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The David Sedaris Box Set

The David Sedaris Box Set

List Price: $59.98
Your Price: $37.79
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Can't Kill the Rooster
Review: David Sedaris is a talented and funny author but is a horrid reader. I have read Me Talk Pretty One Day, and have seen a Production of the Santaland Diaries, and was thrilled when I found this collection, thinking nobody could read a piece better than its own author. Was I mistaken! Sedaris reads like he is ready for a nap. Lines that had been funny in print were read as if the author didn't get the joke.

Stic to the print copies, you will be much happier.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Can't Kill the Rooster
Review: Fourteen hours of David Sedaris! Are you kidding me? The DAVID SEDARIS BOX SET is almost too much of a good thing. As I have no doubt stated elsewhere, the best way to experience David Sedaris apart from going to a live reading is to hear his work on the radio or through his audio recordings. The DAVID SEDARIS BOX SET offers the most substantial collection of his audio recordings to date.

Those parts of his live performance which do not translate as well to written text include his Billie Holiday style of singing, the rendition of The Rooster (from "You Can't Kill the Rooster:" Amy does it here, though I've heard David do it to perfection live), and his attempts at speaking French (translated into broken English in "Me Talk Pretty This Day," "Jesus Shaves," and others). All are well represented in this comprehensive collection. This box set includes his work from "Santaland Diaries," "Barrel Fever," "Naked," "Me Talk Pretty One Day," as well as some bonus tracks.

At the current price, this collection is an incomparable value and I highly recommend it for anyone's audio collection.

Jeremy W. Forstadt

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You MUST buy this!
Review: I first heard of Sedaris through This American Life (An amazing Public Radio show) and immediately bought and read his books. David's writing is beyond belief, but hearing David read them (along with his sister Amy and one story read by Ann Magnuson) brings everything to a new level. While the tapes are abridged, the stories he reads, he reads in full. There are different versions than what is read on This American Life, and he sings some different songs than on TAL (in the style of Billie Holiday). Santaland Diaries are even longer than the TAL uncut version. I did prefer Julia Sweeney's rendetion of Merry Christmas(Seasons Greetings) to Our Friends and Family over Ann Magnuson's. This set is 14 hours long (10 Tapes). At the end of most of the books, there is an additional track of David singing or talking/laughing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Can't Kill the Rooster
Review: I have absolutely no idea why anyone would write a review saying that David Sedaris' reading takes away from his books. I have always had exactly the opposite experience. Though I have read all his books, I prefer to listen to them because the author's voice is so unique and his delivery so apt. As much as I love reading "You Can't Kill the Rooster", hearing the phrase out loud adds a whole other dimension of hilarity. Obviously, listening to a book is a subjective experience, but I felt compelled to weigh in after reading the previous review. Don't pay any attention to that person, or to me either except for the part where I tell you not to pay attention to the other review. Decide for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: LOVE HIM!!!
Review: I have actually had the fortune of hearing Sedaris read his work in person on two different occasions, even getting to sit and talk with him in a small group once. Listening to him read on CD is the next best thing. The inflection in his voice adds to any story he tells. While reading his books is always funny, listening to him is even better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better on CD!
Review: I'm a huge David Sedaris fan. I purchased this box set for my dad (...I love buying gifts that I can borrow...), and listened to a great deal of it over Christmas Break. This is a must own for anybody who is a fan of Sedaris - his work is even better when he reads it (I'm sure anybody who has heard him on NPR, or heard his act in person, can attest to this). I previously read "Me Talk Pretty One Day," and found myself laughing at lines in the audio version (and his Billie Holiday impression is spot-on) that I missed while reading. His tone is sardonic, self-depricating, and perfect for the brand of humor he presents.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sedaris is Great, But Definitely NOT UNABRIDGED
Review: Let me explain my rating. For Sedaris' work, 5 stars plus. My problem is with Amazon listing this as "Unabridged". It is not--it is significantly abridged. What is here is great, as you might expect, but some of my favorites are missing (such as "We Get Along" from Barrel Fever). Funny thing is, nowhere on the item itself does the word "unabridged" appear. Why then does Amazon list it as "unabridged"? Not good--makes me wonder about their other descriptions. Buy it if you love Sedaris, but don't expect everything to be on these recordings.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sedaris is Great, But Definitely NOT UNABRIDGED
Review: Let me explain my rating. For Sedaris' work, 5 stars plus. My problem is with Amazon listing this as "Unabridged". It is not--it is significantly abridged. What is here is great, as you might expect, but some of my favorites are missing (such as "We Get Along" from Barrel Fever). Funny thing is, nowhere on the item itself does the word "unabridged" appear. Why then does Amazon list it as "unabridged"? Not good--makes me wonder about their other descriptions. Buy it if you love Sedaris, but don't expect everything to be on these recordings.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do not miss this!
Review: Like many people, I was first introduced to David Sedaris upon hearing "The Santaland Diaries" on NPR, I never could have imagined his body of work would be just as brilliant as that initial effort. Sedaris' writing is incredibly insightful, bitingly funny, and touching without ever being sappy. Even fans of Mr. Sedaris' books owe it to themselves to pick up the CD version of these stories. His delivery of his own work is so personal that it creates a rare case of audio books being more impactful than the written word. A modern mix of Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker, the Sedaris box set is a collection you will find yourself listening to over and over again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mark Twain of our Time
Review: No one around today tells a better story or writes a better story that David Sedaris. A previous "reviewer" mentioned that David doesn't know how to read his own material, which is like saying that Don Rickles doesn't know how to deliver an insult. David Sedaris' voice and delivery IS part of his writing. I'm thinking that David's wacky sister Amy wrote the previous review just to get on David's nerves...


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