A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020)

When David Sedaris releases a new book, I buy it – almost always the audio version. His latest work was released last week, and I finished it yesterday evening just as I pulled into my driveway after a three-hour drive. Did I take that drive to finish the book? Possibly.

My general impression of Sedaris’ work is that his earlier stuff (starting with SantaLand Diaries in 1999) is focused on family, work, and relationships. In recent books, especially Calypso, current events are discussed more frequently. A Carnival of Snackery is a mix, but the last few chapters focus more specifically on political and social events – not surprising, given the time frame.

Sedaris’ posts are nothing if not honest – especially his diary entries – show more and for much of the book, that honesty is hilarious. Conversations with Romanians, Poles, Italians, and Japanese in their native tongues, chats with readers at book signings, disputes with his partner Hugh – all honest, all funny.

At one point , his truth is my truth. David and I are of an age (he’s almost exactly five years older than I am), and his recounting of his father’s illness – well, I recognize it. At one point he shares that listening to the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” made him cry:

“It makes me ache for the Christmases we had in the seventies in eighties, all of us young and together . . . .”

Sedaris’ mother died many years ago, and his sister Tiffany committed suicide in 2013. Anyone who has lost loved ones might relate the same way, and this is my feeling every Christmas since my parents’ deaths in 2017 and 2019. This unvarnished truth gave me comfort – a little suprise gift, I guess. One doesn’t typically crack open a David Sedaris essay looking for solace.

Entries from 2020 were riveting. It was weirdly fascinating, and sobering, to revisit the mask debate, the hostility, illnesses, and deaths – all from diary entries that anchor the writer and the reader in that time, without the foreknowledge that a vaccine and a change in leadership are forthcoming. The deaths at the hands of police, the protests, the general violence – Sedaris’ recounting, though far from sensationalized, brought back all of the fear and anger of the summer of 2020.

In the past, David has recruited others, including his sister Amy, to share some limited narrating duties. In this book, he changed it up by sharing his narrator’s role almost 50/50 with actress Tracey Ullman, ostensibly for her skills with accents. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which person narrates when, and when Tracey narrates as David (which, of course, she would), she does so in a British accent, in spite of the fact that, as we all know, Tracey can rock an American accent. To listen to “David” speaking in a British accent is offputting and dilutes the story’s humor. This is the reason for the honest four-star rating. show less

Our meals {at the resort} are included, and though they give the illusion of bounty, each course is smaller than the one before. Last night started with a thin slice of pate followed by an araignee -- a crab that looks like a spider. It was large, but, unlike a lobster, with its weighty claws and tail, there was really no meat to be had -- a tablespoon maybe. … Then came a small lump of fish accompanied by a taste of ratatouille, a thimble of rice, three mushrooms, and a boiled potato the size of a molar.

SO many giggles and some out-loud laughs in these short, well-crafted diary entries (though some are long enough to have been essays in his collections).

Seinfeld did a similar collection of his bits recently ("Is This Anything?" to show more which I answered No) but this, the second volume of diary entries from Sedaris (or Sid Harris, as some people misinterpret) is very entertaining and sometimes poignant and insightful. The book-signing line after a Sedaris reading is hours long, and my god: the raunchy, funny, fascinating stories he gets and gives! This comment from some correspondence stays with me:

One {letter} was from a woman who wrote that when deaf people get their hearing, they’re always surprised that the sun makes no noise. They naturally assumed it would roar. show less

This collection of snippets from the author's journals is a touching, yet amusing slice of life journey through time. Mostly stories of unusual things heard or witnessed during travel, funny conversations, frustrating interactions with family or bizarre news stories. Reading this book gives creates the same experience as sitting down with a loved one or old friend while they fill you in on the silly incidents of their day. It's comforting, hilarious, and warm, even when the events recounted are terrible. You have the reassurance that the person you are remembering with is on your side, and whatever happens, will endure it with you. A much more casual read then a collection of polished essays, but no less satisfying for it.

Sedaris' voice is perfect to me, literally and figuratively. This is a trite thing to say, but he just seems so NORMAL. Perhaps I just mean human. He doesn't hide the nasty side of his personality, and I love that. Actually, maybe I mean honest? In any case, he seems like he'd be fun to hang out with for a while, and then he'd be really fucking annoying. Like most of us. I loved this book.

Thank you to Libro.FM for the ALC!

Sedaris is the Seinfeld of writing. He can write about pretty much nothing, and you still are amused and entertained. I had never read anything else by him, but had heard him on TV, thought he was pretty funny, and thought that his wry take on the world might be just right for this somewhat depressing time in our country (post-Covid, war in Ukraine). I was right - he's a nice escape.

Since I don't know him well - or at least I didn't until I read this book - one of my initial observations was that he travels ALL the time. His diary entries come from all corners of the globe. I learned that this is part of his work - to attend lectures and book signings - and that he uses his interactions with people he meets in his travels to feed more show more books. I also quickly understood that no topic is off limits - ribald jokes, raw language, etc. Sometimes it was a little blue for me, but I was always interested in the next thing he had to report on. I wondered how Hugh, his partner, and his father and siblings felt about him writing about them, but it seems he has an understanding with them. He is not a mean person. He just calls it as he sees it.

There were moments that were more serious, as he described his sister Tiffany's suicide, his father's dementia or the emergence of Donald Trump near the end of the book.

In the end I'm left with one question: What's the deal with all the litter in England? Sedaris won't be around forever to take care of it. show less

The Caesar Salad book.......

I haven't finished this book and may or may not do it that favour.

I've always found his writing to be entertaining and at times downright funny, but this? Maybe you should never be allowed access to the inner thoughts of someone you admire because with each reveal your admiration drops a notch or two.

On another level you could say that this book reveals the human behind the author's mask? But the question then is this: How much do you want to know about the real person?

The age we live in is now a stabbing party of past heroes who it turns out (surprise, surprise) were not quite perfect.

As they say: any salad can be a Caesar Salad if you stab it enough times and this book is the author stabbing himself in the show more back again and again. show less

I like David Sedaris. My one complaint is that he often recycles material. I though Calypso was a good book, but had also seen a fair portion of it before. Carnival was all new, at least to me, and I had a good time listening to it.

I enjoyed the entries covering the pandemic. It's only been less than three years, but a lot has gone on and I found it interesting to hear his thoughts at the beginning. Has history vindicated the mask haters? Almost 1 million Americans are dead. How many would a high rate of mask compliance saved? Other countries did better with masking and also had lower mortality, but most of those countries also did a lot of other things. We do overweigh our discomfort in the moment and I do think masks helped more than show more they hurt, but I also really doubt that masking alone would have made a huge difference. show less