Grade: D-
Not recommended
David Sedaris is usually really really funny. Barrel Fever is not funny. Not even remotely close to funny. The only amusing entries are included in the Holidays On Ice collection. This didn't even feel like the same David Sedaris who had me laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my chubby cheeks. Clearly this is his first collection, and an odd one too. The book is split in two parts, a short story section and an essay section. His short stories are O-D-D odd to put it mildly. While I'm 99% sure that David Sedaris is quite the strange bird himself, these stories were odd even for him.
Here's how I imagine a conversation going between David Sedaris and the powers that be at his publisher's office.
Publisher Big Wig: Barrel Fever was funny, but we know you can do better.
David Sedaris: Well the folks at NPR thought the book was riotously funny.
PBW: Yeah, well they also liked The Weird Sisters.
DS: Point taken.
PBW: Maybe for the next book you could skip the short stories. You come from a pretty nutty family, right? We think they would make great essays. You know cause they're nuts and all.
DS: I think you might be on to something...
Yes I know the above imagined conversation is completely illogical seeing as the publication date of Barrel Fever is 1994 and The Weird Sisters is 2011. It was the only logical explanation of the difference between Barrel Fever and the rest of his collections.
If you have not yet read any David Sedaris, do not start with this. You will be hugely disappointed and likely would not read anything else he has written. Pick any other collection and start there. If you absolutely must read Barrel Fever, get it from the library. Thankfully I read the ebook and didn't spend any of my own money on this garbage.
