Books › Barrel Fever
Barrel Fever
First published 2002 · 320 pages
A delightfully cynical romp through the bizarre, petty, and absurd corners of everyday human behavior.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like sitting in the back of a room with your funniest, most cynical friend, ruthlessly mocking everyone who walks by. The pace is brisk and punchy, driven by a deadpan narration that treats the utterly bizarre as completely mundane. It is a darkly comedic and slightly unhinged atmosphere, where the absurdities of family dysfunction, retail hell, and social hypocrisy are laid bare with surgical precision. The prose is sharp and unsentimental, designed to deliver maximum comedic impact without ever asking for your pity. It will delight readers who crave irreverent, observational humor and who find comfort in the shared realization that everyone is, at their core, deeply ridiculous.
- Mood
- darkly comedic
- chaotic
- irreverent
- slightly unhinged
- Tone
- wry
- cynical
- satirical
- deadpan
- absurdist
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- family dysfunction · social hypocrisy · the absurdity of modern life · self-delusion · the indignities of work
- The writing
- Sharp, deadpan, and meticulously crafted to deliver punchlines with maximum efficiency and zero sentimentality.
- The arc
- Starts with sharp, shocking laughs at bizarre caricatures and settles into a comfortable, cynical camaraderie with the author.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love dark, observational humor and appreciate a narrator who skewers polite society with a smirk.
Content notes
- dark humor
- substance abuse
- satirized bigotry
- suicide themes
About the book
In David Sedaris’ world, no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner, Fran Lebowitz, and the National Enquirer, Sedaris’ collection of 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 teenage suicide tries to incite a lynch mob at her funeral; a bitter Santa abuses the elves.
David Sedaris made his debut on NPR’s Morning Edition with “SantaLand Diaries”, recounting his strange-but-true experiences as an elf at Macy’s, and soon became one of the show’s most popular commentators. With a perfect eye and a voice infused with as much empathy as wit, Sedaris writes stories and essays that target the soulful ridiculousness of our behavior. Barrel Fever is like a blind date with modern life, and anything can happen.
Parade -- Music for lovers -- The last you'll hear from me -- My manuscript -- Firestone -- We get along -- Glen's homophobia newsletter vol. 3, no. 2 -- Don's story -- Season's greeting to our friends and family!!! -- Jamboree -- After Malison -- Barrel fever -- Diary of a smoker -- Giantess -- The curly kind -- SantaLand diaries.
Description from Open Library.
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