Happy-Go-Lucky
Ratings64
Average rating4.1
David Sedaris, the “champion storyteller,” (Los Angeles Times) returns with his first new collection of personal essays since the bestselling Calypso. Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most. To cope, he walks for miles through a nearly deserted city, smelling only his own breath. He vacuums his apartment twice a day, fails to hoard anything, and contemplates how sex workers and acupuncturists might be getting by during quarantine. As the world gradually settles into a new reality, Sedaris too finds himself changed. His offer to fix a stranger’s teeth rebuffed, he straightens his own, and ventures into the world with new confidence. Newly orphaned, he considers what it means, in his seventh decade, no longer to be someone’s son. And back on the road, he discovers a battle-scarred America: people weary, storefronts empty or festooned with Help Wanted signs, walls painted with graffiti reflecting the contradictory messages of our time: Eat the Rich. Trump 2024. Black Lives Matter. In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all. If we must live in interesting times, there is no one better to chronicle them than the incomparable David Sedaris.
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This was my second David Sedaris book. I read Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls 6 years ago as an audiobook and absolutely loved it. GoodReads tells me I even rated it 5 stars! Which back then was even more rare for me than it is now. I especially recommend reading his books as an audiobook.
This is an honest, at times brutal, at times ludicrous, and usually privileged recount of David's own life focused mostly in the last two years. There are a lot of essays on his father and his contentious relationship with him, as well as his sister Tiffany's accusations against their father, and finally his death. Aside from his father, his essays cover a wide range: about his relationship with his boyfriend Hugh, his experience with the BLM protests, New York during the height of the pandemic, his love of shopping, and some great stories from his tours.
I like David's brand of brutally honest sharp humor. He shares his thoughts without filter, even when they may put him in a bad light. He's wont to say things that make you think, should he really be saying this? There were some stories in the book that were so wild, that I had to share them with others and question WTF? out loud.
The book has a good balance of realness and humor. He manages to fit in jokes (albeit sometimes inappropriate ones) even in the most serious stories, and great insights in the most wacky ones. Sedaris is not the most likeable and I don't think he tries to be. His privilege shows through many times, and he's way too judgmental against others, but he writes with honesty and heart. He finds the special in the mundane and is not afraid to share the difficult stories.
I enjoyed this, just design joy all of his books. DS is clever and insightful. I was kind of surprised at his revelations about his dad. And, I understand how other people here felt it was too dark, but I appreciated that he was honest about the past couple of years for us as a country and for him personally. I don't want him just to laugh out loud, but to recognize the humanity and reality he observes.
Everything David Sedaris writes I give five stars, but for this, I'll give him more!
Not every essay was typical Sedaris. But he was more vulnerable than in his other collections. More reflective and maybe a bit more mature. That is not to imply that this was sad in any way. He will still make you cry laughing. I just loved that he also made me think more and appreciate more after I read this (in three days).
This is my favorite collection of essays of all time. I'm glad I have the hardcover so I can read it dozens of times and lend it out–to very specific people–without destroying the book.
