David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

David Sedaris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Sedaris's sold out performance at Carnegie Hall from November 2002 is now available on CD. He is also the author of bestsellers "Naked" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day." 1 CD.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling humorist Sedaris likes to test out new material on twice-a-year reading tours to get the rhythm and phrasing perfected before he puts them down on the page. This live recording of his October 22, 2002, reading at Manhattan's Carnegie Hall finds Sedaris performing seven hilarious new pieces and taking a few questions from his audience. As uproarious as Sedaris is on the page, he's even funnier reading his wickedly jaundiced reflections. With brilliant deadpan timing, Sedaris is a charm, whether being coaxed into purchasing his clothes in the women's department by his sister Amy ("I'm the guy in a crowded steak house removing a jacket with the label reading 'Sassy Sport'") or untangling the Dutch legend of St. Nicholas and his "six to eight black men" slaves/assistants or trying to explain to guests--in French--that his boss has a rubber hand. Sedaris reaches his pinnacle of hilarity describing his purchase of the "Stadium Pal," an exterior catheter marketed to "sports fans, truck drivers and anyone else who's tired of searching for a bathroom." He praises the "freedom leg bag" that conveniently attaches to the user's calf: "The bag can be emptied and reused up to 12 times, making it both disgusting and cost-effective."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile

Fans get a preview of Sedaris's next essay collection in this live performance. As he draws from a mix of recent ESQUIRE submissions and new book material, this recording has an even lighter feel than his previous one. Family, fashion, and fake arms aren't safe from his eccentric, hilarious observations. "Six to Eight Black Men," an essay on Holland's Christmas customs, will send listeners into hysterics. Expect Sedaris's signature style--nasal, easy to listen to, and entertaining, especially when he does his deadpan delivery of astonishingly funny lines. This is a real treat for old fans, and an inexpensive introduction for new ones. J.M.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Time Warner Audio Books (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586215647
• ISBN-13: 978-1586215644
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Books on CD > Humor

More About the Author

With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America 's pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.David Sedaris is the author of the bestsellers Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, each of which became immediate bestsellers. There are a total of seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages. He is the editor of an anthology of stories, , Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. His essays appear regularly in Esquire and The New Yorker. Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name "The Talent Family" and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center , and The Drama Department in New York City . These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler's Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatist's Play Service. His recent collection of essays, titled When You Are Engulfed in Flames, was published in June 2008.David Sedaris's original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ. In 2001, David Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was named by Time magazine as "Humorist of the Year" in 2001. David Sedaris was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album ("Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim") and Best Comedy Album ("David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall"). In 2008 the audio version of When You Are Engulfed in Flames was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Spoken Word category.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something to Tide You Over Until "Untitled Collection", October 23, 2003

By 

Brian Sawyer (Westford, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

As you would expect from David Sedaris, this disc is completely hilarious and should help tide you over until his forthcoming "Untitled Collection" is released in June. I imagine that many of the essays he reads on this disc (most were originally published by Esquire) will find their way into that book.

As he proved with Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris is at his best when he's exposing cultural differences, as illustrated through language and tradition (especially religious customs, with all of the associated secular trimmings). From the questions he chooses to ask upon arriving in a new country (his first is always "what do your roosters say?") to his confusion with the languages that humans speak (the French use the same word for chef and boss), his unique perspective shines a different light on some very funny, if not always particularly significant, truths.

If you were moved to tears by his attempt, in French, to describe the basic tenets of Easter, you'll certainly feel the same about his description of the practice of Christmas in the Netherlands. Evidently, though the Dutch think the idea of Santa employing elves is freakish and disgusting, they see nothing wrong with a Santa who is assisted on his yearly journey by "six to eight black men" (according to tradition, they were once slaves, but now they're just Santa's close friends).

My only criticism is that two of the tracks are rereadings of excerpts from The David Sedaris Box Set (they're bonus tracks, originally taken from the Esquire article "Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie?," but they're on the Barrel Fever disc of the box set). Still, at least they're quite funny, so you don't mind hearing them again. You just might wish that the CD were longer and included only new material.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh-out-loudable!, November 18, 2003

By 

Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

They aren't kidding when they say pull over while listening to this disc in your car!

David live is even more fun than David in print - he has a delivery style that is perfectly suited to his material, and has a way with a stutter, a pause and an emphasis that highlights his humorous material. This guy is a natural!

Primarily a look at family interactions (the bit with his sister Amy, which opens this reading, works on many levels - the interplay of siblings, the breaches of privacy, and that all too volatile mix of love and bickering), David knows how to play his subjects to the hilt, without forgetting that these are people worth caring about. Another tale involving sister Amy's pet parrot (who is a verbal copy of its owner) is both absurb and heart-warming, especially when the parrot goes on the attack.

The funniest tale (involving a device for bladder weary truckers) is gutter humor at its best. Raunchy to the extreme, this piece might be unlistenable if someone besides David delivered it. Instead, he fills the tale with a sense of awe and wonder, and his delight in the device is every infomercial watcher's sense of satisfaction when learning they haven't been ripped off this time.

Truly hysterical work from one of America's funniest writers.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks for my new ABS OF STEEL!, May 30, 2004

By 

Lighthouse Ann (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

Forget workout videos. My abdominal muscles took a few days to recover from laughing so hard, but I am noticing a more toned look in my belly. That's because I listened to this CD over and over again. I didn't know I could laugh in great, gulping guffaws like that. I hope my neighbors didn't hear me, but I'm fairly certain that's why they have been giving me funny looks lately. David Sedaris is just that funny. Reading his stories will make you laugh out loud, but actually listening to him read his stories demands a soft place to roll around on the floor and at least 1 half hour in which you might be able to quiet your breath back to a normal rhythm. If you listen with a friend (I listnened with my boyfriend), expect to dissolve into giggles many weeks later when you catch that friend's eye over something that reminds you of a story. This is a 10-STAR cd.