Calypso by David Sedaris
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In his book, Calypso, Sedaris discusses middle age, mortality, suicide, family, and politics in a way that is extremely hilarious and darkly honest. While you might not agree with every word out of his mouth, you cannot disagree with everything. Below are the essays that I loved the most and why.
Now We Are Five
In this essay, David discusses his sister, Tiffany, suicide. Growing up, there were six children, but now they are five. The thing is, you can't say that, it makes people uncomfortable; now you simply say you have four siblings. He discusses with his siblings different things they remember of Tiffany, as well as their relationships with her over the years. This essay is full of morbid truth and dark humor; it's also not for the light of heart-given the main topic. Nonetheless, having known people have attempted or been successful at suicide, it resonated deeply with me.
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The Perfect Fit is another family essay that discusses a trip to Tokyo with his sister and spouses and their weird adventures into the unique clothing stores and all of the delicious food they eat, but how they all differ in how they vacation. But the point that sticks out to me is in the beginning: "I'm not sure how it is in small families, but in large ones relationships tend to shift over time. You might be best friends with one brother or sister, then two years later it might be someone else. Then it's likely to change again, and again after that. It doesn't mean that you've fallen out with the person you used to be closest to but that you've merged into someone else's lane, or had him or her merge into yours. Trios form, then morph into quartets before splitting into teams of two." (p. 67) I consider my family on the smaller side and I would still agree with this statement.
Your English Is So Good
This essay caught my attention because it is something I deal with regularly: People in the travel occupation asking how my drive/flight/means of travel was and words/statements that should be banned. I have my own list of banned items and sarcastic replies that I only dream of using when asked how my stay was.
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I enjoyed this essay for two reasons. One, it confirmed my belief in why gay people should be allowed to marry-for tax reasons. (I'm half joking, but that is why David and Hugh did it, aside from actually loving each other). Two, the idea of my boyfriend proposing with the statement "Listen...we really need to do this. Otherwise when one of us dies, the other will be clobbered with taxes" is probably the most romantically practical way to propose to me. (p. 125)
Untamed
In Untamed, I had a laugh so hard I need to pause moment. Untamed discusses how David and Hugh differ on pet raising. David likes to let the pets eat and frequently give them snacks and likes when they are a bit chunky. Hugh is more practical, or what David says, mean. This is not a discussion I have had with my boyfriend, however, I have had it with my mother who thinks it is mean that at dinner, my cats only get a half of a can of food, despite the fact that they both are about 7 pounds past being husky. The part that made me laugh and briefly agree with my mother was this: "Then there are all the behavioral arguments that joint pet ownership leads to: 'Don't let her jump up on the table/countertop/stereo,' etc. As if you can stop a cat from going where she likes. That's why you want them fifteen pounds overweight. It keeps them lower to the ground." (p. 148)
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David lost some brownie points here when he said he can't stand when people talk about ghosts. He'd hate me. But I'm sure he really cares about that.
A Number of Reasons I've Been Depressed Lately
This essay has basically been a play by play of my life since September 2015, especially reason six.
I'm Still Standing
This entire essay had me in stitches. I can't even begin to pick the line or lines that resonate with me the most. But anyone who has suffered from a stomach bug will understand the struggle of this essay.
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This essay is for anyone looking for new ways to curse the people who cut you off in traffic. After asking it once in Copenhagen, he asked it for a while afterwards. The evolve into an insult for any occasion. Some of my favorite responses were to call someone a cholera sufferer (p. 240); a dirty typhus Mongoloid (p. 241); I shit in your mother's mouth (p. 242); I dragged my balls across your mother's memorial cake, from cherry to cherry, and to each of the candles (p. 243); and my personal favorite, shove your hand up my ass and jerk off my shit (p. 243).
Calypso is not for the faint of heart; it is for people who are ready to hear the dark tragedies of the world and laugh a little about them. I am really glad this book was selected for my book club, otherwise I do not believe I would have picked it up. Now I will probably look into other works by David Sedaris, and this is what I love about book clubs!
Rating: 8/10
Author: David Sedaris
Genres: Essays, Humor, Memoir, Non-Fiction
Dates Read: September 22-24, 2019
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