What do You think about Naked (1998)?
WHen I went to see him I had just moved and all my books were packed away. All I could find was a used copy of COrduroy and Denim. He signed "a used signature."
—Joeji
If I read The Da Vinci Code for all those people who prefaced their enjoyment of the book with "I don't read much," I finally read my first Sedaris book for all my smartass indie literary-type friends who stared aghast at me every time for the last five years I said I'd never read him."You mean you've read Eggers, but not Sedaris? I'll bet you like the Stones better than the Beatles too, dont you?""You think your family's bad, wait'll you read about his!""No, I don't like him because he's cool, I like him because he's funny. But he's cool, too."Understandably, I went in a little leery. The first essay, Chipped Beef, did precious little to alleviate my skepticism - I guess it was a clever introduction to his family and his relationship to it, but it came off to me as a bit too snide and abstract, a deadly combination that Eggers is prone to as well. A Plague of Tics hooked me though, and the next 9 essays were all gut-busters, alternating between hilarious bombast and genuine empathy for his decrepit grandma, cocktail-swilling mother, multitudinous sisters, not-with-it father, and inept teachers. True Detective might have been my favorite of that set, leading the reader on a clue-sniffing hunting for the brazen perpetrator who repeated wiped his or her ass with the hand towels in the family bathroom.The longer essays that make up the second part of the book are where Sedaris really flexes his chops, though. Planet of the Apes and C.O.G. are Tangled Up in Blue-like accounts of his adventures in hitchhiking and public transportation across our fair land, while The Incomplete Quad throws a series of cripples into his road of self-discovery. I read Something for Everyone in a public place, and a handful of people stopped me to ask what I was reading that could make me embarrass myself laughing so much.Ashes is the closest Sedaris comes to outright sincerity, but he manages to inject even an account of his mother's cancerous exit with quite a few chortles and guffaws. And he closes the volume with Naked, a pleasant denouement chronicling his one trip to a nudist colony with one of the funniest moments of the book, when he arrives to a bunch of naked old men watching the weather and blaming him for bringing a cold front.There is surely more of Sedaris to come in this boy's life. I would venture to say, without trying to explain, that he writes like I want to.
—John
Naked David arrived first, but it was Holiday David who made the NPR splash. Those of us in the front row received the full facial and were covered David the Elf's funk. I've still got Sedaris stank all over me and I'm loving it!While Holiday took a step back from unadulterated intimacy, Naked (and Barrel Fever) begins the unveiling of David Sedaris' inner, most personal life. It has all the markings of an early work, feeling like a skeletal version of Me Talk Pretty... or Dress Your Family..., a funny skeletal version mind you, but incomplete and fragmentary nonetheless. Sedaris does not delve so deeply, mining the depths of his own existence to locate the funny bone, as he does in later works. His comedic flair has not yet fully caught fire. Even so, Naked presents some of the author's important first steps. Some are funny. Some are endearing. Some are tentative. Some are not pretty. All can be enjoyed by fans for what they are, a good beginning.If I could, I would rate this 3.5 stars, because the story-to-story quality ranges from 3 to 4. I'm feeling generous, so I've clicked the "4 stars" option. If you're a newcomer, you might want to start with Dress Your Family... though.
—Jason Koivu
