Looking for something to cheer us up in the throes of what felt like continually depressing news about war, climate change and politics, one book club member suggested the latest anthology from American essayist David Sedaris. He’s known for his unflinching observations, finding a wry humour in the ordinary and the extraordinary. Happy-go-lucky includes stories from both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Sedaris is frequently the focus of his monologues, the pandemic caused this collection to be heavy on intimate anecdotes.

The first musing of book club was whether we would want to be friends with such a public over-sharer. Does one have to get the permission of acquaintances before frankly discussing their embarrassing foibles? Does Sedaris struggle to make new friends now that he’s famous for his writing? We all admitted that he appears to be an ideal party guest (even though he insists not), but we thought we’d be permanently on edge trying to maintain good, normal behaviour!

What kind of person can share so much of themselves with the world? Sedaris doesn’t shy away from stories that paint him in an unflattering light. Perhaps he uses writing as a form of confessional. During the course of this book, his 98-year-old father dies. While he has previously written very directly about experiences that would now be called out as child abuse, Sedaris has always veiled them in dark humour. This time felt different, as he recounts in great detail his father’s inappropriate behaviour towards all his children, and his sister Tiffany’s eventual death by suicide.

We all thought that the mastery in this book was the way that Sedaris balances these very personal passages with genuinely hilarious character sketches and wordplay. If you aren’t laughing out loud in chapter one (at his idea for name for gun-toting pants) then this isn’t the book for you. Luckily, all the book clubbers found Sedaris hilarious. We wanted to go shopping with him and his sister Amy after reading about their slightly unhinged clothes-buying trips. We wanted to be surrounded by his opinionated sisters, and be given unbidden advice on our choice of partner, job or dinner menu. Perhaps to be such a candid writer implies a degree of attention-seeking, mused one of us. As a kid growing up in such a large, noisy and outspoken family, perhaps your inhibitions are shaped differently. Whatever the reason for Sedaris’s ability, we were all in agreement that this wouldn’t be the last of his books we would be enjoying.
Next book club we will be discussing ‘Queenie’
by Candice Carty-Williams.

Join the NBVM Book Club!
Every issue we’ll be reading a new book – if you’d like to join in the discussion, email your thoughts to us at newsdesk@blackmorevale.net