海角大神

David Sedaris, one of the great American humorists, has reached the age of retrospection. After milking his family and personal life for decades, he is now mining his work for literary gold worth anthologizing. His first retrospective was 鈥淭heft by Finding: Diaries (1977鈥�2002)鈥� (2017), selections from his unpublished diaries. 鈥淭he Best of Me鈥� offers 46 previously published essays and stories curated from nine earlier books, beginning with 鈥淏arrel Fever鈥�(1994) and ending with his most recent, 鈥淐alypso鈥� (2018).

OK, so technically, there鈥檚 nothing new here. But 鈥淭he Best of Me鈥� is an excellent introduction to Sedaris鈥� work if, somehow, you鈥檙e not among the millions who have made him a mainstay on bestseller lists and flocked to his ticketed readings. Even if you鈥檝e read or listened to every word he鈥檚 ever written, it鈥檚 a terrific highlights reel and a chance to view the arc of Sedaris鈥� development as a writer over 25 years.

In general, he鈥檚 moved from the often outrageous, escalating rants of unhinged characters, in which he takes an off-the-wall idea and runs with it, to more deeply personal material. Many of these keepers were first published in The New Yorker, beginning in 1995, and show off his mastery of what he learned around his mother鈥檚 table, 鈥渢he real-life story, perfected and condensed.鈥�

Readers may be surprised that Sedaris鈥� breakthrough, 鈥淪antaLand Diaries,鈥� didn鈥檛 make the cut. Also missing are stories about bladder control, litter patrol, and obsessive daily step counts. Of the 46 entries, only four are from his first three books. As the author wryly notes in his introduction, 鈥淚鈥檒l always be inclined toward my most recent work, if only because I鈥檝e had less time to turn on it.鈥�

Among the earlier work, I laughed hardest at 鈥淔ront Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,鈥� a story from 鈥淗olidays on Ice鈥� that I鈥檇 forgotten. Under the headline, 鈥淭rite Christmas: Scottsfield鈥檚 young hams offer the blandest of holiday fare,鈥� a pompous critic applies professional criteria to his review of a children鈥檚 holiday pageant. He carps hilariously that 鈥渙ne particularly insufficient wise man proclaimed, 鈥楢 child is bored.鈥� Yes, well, so was this adult.鈥�

Sedaris is never boring. I was especially glad to find 鈥淩epeat After Me,鈥� which deserves a place not just among the best of Sedaris, but among the best pieces ever written about how writers routinely trample family privacy in their work. Sedaris calls himself out on his transgressions with self-deprecating humor. His oldest sister, Lisa, he writes, is 鈥渁fraid to tell me anything important, knowing I鈥檒l only turn around and write about it.鈥� He adds, 鈥淚n my mind, I鈥檓 like a friendly junkman, building things from the little pieces of scrap I find here and there, but my family鈥檚 started to see things differently. Their personal lives are the so-called pieces of scrap I so casually pick up, and they鈥檙e sick of it.鈥� Needless to say, that doesn鈥檛 stop him from whipping out his notebook whenever he鈥檚 with them.

Several stories highlight how much his family means to him. In the well-titled 鈥淢emory Laps,鈥� another favorite, he recalls fraught swim meets and how his father鈥檚 constant dissatisfaction with him in and out of the pool both hurt and spurred him on to an 鈥淚鈥檒l show him鈥� attitude. (And show him, he did.) In 鈥淟augh, Kookaburra,鈥� Sedaris recalls an incident for which his father unfairly singled him out for punishment, and deftly connects it with an Australian businesswoman鈥檚 recipe for success 鈥� cutting off at least one of the 鈥渂urners鈥� on your stove: family, friends, health, or work. (The infraction involved repeatedly singing 鈥淟augh, Kookaburra鈥� with his sister Amy after being told not to.) Although fuming, Sedaris knew, even at 11, that without family, 鈥淚 was nothing. ... Cut off your family, and how would you know who you are? Cut them off in order to gain success, and how could that success be measured?鈥�

Reading through this collection underscores how much of Sedaris鈥� life 鈥� and material 鈥� involves time spent on airplanes jetting between performances and his various homes. You may not rue being grounded by COVID-19 after reading about some of his crass seatmates, including the tony-looking but foul-mouthed couple who seemed 鈥渁s if they鈥檇 kidnapped the grandparents from a Ralph Lauren ad and forced them into a David Mamet play.鈥�

In a relatively early story, 鈥淭he Ship Shape,鈥� Sedaris remembers when he and his mother overheard a well-dressed visitor to Raleigh say she had to get back home, or rather, to 鈥渙ne of my homes.鈥� He writes, 鈥淲e wanted what this woman had.鈥� Specifically, they wanted a beach house on Emerald Isle, off the North Carolina coast, where the family rented a place for a week every September. In 2013, Sedaris, already no stranger to 鈥渢he rejuvenating power of real estate,鈥� finally did it. He bought a place for his family to gather 鈥� an Emerald Isle beachfront property which he dubbed the Sea Section. Of course, it鈥檚 also a rich source of new material.

In his more serious moments, Sedaris expresses surprise and gratitude for his good fortune. Even his father, 鈥渢hat perpetual human storm cloud,鈥� has finally, in his late 90s, acknowledged his elder son鈥檚 fantastic accomplishments. 鈥淭he Best of Me鈥� is a well-earned victory lap.

In addition to 海角大神, Heller McAlpin reviews books regularly for NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times.