Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays (U)

In David Sedaris's world, no one is safe and no cow is sacred. Sedaris's collection of essays and stories 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. 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. This volume contains hilarious short stories and essays from popular NPR personality David Sedaris, detailing the cultural conspiracies, domestic delusions and misanthropic underbelly of modern America. "A satirical brazenness that holds up next to Twain and Nathanael West."--New Yorker.