Naked

This is Serdaris's best work. His stories are laugh out loud, roll on the floor funny! I have read this book several times and listened to the audio version several times, and every time it is as funny as the first time.

In typical Seadaris voice, this book won't let you down. I also have the audio version which is better than the book since it's read by Sedaris himself.

David Sedaris uses unusual humor and a bizarre series of events to create his slightly unorthodox memoir: Naked. Though his choice of events and literary techniques certainly keep the reader involved, the structure of the memoir itself is confusing and his depiction of certain events questions his true credibility. Right off the bat Sedaris illustrates several "nervous tics" he had as a child. "Running home was not an option. This was a long and complicated process that demanded an oppressive attention to detail. It wasn't that I enjoyed pressing my nose against the scalding hood of a parked car...A person had to do these things" (Sedaris, 9). He later goes into detail describing his mothers mockery of these tics, then onto his sexual self discovery, his leaving home to hitch-hike across the country, and finally ending in a nudist colony, sorry, a nudist trailer park because the word "colony" is "too spooky" (Sedaris, 255).
This book is without a doubt funny, however, the timing of Sedaris's jokes combined with his slightly dark humor cause the reader to initially laugh, double take, and ultimately realize that Sedaris is trying a bit too hard. "I wanted to slam heads against the wall and scream, "Stop acting like and idiot and get better goddamnit!" Then I'd notice the bruises covering their bodies and realized that someone had already tried that approach" (Sedaris, 79). His humor is so closely related to humor we use in daily life, that seeing it in black and white is slightly chilling.
Though reading about a compulsive boy's self discovery through working in a mental facility, to discovering that he is gay, to finally accepting himself for who he is, is entertaining, through out the course of this book, the reader can't help but wonder, "is Sedaris making this stuff up?" His depiction of the mental patients actions, his grandmother's craziness, and his family connections just seem too far-fetched to be real.
Content of the book aside, Sedaris's presentation is also a little confusing. A good idea at the time, Sedaris presents every chapter as its own story, and compiles all of these "shorter stories" into the overall memoir. The lack of chronology, however, makes this book rather difficult to follow. Sedaris describes his mother's death in the sixth chapter, yet for the rest of the book, he continues to choose moments in which she was still alive.
Overall, Naked is an entertaining book. Sedaris combines numerous amounts of events into a small amount of space, however, because the events are so random, and have little correlation with each other, this book is not as successful as I think it could have been. Nonetheless, Sedaris makes himself lovable in this book. He presents himself for the person that he is, strange humor and all, and ultimately the reader will enjoy this book. Sedaris set out to create a memoir, a book of events based on personal memory, and that goal, whether the reader believes it or not, was accomplished. That, makes this book successful, and that, makes this book a good read.

The book, naked, throws the reader into the life of David Sedaris. The stories he discusses in this memoir range from his life altering realization of his homosexuality, to the time his family took a prostitute into there house for Christmas. Sedaris effectively presents his stories by artfully putting his own morbidly humorous spin on many situations that would make any normal person shudder. In the hospital where he volunteers, after observing the patients who was in the mental ward he writes, "I wanted to slam heads against the wall and scream, "Stop acting like and idiot and get better goddamnit!" Then I'd notice the bruises covering their bodies and realized that someone had already tried that approach. (79)"
The most redeeming and interesting characteristic of this entire novel is the organization. Each chapter is a separate story. Sedaris opens each chapter with a completely new subject yet manages to cunningly tie up all the stories and conclude the story at the end of each chapter. He may have done this in order to parallel this memoir to life, which he feels is made up of millions of little stories. However completely absurd these stories are he still manages to make the reader believe them by incorporating excellent detail and authentic characters.
I really enjoyed this book because of it's the author's humorous voice and his ability to keep the reader entertained throughout the entire book. It was one of the best novels I have ever read and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know how lucky they are to live with the family they do.
-Mike L.

This book is more depressing than funny. Definately not my type of humor. I wish I would have known it was this dry kind of humor before I bought it. It was NOT a page turner for me.