I wish I could get my money back or at least pass it to someone who might like it.

5 people found this helpful

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  • Trooston
  • 2020-12-03

Definitely a fun listen!

As a lover of David Sedaris’s essays, listening to him read his work is icing on the cake. Some essays are more serious but all are thought provoking. Kind of makes me want to write.

5 people found this helpful