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    Barrel Fever and Other Stories
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    Barrel Fever and Other Stories
    Unavailable
    Barrel Fever and Other Stories
    Audiobook3 hours

    Barrel Fever and Other Stories

    Published by Hachette Audio

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In David Sedaris' world, no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner, Fran Lebowitz, and the National Enquirer, Sedaris' 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.


    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateApr 1, 2006
    ISBN9781594836688
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Barrel Fever and Other Stories

    3.5/5

    46 ratings26 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I own the print copy, but listened to the audiobook copy thus the reason for conflicting collections. Not sure how I felt about this, people have told me to read Sedaris for years since I enjoy Augusten Burroughs so much. This was okay...a little weird to have fictional stories intermixed with memoir-style accounts. After reading some reviews I found that apparently the audiobook version is significantly different from the print version so that could have been the problem also. Will have to listen to one of his more popular pieces and judge from there.
    • 4/5
      This book can be a bit of a grab bag as far as the quality of each individual story. Some, especially including the last one (StanaLand Diaries), are excellent, and some are a bit more hit or miss. Though for the most part David Sedaris keep them interesting will some interesting (though Dark) humor. It can at times become a bit depressing and down, but there are still interesting aspects to just about every one of the stories in Barrel Fever.
    • 2/5
      I can never get a David Sedaris book to last. I usually measure the time it takes me to read a book in days or weeks, but with Sedaris I'm forced to count minutes and hours. I attended one of his readings a few weeks ago. I paid something like forty dollars for balcony seating, fearing for my life the entire time. When he finally came out, I had a good view of the top of his head. I was fairly disappointed. I had been looking forward to this for months and all I was going to get to see was the top of this guy's head.And then he started reading and everything was okay. It's his voice. Not the nasal, soft one that comes from his mouth (though I've grown rather fond of that, too), but the voice that makes his books so entertaining. From that point on, I leaned back in my chair, let the vertigo settle itself, and listened.Prior to that reading, I had read everything of Sedaris's with the exception of Barrel Fever. I picked this one up at a used book store a few days prior to the event. I decided not to read it until after so that I'd be able to relive my experience. I was thinking about re-reading Holidays on Ice as well since, well, 'tis the season. The only real criticism I have is that this one consists mostly of stories. I prefer his essays, as I've grown rather fond of his family and friends. However, the stories are pretty good. There are a few essays towards the end, which, of course, are fantastic. Included in this book is "SantaLand Diaries," the centerpiece of Holidays on Ice. This one isn't as good as Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day, but it is definitely a quick and fun read.
    • 5/5
      Sedaris puts onto paper those thoughts that your twisted mind tries to eliminate when you sleep. You know those nasty little things you sometimes think, and you immediately say to yourself how could I think that?I enjoyed reading this book so much that I have to put it up for mooching so others can enjoy reading it. That joy has already been shared by my fellow commuters, who would invariably look amused or alarmed when I would attempt to stop myself from laughing out loud while reading this book.
    • 3/5
      Like many reviewers I found the inclusion of short fiction somewhat jarring. I bought this book after reading Me Talk Pretty Someday, and I guess I was expecting more of the same. Enjoyable enough, just not what I was expecting
    • 4/5
      Collection of short stories (I didn't read them all, but thoroughly enjoyed "Glen's Homophobia Newsletter") and essays. Includes "Santaland Diaries," in which he recounts the Christmas he worked as an elf at Macy's Department store in New York. VERY entertaining!
    • 2/5
      Pleasant series of stories about exaggerated characters and others from David's life and family including his time in France and working as an elf at Maceys
    • 3/5
      I didn't like it as much as his memoir books but most of it was still entirely entertaining. As with many other Sedaris books, I generally prefer the audio book version, as his delivery fits so well.
    • 3/5
      As always with Sedaris I either love or hate a particular story in a collection. That will never stop me from listening to them again and again though.
    • 3/5
      The fictional stories that comprise most of this book are just odd. I didn't find myself enjoying
    • 3/5
      This book contains a number of Sedaris' fictional stories and a handful of his non-fiction essays. I find this juxtaposition somewhat jarring, especially considering how both sections feature stories using first-person narration. Also, I was taken aback by the very blatant similarities between the characters' life events and Sedaris' own life events (either mentioned in this book or in subsequent ones). For instance, in "My Manuscript," a fictional account, Sedaris has a character recall how his ill-fated guitar lessons were taught by a midget. Having read Me Talk Pretty One Day prior to this book, I remembered Sedaris retelling this story as an actual life event. I found it thus difficult to get into the short stories. Although some of them still made me chuckle, his humor here is sometimes too dark and/or too subtle. I enjoyed the memoirs section, but wish there was more of these essays rather than the fictional stories. Also, three of the stories are featured in Holidays on Ice, another book I had previously read. Overall, not as funny as some as Sedaris' later work, but still good for some relatively light reading.
    • 3/5
      I've read all of the other David Sedaris collections at this point, and I have to say this one is my least favorite. I read the essays in the back first, and I liked all of them, though not as well as some of the others I've read by him. Most of the book is composed of his short stories, which I wound up not liking much at all. Some are really good ideas, and I appreciate them, but I just did not like reading most of them. There were one or two really good ones mixed in though, and of course they made me laugh, but I much prefer his later essays.
    • 3/5
      Some of the stories in this collection went a little too far into weird/gross for me. However, some of the stories and essays are excellent--darkly funny and well-written. Occasionally a sentence or two really struck me as particularly well-phrased. Two of the essays are also in Holidays on Ice.
    • 2/5
      Not my favorite of his books; Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim were much better.
    • 3/5
      I had to suffer through some lousy stories to get to the essays. They were worth it.July 2007
    • 1/5
      There's a meanness in this early short story work of Sedaris' that doesn't appeal to me. I like his newer books better.Sedaris' view on life is wonderfully human and fallible. A great humorist.
    • 4/5
      This was one of my least favorite books by Dave Sedaris, however, I still enjoyed it immensely. There's something special about his autobiographical stuff, and knowing that this collection was pure fiction made it a little less enjoyable for me.
    • 3/5
      Unsteady - the stories are solidly crafted, told with wit, but I really laughed only little.
    • 4/5
      A great light read. Sedaris' wit is both cutting and friendly, offending only those that "deserve" to be offended by his commentaries on teenage drama queens, over-sensitive outcasts, losers turned Hollywood stars and the rest. Was a great break away from denser material I've been reading lately. However, as much fun as Sedaris is to read, I still think listening to him read his own material is where it truly shines. Not that this detracts from his work.The only downside to this book is the radical changes in tone and character make some stories shine above the rest and others seem repetitive and hammering home the point a bit too hard.A/B(plus)
    • 3/5
      I don't think this is Sedaris's strongest book . . . but it's still Sedaris, so it's worth reading.
    • 5/5
      For some strange reason the audiobook of Barrel Fever does not include about half the stories in the book, while including a bunch of stories that are not in the book. So I read the paper edition to fill in what the audiobook omitted.
    • 3/5
      His first and his best - definately worth the read.
    • 4/5
      this book contains Santaland diaries if you've never read that you are really missing out--if you don't know David Sedaris you are really missing out--if you don't like David Sedaris i don't know what to say.
    • 4/5
      The nonfiction portions (especially "Santaland Diaries") are hilarious, but I'm not a big fan of Sedaris's fiction; it's not subtle enough for my liking. So really, I'd give the nonfiction four stars, and the fiction two.
    • 4/5
      This is a collection of a few essays published elsewhere. I believe it contans the piece he wrote about being a Macy's Christmas elf, which is the sole reason -- and sufficient, thank you -- that I bought it. (The story still wrings tears of laughter from my eyes whenever I read it.) If you like his particular tone, you'll love this book: it's a little less pitiless than he's been since he start appearing in Esquire and on NPR so often, so it's a simpler joy to read.
    • 3/5
      I'm a big fan of David Sedaris, but I didn't dig him doing different characters. I like his journal-like style of writing; this, not so much.