Barrel Fever Stories and Essays

David Sedaris — 1994

In David Sedaris’s world, no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner, Fran Lebowitz, and the National Enquirer, Sedaris’s collection of essays is a rollicking tour through the national Zeitgeist: a do-it-yourself suburban dad saves money by performing home surgery; a man who is loved too much flees the heavyweight champion of the world; a teenage suicide tries to incite a lynch mob at her funeral; a bitter Santa abuses the elves. David Sedaris made his debut on NPR’s Morning Edition with “SantaLand Diaries”, recounting his strange-but-true experiences as an elf at Macy’s, and soon became one of the show’s most popular commentators. With a perfect eye and a voice infused with as much empathy as wit, Sedaris writes stories and essays that target the soulful ridiculousness of our behavior. Barrel Fever is like a blind date with modern life, and anything can happen. (back cover)

Reviews

Marisel @marisel

Nov 20, 2022

This is an early collection of stories and essays, accordingly separated into two parts. Here I discovered my preference for Sedaris’ essays, not just for their inherent hilarity, but also because they are lighter and a lot less dark than his stories. The stories themselves though miraculously retaining some fair degree of humor, tend to be much too dark to elicit the true level of myrrh I’ve come to seek in his books, instead leaving behind a residual poignant sadness. This induces me to run to the next collection of essays, prompting me into another vicious cycle of Sedaris reading! I just can’t stop.

Melody Izard@mizard

Jan 10, 2022

All these people want a piece of what Sedaris has. But is it worth it. Some of the stories give me the heebie jeebies. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I am crying I'm laughing so much. But sometimes I am so tired of the the whole thing.