Man my own farts smell great! And they aren’t racist, that’s just how farts smelled back then! (That’s a good ass review.)

David Sedaris is one of my favorite authors of all time. He can turn any random day or routine appointment into a runny and interesting story. I was a little disappointed by Theft by Finding, it was my least favorite of his works, but I was so happy to discover that I loved this collection of stories. He will forever be a favorite and I will always read his books.

✨Thank you @littlebrown for the gifted copy of this awesome book!!! If you’ve read any of Sedaris’ work you’ll understand when I say this man is an observational genius. David’s life, family and world travels become the backdrop of a decades long narrative that runs the full spectrum of feelings.

✨Some stories are laugh out loud hilarious, some filled with sorrow, some leave you fuming along with the author. From dirty jokes, litter picking expeditions and book tours to the 2016 election and the first days of COVID, this book takes you down memory lane of what we we’re collectively doing and seeing in the world but with a sarcastic gaze and sharp wit for commentary.

✨Sedaris is both elite and relatable. I don’t know how he remains so on the pulse of the human experience and at the same time lives in France, England, New York and vacations in North Carolina, but he just does. I consider him an American literary treasure, in the vein of Mark Twain.

✨I loved every second of this book, I was sad when I finished. I encourage you all to pick up one of his books when you can! Get this when it comes out and while you wait, listen to the previous diary turned book “Theft by Finding” which is equally entertaining.

3.5

Absurdist king of the universe!

I’m a fairly new Sedaris groupie. I went cuckoo over Calypso and When You Are Engulfed in Flames and I have his other books on my short list. Sedaris is hysterical and cynical (in a laugh-y kind of way), and he sees the absurd in everything. He’s a really talented looker. I mean, I look and look, and so much of the time I miss the funny; I need new glasses so I can see it better. Meanwhile, he gets me going and makes me go down my own memory lanes of the absurd—and make lists, lol (my favorite occupation!) and for that I’m grateful. It’s a good book when it can make you remember funny stuff.

This book is a collection of journal entries from 2003 to 2020. It’s chock full of goodies—jokes, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and bizarre conversations, especially on planes and at book signings. And there are puns galore; he’s one clever guy. As he mentions in the Preface, his entries have a lot to do with mice, litter, and travels. Who isn’t all ears when you hear THAT list? One very cool thing he does is incessantly collect litter, which he says has become a habit. He does this where he lives part-time in England. The town has even named a garbage truck after him!

And his travel! I had no idea he went to so many book readings—and all over the world! There are millions! (He had numerous readings in Asia, which surprised me for some reason.) He prefaced each entry with the location, which made it look like he was on the road nonstop, switching from one far-away city to the next without a break. In fact, he just didn’t include a lot of entries in-between his trips. Makes sense—his travel provided a lot of copy; when he was home there was less excitement, less people to talk to.

Occasionally, there’s an entry that he already used in his books of essays, but it wasn’t annoying because I liked hearing about the scenes again. A couple of times we got to hear about where his weird book titles came from. For example, his book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim came as a direct quote from his partner, Hugh’s, dream! Really fun!

In the Preface, he says this:

“Given a choice between writing about the Arab Spring uprisings and a beggar calling out—as one recently did to a woman walking ahead of me—'Hey, you got a hole in your ass’—I’ll go with the latter.”

This sums up his take on reality perfectly, and it’s a world where I want to live, too.

But despite my groupie-ness, I have two big complaints:

-This book is LONG. 576 pages long! I kid you not. Had I known the page count, I wouldn’t have requested a review copy. It’s not fun to read short entries for such a long time. At least with a novel, you have something that flows, happenings that go together. Here, there are snippets of fun and wisdom, but they don’t relate to each other. There are some less funny moments that could have been edited out. Actually, he could have made more money by keeping all the content but making it two books instead of one. Readers would have bought both, I know it. But let’s be clear—despite its zillion pages, I was never bored. It was just choppy is all.

-He crosses the line once, and it’s really not okay. Part of Sedaris’ charm is that he’s outrageous. He has “snarky” down pat, and it’s hard not to crack up. And occasionally he tells you something just for the shock value (e.g., a dog with his eye falling out, ewww!). Well, once, he went too far. It was a joke about pedophilia. I can barely write this, it made me feel so sick. The fact that he could say something so twisted, let alone think it, messes with my head. I love him, but how can I love someone who says THAT? He says another thing that crossed the line, but it’s not as egregious. This one showed contempt for his audience (he wrote an obscene and mean autograph), and I just hate it when a celebrity disses their innocent and loyal fans like that. I can handle crude (which these things are), but here he goes from crude to disgusting and immoral. The first comment I spoke of made me want to puke; the other one just left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I struggled with how to rate this one. The hugundous page count and the severe Line Crossing both detracted from my enjoyment of the book, so instead of giving it 4 stars, which was my original plan, I’m settling on a 3.5, rounded down. The unfortunate thing for me is that my love for Sedaris will forever be tainted because of that one horrible joke he made. That sucks. I still want to read all his books, but I’m not as excited about it as I used to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

What can I say about David Sedaris that hasn’t already been said? Either you love him or, for a small minority, he is not your cup of tea. I am definitely in the Sedaris Fan Club, eagerly snapping up what ever he puts down. This is another collection of diary entries, starting in 2003 and extending to 2020. Once again he is on the road, taking his book reading and signing tour throughout the United States, Australia, Japan, China and the countries of both Western and Eastern Europe. I have the feeling that, like the character in the old vaudeville joke, Sedaris would show up and do ten minutes in front of an open refrigerator. What makes these recollections so refreshing is the enthusiasm and curiosity he brings to the places and people he meets on all his stops. He faithfully reports the anecdotes he gets from fans he meets at his book signings, or the local drivers who pick him up at the airport or the clerks at the many stores he patronizes wherever he goes. He scatters the pages with the most outrageous jokes I have ever read and does so with his usual bland delivery.
The entries are not daily, and it is wise to keep track of where and when each takes place. In between his tours, he can be found in homes he has in New York City, the British countryside, Paris and Emerald Isle, NC. He is usually accompanied by his partner of 30 years, Hugh, and perhaps his equally irreverent sister Amy and publishing associates whom he refers to by first name only. In fact, you definitely feel like you are snooping in a personal journal where people come and go with no particular explanation for the reader. Stories about Hugh are especially welcome because he is such a private person so Sedaris is the only source for info about his longtime love. Another poignant thread is following the prickly relationship he had with his father into the final months of his life. Although his father’s death came in 2021 at the age of 98, David and his siblings have many frank conversations about end-of-life decisions. The reader feels like they are going intimately following this journey.
Along with the usual Sedaris quirks of trash collecting, shopping and strong political opinions, we do get to see how the pandemic affected his life and livelihood. In fact I would say his musings on this aspect of his world, coming as it does at the end of the volume, is the most introspective the author is about what drives him.
This is another outrageous piece to be added to he Sedaris oeuvre, not necessarily breaking new ground, but for Sedaris fans, eagerly anticipated and enjoyed.

First line: In reading the eighteen years’ worth of material that went into this second volume of my diaries, I noticed a few things.

Summary: In his second collection of diary entries, David Sedaris covers the years of 2003-2020.

My Thoughts: As always his books are hilarious. There are silly stories, jokes, family drama and also very personal experiences. It was hard to read about his dad declining since he has been a mainstay in David’s writing and knowing he died just recently.
I always recommend that people listen to the audio book. David reads it himself but this time he brought in a British woman to read the parts that take place in the UK.

FYI: It’s long but worth it.

I doubt you need me to tell you the new David Sedaris is really, really funny, but it is. I enjoyed this one even more that the first volume of his diaries that came out a few years ago. Look, if you already like Sedaris, you know you should get it. If you haven't read Sedaris, well you need to get this and all the rest of his books. There aren't many people who can be this funny on the page. Read him.

Netgalley gave me an e-galley of the book in return for a review.

I love him! Like, for reals! I've love David for years and every time I read him I love him a little more. This was amazing. I love imagining that perhaps Hugh was patient zero for the plague of 2020 hahah!

David Sedaris delivers in the only way he knows how: by giving the reader, raw, hilarious and a poignant look into everyday life. Much like his previous collection of diary entries expect his classic humor and wit filled stories that I could not get enough of. Absolutely loved it!

My first full read of a Sedaris book, and I wondered at first if it was an odd place to start, but I'm thinking I actually dipped in at a good point.

His thoughts on historical events, recollections of odd occurrences around the world, and unique interactions with fans populate the pages, and, while there's little in the way of a throughline (not that you'd expect or need one), there are quality callbacks and, yep, laughs aplenty.

Seeing moments like the Orlando club shootout and Trump's ascension into the White House through Sedaris' eyes are especially valuable and interesting; he brings clarity to the forefront, but not also without abandoning his identifiable prose.

The salty language is welcomed, his adventures with his sister Amy are a key highlight anywhere they pop up, and I certainly felt the wanderlust as he was globe-trotting.

From the POV of a Sedaris-newbie (in terms of reading his actual books), I don't feel left behind or out of any inside jokes--I feel like I can just dive on in to his other works seamlessly. There's lots of content to give you bang for your buck, lots to chew on, and it's ripe for subsequent visits.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the advance read.

Fans of Sedaris will delight in this collection of diary entries that both tickle, and, at times, are tender. People used to Sedaris’s longer essays will find these entries more like soundbites or social media posts, but they are nonetheless timely, funny, reflective, and true to life.

David Sedaris is always a treat. I really loved Theft by Finding and it's inspired me to keep my own journal. It's been fun to look back at the past month of writing and reminisce about what happened. A Carnival of Snackery was exactly what I was looking for.

I really love Sedaris' voice and this is the first time I've actually read one of his books. Normally, I do audiobooks because it just adds something so personal to the experience. When you are reading someone's journals, even though it was published, it feels less intrusive to hear them read it to you instead of just reading it, if that makes sense.

Now, this is a long book. It took me forever to get through. That is mostly a me thing, not really a fault of the book. Highly recommended! 5/5, 10/10.

Strange, strange, strange… This book is a collection of Sedaris’ diary entries from 2003-2020. While it was an interesting reminder to see what was happening in some of the earlier years, and there were some wild stories, there were also chunks that just didn’t work for me. At over 500 pages, there's a lot of material here and it’s very uneven. A tighter editing job was needed. I did learn a new phrase. Who knew vaginal tenacity was the female equivalent of “balls”?
I do recommend the book for those that love to see the weirdness in humans. If you like looking at pictures of Walmartians, you’ll probably enjoy this book. If you cringe at poor grammar, you’ll recognize yourself in Sedaris. If you love horrible jokes, you’ll have fun. I didn’t so much laugh at the stories as shake my head. If political incorrectness offends you, stay far, far away from this book.
In summary, as you would expect from Sedaris, it’s a weird book. If you’ve not read Sedaris before, I would recommend starting with one of his books of essays instead of this.
My thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown for an advance copy of this book.

Oh, David Sedaris, how I would love to spend 5 minutes in your mind! A Carnival of Snackery gives us yet another glimpse of the world through his eyes and as always it's equally hilarious, poignant and curious. In the style of journal entries we follow David's life 2003 to 2020, we get anecdotes about his family, his relationship, life in the country, travel and his thoughts about the political twists and turns of the last decade. Interspersed throughout are jokes and snarky comments from people aiming to shock him.

If you know and love David Sedaris you will enjoy this book as much as any others. If you don't know David Sedaris, I wouldn't recommend starting here but rather a snappier essay collection and working your way to this.

I got approved for this one on Netgalley but in the end I ended up listening to it as an ALC on Libro.fm. With a book like this, I find it more entertaining hearing it in the author's voice. The inflection, tone and pacing always add so much depth. This audiobook had Tracy Ullman cameos throughout where she would read some entries. I love her but I didn't need this because I enjoy David's narrative so much.

Thanks to both Netgalley and Libro.fm for access. All opinions above are my own.

I haven't read Sedaris in a few years, but reading his work always immediately sucks me back into a comforting sense of humor and self-reflection. Carnival of Snackery is a great example of Sedaris's known humor, and it was nice to see a more candid view of him at some parts of this, opening toward a perspective of compassion I kind of wished would have been expanded upon more here. But these are diaries after all, so the serendipity is excusable, while the charm is still definitely there too.

Following from his previous strong work, David Sedaris offers more humor, insight, and lived experience in wonderfully readable entries. Highly recommended.

I've read/listened to every book that Sedaris has written...several of them more that once. I've also attended his in-person readings. I'm a big fan. But I feel the word "snackery" describes this book to a T. The diaries entries are mostly short, some telling the tale of a brief moment of his day. His earlier books are composed of chapters that are pretty lengthy and each story is developed. Yes, this book is funny! I don't think Mr. Sedaris could NOT be funny. Many will love this book. We need every laugh we can get in these times.

It’s David Sedaris and his notebook notes #2. It has been fun to read his thoughts at different times in his life. But then almost anything David rights is worth reading. It must be fun to be a friend of his to see and hear him, what a fascinating man.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that "A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020" is my introduction to the world of David Sedaris whom, I'm not embarrassed to admit, I honestly first heard of thanks to my love for his sibling Amy Sedaris.

Sedaris is a beloved humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor with three Grammy nominations to his name and a legion of fans who've embraced his often self-deprecating and nearly always autobiographical humor that often explores his North Carolina upbringing and his current European life along with such subjects as his homosexuality (and partner Hugh Hamrick), education, drug use, travels, and everyday life.

For the most part, "A Carnival of Snackery" falls not so neatly within the "everyday life" expression of Sedaris's writing. However, since a good majority of diary entries are written from different locales, it could also be said that "A Carnival of Snackery" follows Sedaris as he snarks his way across the globe.

While this is the first book of Sedaris's that I've read, I have become at least somewhat familiar with Sedaris through his radio appearances and published essays including his breakthrough work "SantaLand Diaries" from 1992. For a reason I can't begin to explain, I've simply never committed myself to Sedaris's literary efforts. It's not for a lack of love for snark. That's for sure. It took me only a few minutes into "A Carnival of Snackery" to realize that this is one chap I'd enjoy hanging out with for a bit.

Truthfully, I think much of it has to do with the fact that despite seemingly being everywhere and doing everything Sedaris is, in fact, surprisingly low-key in marketing of himself and his humor. Beloved by the NPR crowd, Sedaris isn't really a household name despite having sold over 10 million books, received three Grammy nominations, having written a half-dozen plays with sister Amy, and having had his writings translated into 25 languages.

I'd dare say Sedaris is more one of those "I've heard of him!" types of celebs, beloved by those who know his work and remembered by those who have trouble remembering such things.

"A Carnival of Snackery" is Sedaris's second collection of diary entries after 2017's "David Sedaris Diaries: A Visual Compendium," a collection I've committed myself to reading next after I've taken a valium and gotten some sleep after finishing up this 560-page collection.

"A Carnival of Snackery" is a snapshot of a very funny life, diary entries pointing toward the fact that the Sedaris we hear on the radio and see on-stage is, in fact, pretty darn close to the real David Sedaris.

And we love him for that.

"A Carnival of Snackery" is nearly always funny, yet there's a surprising amount of emotional resonance in the book. This is especially evident nearly every single time Sedaris's father enters the picture. There's so much evidence of a conflicted relationship there yet, as well, there's something in the way that Sedaris writes about it all that makes you feel Sedaris's longing for something different and a resignation that it was never realized.

As is true of nearly any diary, some entries are a few lines while others a few pages. Some entries are pointed and precise. Others may have you wondering why they even made the cut.

These diary entries are reminders of the world in 2003 and the world now. Sedaris is relentless when it comes to his politics and unsparing when it comes to his social observations. He's quietly compassionate, almost despite himself, and he's as self-deprecating toward himself as he is critical of the world around him.

No one is spared the wrath of David Sedaris.

Yet, there's also a surprising amount of affection in "A Carnival of Snackery" and, I'd dare say, a relatability that constantly comes across despite the fact that I have nary a Grammy nomination to my name and I've never done a book-signing in Moldova.

Okay, true confession. I have no idea where Moldova is.

There was one thing that bothered me about "A Carnival of Snackery" and it occurred more than once in the book's 560 pages. While Sedaris certainly writes with a lot of snark toward nearly everyone, it seemed like nearly every reference to a person with a disability in the book was judgmental or negative. By the third or fourth time, it began to bother me. And, yes, I'm a paraplegic/double amputee worthy of ample amounts of snark. However, this had a tone that just didn't click for me at all. I'm fairly sure this wasn't intentional as there are moments in the book when it's apparent that Sedaris has a compassion and willingness to serve that would be at direct conflict, though I can't deny that when I hit these moments they adversely impacted my ability to enjoy the book.

However, it must be noted that for the most part "A Carnival of Snackery" left me wondering why it took me so long to surrender myself to the world of David Sedaris. Sedaris writes with a wondrous weaving together of heart and humor, snark and sincerity and he creates such a marvelous world that you can't help but want to become part of it. If "A Carnival of Snackery" is typical of Sedaris, I truly can't wait to begin journeying back to read his other writings.

Completely up to snuff. Sedaris is always reliable for humor, thoughtfulness, and wisdom. Love that he is from Raleigh and makes NC look good. Can’t wait for his next, especially after reading his New Yorker essay