Customer Reviews

Naked

5 star:		(259)
4 star:		(114)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

This book is classified as a memoir, and it's the funniest one I've read to date. Growing up Greek in North Carolina couldn't have been easy, but adding to the mix a crazy grandmother and a sibling with a penchant for using towels as toilet paper makes it that much harder (and funnier, to us).

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.

I would love to give this books five stars but I can't. There were three stories ("Chipped Beef," "Dinah, the Christmas Whore," and "The Drama Bug") that just didn't grab me, so I can't in good conscience give "Naked" a perfect rating. But it's a very strong 4....like a 4.7.

David Sedaris is one of the funniest authors I've ever read. His storytelling is superb and absolutely hilarious! This is a must-read for anyone out there who wants to temporarily escape their own dull lives and live vicariously through someone else. Underneath Sedaris's humorous adventures lies a sadness and fear, but that's what makes the stories so beautiful and genuine. Living with OCD, his mother's death, and realizing and accepting his homosexuality are amongst life's trying situations, to say the least. But Sedaris recounts those experiences with tenderness and dignity. I dreaded getting to the last page, and when I closed the book and put it back on the shelf it felt like I was losing a new friend. So...the solution to that was simple....I just pre-ordered his next book.

NOTE: If you loved "Naked" you'll love "Barrell Fever."

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 days when David Sedaris was on Morning Edition on NPR (National Public Radio), I was always late for work. His commentaries on being a single gay man working odd-jobs or cleaning apartments in New York City were some of the fall-down funniest things I've ever heard. In print, he is no less skillful at making me weep with laughter. Sedaris, in a raw, honest manner, describes the events of his childhood and young adulthood - as perceived by his incredibly humorous and rich imagination. This collection of essays cover everything from his mother's sharp, accurate portrayal of his tics, his job as a mental health institution assistant, his sister's wedding/his mother's death, to dealing with (while in high school) being gay, and many of the funny little stories that make up being a member of a family, any family. His wit is dry, sharp, poignant, and philosophical all the same time. And after listening to his voice on those cold mornings on the radio, I can "hear" him tell these tales. What a riot! I have read some of the other reviewers who gave this book a one and all I can say is that I pity the person who does not have a sense of humor because they miss out on the absolute joy of reading anything by Sedaris - or even better, listening to him. wow.

My boss gave me David Sedaris' book, "Naked," as a christmas present. In hindsight, I wonder what he was trying to tell me? Because David is one sick puppy! He's sick in a "good" way, though. The things Sedaris writes about are the kinds of things we all feel yet are often afraid to express less the "PC Gestapo" nab us, or people think we are truly demented. We can all live vicariously through Sedaris. The variety of the essays is outstanding. From joy, to self-loathing, to frivolous, to scary, to downright touching...each chapter has something different in store for the reader. The common thread is the self-effacing humor. I found myself alone, laughing out loud as grandmother Ya-Ya embarassed David and his siblings by crawling up the aisle during mass at his Greek Orthodox church. When David's father traumatizes him forever when it comes to using power tools in "Cyclops," I made my girlfriend read the chapter before continuing o! n. I wanted everyone around me to enjoy the book as much as I did. Sedaris is honest - brutally honest - about his dysfunctional family, but that's what makes the humor and the essays all the more appealing; we can all relate to them.

I don't like admitting this to myself (and frankly, I don't like admitting this to all of you out there), but I identified deeply with the main character in David Sedaris' book. And before you start screaming at your computer screen, I know that the main character is David himself, and it's not really a novel, but a collection of humour essays. I see him as a character, because I just can't believe that all of these fantastic stories are true. Is there some truth there? I'm sure. But embellishment seems obvious.

Anyway, back to my first thought. The David in the book is an intellectual snob, verbose and thoughtful, unsure of himself in most ways except his sexuality, but extremely sure that he knows what's best for the world and all its inhabitants. And he's damn funny, too. I can relate to most of that (I'll let you choose what I mean), so getting inside the head of such a witty and conflicted man was a real treat.

The first fifteen 'stories' in the book are well put together pieces on modern life as David sees it. The best of that lot includes "A Plague of Tics" in which David is attacked by a hyperactive form of O.C.D., and "C.O.G.", a wonderful riff on the whole Kerouacian lifestyle gone completely wrong. These first fifteen pieces, however, only form a prelude to some of the best writing I've read in years.

The second last piece, "Ashes", about David's mother's battle with cancer is what good writing should be: humourous and poignant, without ever being melodramatic. He wrings literature from real life, and makes the most of a heartbreaking situation. I can imagine what kind of catharsis it must have been for him.

The last piece (I want to call it the title track), "Naked", is about a trip to a nudist colony. I found myself busting a gut in the middle of a crowded subway car. It is sparkling comedy.

I first heard of Sedaris through his reading of "True Detective" on NPR (fudge-colored towels). I actually sat in my parked car at the grocery store to hear the whole thing. I didn't realise the reading was from an entire collection so I was delighted to stumble across Naked a few months later. I am eagerly awaiting the audio version from the library. Until then, I am half-way through the book. Last night my husband and I were reduced to tears and painful belly laughs as I read aloud from "Cyclops". This morning as we were on our way to his work, I read aloud from "I Like Guys". I am two-thirds of the way through the book and thus far I prefer the earlier entries involving Sedaris' childhood over the latter entries involving his travels and odd-jobs. Yet even those are engrossing and entertaining. Had I been Sedaris' editor I would have left out "Dix Hill" and "Incomplete Quad" neither of which has added anything to the collection. Rather, I found myself skimming quickly, impatient for the next entry. For those who think Sedaris' tales are implausable just think of the last time you rode public transportation. I recently had a Girl Friday sort of job that was fraught with just the sort of experiences that would make an unbelievable story had I the inclination or the talent to record them. The kid who I pawned the job off on took notes. For any of you have ever had the inward thought, "What are all these incompetents doing on the set of MY movie?" this book is for you.

Naked is my first book by David Sedaris and I was pleasantly surprised at how funny he is. His wit and humor provide many laugh out loud moments. In this series of essays, we learn about some of the author's trials from childhood through adulthood. He handles some pretty deep issues with a sense of humor, keeping them light and entertaining. In the end I found I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the latter half. His interaction with his mother and other members of the family, while somewhat dysfunctional, also manages to be touching and funny. As he moves into his teen years and becomes adventurous, we learn of his exploits in the art of hitchhiking and vacationing at a nudist colony. This book does have a lot of "bathroom" humor, so I wouldn't reccommend it for the easily offended reader. I have heard that Me Talk Pretty One Day is his finest yet, so will definitely read that one.

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!

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.