David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure consists of David Sedaris reading five of his essays. Cat and Baboon is one of his animal fables, a cat being groomed at the baboon’s salon before a party; Author, Author details some of Sedaris’s book tours, including a hilarious visit to CostCo; Innocence Abroad, a hysterical piece on people who pronounce foreign names “authentically”; Laugh, Kookaburra is an amusing description of his visit to Australia, his interaction with a kookaburra and the childhood reminiscences that ensued; and Diary Entries, random diary entries detailing some more of his interactions with book tour attendants, and observations on his travels. Sedaris manages to do hilarious and poignant at the same time. Reading Sedaris is unadulterated pleasure: listening to him read his work doubles the pleasure. ( )

I've listened to this book on my iTunes about fifty times so far!! David Sedaris is so funny and random. I absolutely love the one about Nicaragua and also the diary entries. If you don't listen or read to this one you are really missing out!! ( )

David Sedaris may have missed his calling to stand-up comedy.

I mean, I love his books (for the most part), but I don’t think I truly appreciated Sedaris’s talent until I saw him live in Fall 2008. Whereas most authors use book tour appearances to read from their recently published work, Sedaris instead chooses to read from works in progress. This means that when you see him live, you’re likely to hear a piece he’s still fine-tuning, and you’ll notice him taking notes as the audience reacts—or doesn’t—to the his hilarious and insightful observations about, well, just about everything.

In Live for Your Listening Pleasure, Sedaris shares five never-before-published pieces collected from speaking engagements across the U.S.

First, there’s “Cat and Baboon,” a short piece that is one of many animal fables Sedaris is writing. It begins when a cat goes to a baboon to be groomed. Take a minute and think about how funny that is. It continues as the baboon makes multiple social faux pas and begins desperately searching for a way to connect with the cat and leave her satisfied with her grooming experience. So the baboon decides to insult dogs, and even that doesn’t go well.

“Author, Author” chronicles Sedaris’s previous book tour, which began and ended in a Costco, and “Innocence Abroad,” which made me laugh the hardest of all these pieces even though I’d heard it before, includes a critique of people attempting to speak foreign languages and using accents seletively and will make you wish you could see Sedaris’s face as he delivers the lines.

In “Laugh, Kookaburra,” Sedaris discusses his travels in Australia, weird Australian vocabulary, and much more, then he rounds out the CD with “Diary Entries,” which are actual selections from the diary he kept while on book tour. And it’s pure comic gold.

Live for Your Listening Pleasure reminded me why I love David Sedaris as much as I do and made me wish he’d come follow me around for a day or two and write my diary entries for me. The man can make a trip to Costco entertaining, so I can only imagine what he’d do with stories about my crazy hound dog.

At just 75 minutes long, Live for Your Listening Pleasure is a quick and superbly delightful listen. Sedaris is excellent company whether you’re listening around the house or in the car (though that puts you at risk of being the crazy lady laughing out loud, all alone in her car, freaking out her fellow drivers….not that it happened to me or anything), and this little gem of an audiobook is about as close as you can get to the experience of seeing him live. It’s THAT VOICE that makes all the difference.

I had a fantastic time taking David Sedaris on my errands around Richmond, and I’d recommend this audiobook for seasoned Sedaris fans and curious newcomers alike. If you’ve had the pleasure of seeing him live as I have, you may recognize a few of the essays, but it won’t matter. He’ll have you laughing within seconds, and you won’t care that you kind of already know what’s coming.

Just make sure you pee before you get in the car. Live for Your Listening Pleasure is that funny. ( )