The Best of Me (David Sedaris book)

Last updated
The Best of Me
David Sedaris The Best of Me.jpg
First edition
Author David Sedaris
Cover artistJamie Keenan
LanguageEnglish
Genre Essay collection, fiction
Publisher Little, Brown and Company
Publication date
November 3, 2020
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages388
ISBN 978-0-316-62824-2
Preceded by Calypso  
Followed byA Carnival of Snackeries: Diaries: Volume Two (2003-2020) 

The Best of Me is a compilation of essays and short fiction by American humorist David Sedaris. It was released by Little, Brown and Company on November 3, 2020, with every entry in the collection selected by Sedaris himself. All of the works had previously appeared in earlier books by Sedaris, save for five essays which had only been published in The New Yorker .

Contents

The book was praised by various publications upon its release. The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor both asserted that it showcased Sedaris's growth as a writer over the years, from someone who found humor in cruelty and in showcasing outrageous characters, into someone who wrote more personal stories about love, family, and growing old. [1] [2] Both the hardcover and paperback releases of The Best of Me spent time on The New York Times Best Seller list. [3] [4]

Background

In his introduction to The Best of Me, David Sedaris states that every work included in the collection is the sort that he hoped to be able to produce when he first started writing at age twenty. He also notes that he is always inclined toward his more recent material, as he has had less time to turn against it. At the time of publication, he revealed in an interview with WBUR that there was one particular story he had decidedly turned against: his famous essay "Santaland Diaries," which he eulogized by saying "I actually excluded it and I wanted its feelings to be hurt." [5]

Talking to the Houston Chronicle , Sedaris explained that lots of his older work makes him cringe, and that even essays which were only a decade old could surprise him with how dated they are. [6] The Best of Me includes only one entry each from 1994's Barrel Fever and 1997's Naked .

Sedaris further told WBUR that the book was originally intended to only be an audio collection, and his process of choosing what to include was as simple as considering which ones he looked forward to reading out loud. [5] He did not embark on a book tour to accompany The Best of Me's publication, and he told Entertainment Weekly that with a collection of preexisting material, he felt less pressure to reach #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. [7]

Essays

The Best of Me is mostly composed of works that previously appeared in other books by Sedaris. Five essays whose inclusion marks their first time in a Sedaris collection are indicated by N/A in the "Previously appeared in" column, although all five were originally published in The New Yorker between 1996 and 2020. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

WorkPreviously appeared inNote
Glen's Homophobia Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2 Barrel Fever
Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol Holidays on Ice
Christmas Means GivingHolidays on Ice
The Incomplete Quad Naked
Girl CrazyN/A
Card WiredN/A
How to Spend the Budget SurplusN/A
You Can't Kill the Rooster Me Talk Pretty One Day
Me Talk Pretty One DayMe Talk Pretty One Day
Jesus ShavesMe Talk Pretty One Day
Dog Days Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Us and Them Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Let It SnowDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
The Ship ShapeDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Repeat After MeDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Six to Eight Black MenDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
PossessionDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Nuit of the Living DeadDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Solution to Saturday's Puzzle When You Are Engulfed in Flames
The UnderstudyWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames
Town and CountryWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames
In the Waiting RoomWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames
UndecidedN/A
The Cat and the Baboon Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
The Motherless BearSquirrel Seeks Chipmunk
The Faithful SetterSquirrel Seeks Chipmunk
Dentists Without BordersLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Memory LapsLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Think DifferenterLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
LoggerheadsLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
If I Ruled the WorldLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Easy, TigerLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Laugh, KookaburraLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Just a Quick E-MailLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
A Guy Walks into a Bar CarLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Standing ByLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Understanding Understanding OwlsLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Now We Are Five Calypso
A House DividedCalypso
The Perfect FitCalypso
LeviathanCalypso
A Modest ProposalCalypso
Why Aren't You Laughing?Calypso
The Spirit WorldCalypso
UnbuttonedN/ALater appeared in Happy-Go-Lucky

Reception

Upon its release in November 2020, The Best of Me became an Editors' Choice for The New York Times Book Review , and it was named Best Book of the Month by both CNN and The Christian Science Monitor . [13] It spent three weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List for Hardcover Nonfiction, [3] and its 2021 paperback edition remained on the Best Seller List for Paperback Nonfiction sixteen weeks in a row. [4]

Writing for The New York Times , author Andrew Sean Greer called The Best of Me "the best thing Sedaris has ever written." He applauded the author's decision to craft a collection of personal stories about love and family, rather than a "rock-star journey" that included famous works like "Santaland Diaries." Greer further asserted that the book revealed Sedaris's growth, maturing from a writer who once found humor in cruelty into someone who could see it in the sorrow and happiness of growing old. [1]

Heller McAlpin of The Christian Science Monitor also praised the work, similarly highlighting its progression from "outrageous, escalating rants of unhinged characters" into more personal material. [2] Kirkus Reviews declared it "one of the funniestand truestbooks in recent memory" and commended Sedaris's stories for always including "a perfectly formed crystallization of our various embarrassments and discomforts". [14]

Greer and McAlpin both recommended the work to new and old Sedaris readers alike, with Greer suggesting that "enough time has passed to find humor in the hardest parts of life" [1] and McAlpin calling it "a terrific highlights reel". [2] Kirkus Reviews additionally named it "a must-have for fans of the poet laureate of human foibles". [14]

The Best of Me's cover art, by Jamie Keenan, was included in LitHub's "The 10 Best Book Covers of November" list, with writer Emily Temple finding it to be, like Sedaris himself, "erudite, irreverent, playful, and ever-so-slightly... threatening." She elaborated by visually comparing it to a ransom letter. [15]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrew Sean Greer (November 2, 2020). "The Truth About David Sedaris". The New York Times . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Heller McAlpin (November 3, 2020). "Humorist David Sedaris delivers his choicest material in 'The Best of Me'". The Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times Best Seller List. December 6, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Paperback Nonfiction". The New York Times Best Seller List. January 16, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Tonya Mosley (November 3, 2020). "Humorist David Sedaris Culls Decades Of Essays Into 'The Best Of Me'". WBUR . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  6. Andrew Dansby (November 2, 2020). "Interview: David Sedaris' 'Best of Me' collection painfully funny and poignant". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  7. Seija Rankin (September 17, 2020). "The David Sedaris We Need: The world's favorite humor essayist on luck and loneliness". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  8. David Sedaris (October 6, 1996). "Girl Crazy". The New Yorker . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  9. David Sedaris (February 9, 1997). "Card Wired". The New Yorker . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  10. David Sedaris (January 18, 1998). "How to Spend the Budget Surplus". The New Yorker . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  11. David Sedaris (October 20, 2008). "Undecided". The New Yorker . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  12. David Sedaris (February 24, 2020). "Unbuttoned". The New Yorker . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  13. "The Best of Me by David Sedaris". Hachette Book Group . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  14. 1 2 Kirkus Reviews (November 7, 2020). "THE BEST OF ME" . Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  15. Emily Temple (November 25, 2020). "The 10 Best Book Covers of November". Literary Hub . Retrieved August 9, 2024.