Naked

David was struck with enthusiastic OCD as a child, only to find ways to "cure" his tics in college. His stories of life after schooling include apple-picking and packing, working with jade (not to mention a crazy, hypocritical Christian), and refinishing woodwork with a Jew-hating Lithuanian and a somewhat confused black guy. He hitchhikes with all levels of human decapitation until a rowdy truck driver combs thicket by the roadside looking for him.

Not all of the fifteen stories are side-splitting funny. "I Like Guys" highlights accepting his homosexual feelings, and an undercurrent of seriousness lines the story. "Ashes" tells of his mother's cancer, and a sense of tragedy seems to sober his usually razor-sharp satirical style.

The last (and title) story, "Naked", tells of his experience with a nudist colony. It's written in more a journal form (the others are written in a 'flashback' form) and by the end, you feel strange in your own clothing.

I definitely plan on recommending this book to my friends. I don't see how you could live your life without picking up a Sedaris book.


Very, very funny   March 21, 2000
S. A. Loibner II (Little Rock, Arkansas United States)
73 out of 78 found this review helpful

NAKED is--by far--the funniest book I have ever read. Several people suggested that I read it, and I ignored them for a long time: I had a lot of other books I wanted to get to first. I finally read it this weekend. The next thing I knew, I was ordering HOLIDAYS ON ICE and BARREL FEVER.

NAKED is a collection of true stories from David Sedaris's life. I only wish my life was half as funny.

"Chipped Beef," "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out" and "I Like Guys" are highlights of this collection, but the funniest story is "A Plague of Tics." In it, Sedaris discusses his strange behaviors as a child: licking lightswitches, hitting himself with his shoe. I laughed so hard reading this story that my roommate told me I was going to have to shut up.

Give NAKED a shot. If you like it, pick up BARREL FEVER. It isn't as funny, but it's close.


The Funniest Book I Ever Read   March 31, 2001
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I was about to go on a long plane trip. A good friend gave me Naked, saying "I hear this guy on NPR and for some reason I think of you." I never did read the book on the plane ride (lucky for my fellow frequent flyers since my laughter would have annoyed them no end). When I finally got around to reading it I laughed from start to finish.

In one chapter (I can't use the book for a reference since it is in circulation to all my good friends who have a demented sense of humor) he talks about his mother's discovery that she has terminal cancer. The idea that this can be side-splittingly funny without being mean spirited is amazing and indicitive of how brilliant Sedaris is.

If life is getting you down and you need someone to make you laugh precisely because life can suck sometimes, find a place where you won't annoy people with your laughter and read Naked.


Guaranteed to embarrass you if you read this book in public   January 24, 2001
Jeffrey Jotz (Rahway, NJ USA)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

I bought this book for my wife for Christmas and then had to sit there in jealousy as she chuckled, giggled, snorted and roared her way through this book. When she finished the book and let me read it, I now knew what she was laughing about.

Sedaris' antics with his dysfunctional, Greek-American family are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. I made the mistake of reading this book on the train, and I could not contain my laughter at points. The chapters on "Ya-Ya," hitchhiking back home from college with his parapeligic "wife," speaking Elizabethan English at the family dinner table, riding a Greyhound bus on the floor, etc., will have you, literally, rolling on the floor. I enjoyed Sedaris' catchy one-liners and deadpan humor in describing people he encounters even more than his wacky antics.

What also makes this book attractive is that Sedaris is not just poking fun at people or deliberately being funny for humor's sake. In the middle of a chapter, he would say something profound or make you realize that the guy is much deeper than a humor writer. That provided a welcome relief to the hours of side-splitting laughter that you'll be enduring when picking up this book. Highly recommended!


Genious   May 7, 2006
Wheelchair hero (Seattle,WA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful


I am the type of person who is very picky when it comes to books. I can't get into a book or even finish it unless it's very good..But this is the book that got me hooked on David Sedris. I've read all of Sedaris's books, this one is by far the funniest. I remember this book being the first one I have ever read in one sitting, and actually laughed out loud to! The man is just hilarious. Plain and simple..His stories are so different, so bizzare, and just delivered with great wit. This is the kind of humor I wish was more apparent in TV and movies, not that horrible teen movie "look at my gentials" kind of garbage. Get this book!