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Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays [Paperback]

David Sedaris (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 196 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; 1st Paperback Ed edition (31 Dec 1995)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0316779423
ISBN-13: 978-0316779425
Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.6 x 21.3 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 355,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

In David Sedaris's world no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner, Fran Liebowitz, and the National Enquirer, Sedaris's collection of stories and essays 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 bitter Santa abuses the elves; a teenage suicide tries to incite a lynch mob at her funeral.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
I WAS ON "Oprah" a while ago, talking about how I used to love too much. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars David Sedaris is a Dangerous Genius, 17 Jun 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays (Paperback)

I first bought NAKED, and because I loved his writing style and dark humor I was compelled to buy BARREL FEVER. I even recommended BARREL FEVER to my friends and co-workers BEFORE I read it because I was SO sure it would be as wonderful if not more so than NAKED. But I was shocked, dismayed, taken aback by the book. It was not quite what I expected. I still love Sedaris' essays--VERY much! The struggling writing in me is terrifically jealous of his keen ability with the language and his twisted wit. But I was disappointed and a little disgusted with his fiction pieces. They are not for the timid of heart, so take heed, fellow booksmiths and bookworms.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy read, pretty entertaining..., 3 Jun 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays (Paperback)

Although not all the stories were laugh out loud funny as I was led to believe from all the rave reviews, it was still pretty damned entertaining; especially 'SantaLand' and the 'suicide letter'. Those are the two stories that had me chuckling to myself. The others sometimes lost me. But overall a good read... great for a long commute. Definitely recommend it! I look forward to reading more of his work.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn funny, 28 Jan 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays (Paperback)

David Sedaris has a caustic painful witty sense of humor. His book is a quickie, a comic book in its attention span. This is good because to linger in the world of these bitter, self-absorbed people would be degrading if prolonged. Sedaris can evoke the paranoia and mania of teenagehood in a convincing way.

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› See all 22 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

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› Go to Amazon.com to see all 131 reviews 3.6 out of 5 stars

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag
To be brief, the stories included in this volume are insipid, contrived and humorless. A couple of the essays are keepers, particularly the SANTALAND DIARIES. Read more

Published on 24 July 2003 by Bruce Kendall

5.0 out of 5 stars A-mazing. This book contains some *great* performance pieces
I've read and re-read this book, and continue to be amazed by it. I've also found some amazing oral interpretation pieces from it for the high school level.

Published on 16 Nov 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars An often misinterpreted book.
I'm not sure that most people really know what to expect when they read Sedaris' work, but it seems to me that most of them just want cheap, simple humor. Read more

Published on 11 Nov 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars This book must be read out loud!
This book is so hilarious that it must be read out loud, and yet it's almost impossible to finish a sentence because you're laughing so hard. Read more

Published on 10 Nov 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars bizzare! funny! witty!
i read barrel fever (1997) and can't find the best way to describe this book. too close to reality, too bitter to be a joke. great misfits. Read more

Published on 11 Oct 1998

3.0 out of 5 stars A let-down
I brought Barrel Fever and Naked but decided to read Barrel Fever first. What a let-down. I had so many high expectations about Barrel Fever (most of the reviews on Amazon. Read more

Published on 3 Aug 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, but inconsistent
This predecessor to 'Naked' doesn't quite deliver the goods the way Sedaris' later book does. A mix of fiction and essays, Barrel Fever swings from weird and funny to just plain... Read more

Published on 11 July 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars Great - a near classic
I bought this book immediately after finishing Sedaris' book Naked. I found its high points to be just as good, if not better than the first, but overall the quality was uneven... Read more

Published on 10 July 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, wacky, dark, and absolutely hysterical
I pass along this book to everyone I know who has a cynical screwball sense of humor. You have to be a little crazy and like life slightly twisted to love this book, but if you... Read more

Published on 2 July 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Nuggets of hilarity from the twisted mind of David Sedaris.
Sidesplittingly hilarious--I've bought this book for at least 10 friends just to see them try (in vain) to hold back the belly laughs.

Published on 14 Jun 1998

› See all 22 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

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