Calypso

I've been impressed by Sedaris's early collection of short stories, Naked, a number of years ago (originally a Bob recommendation). It was a witty state-of-America set of observations with some George Saunders commonalities. Calypso, by contrast, was a major disappointment. Sure, the trademark Sedaris deadpan humour was present, but I found many of the stories — or better put anecdotes — to be almost excessively tedious. With the author's own ageing, he is rightly more conscious of his mortality, but the insights into his health and that of his family were often unnecessary. So maybe the reveal-all, more confessional tone works for many, but not for me. The moments where I laughed or even thought, this is an interesting novel observation, more than outweighed by irritation. To the charity shop, four out of ten.

By David Sedaris