Theft by Finding - BookWyrm

Matthew Royal reviewed Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

Review of 'Theft by Finding' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

All of David Sedaris's self-read audiobooks worm themselves into your brain, replacing any inner monologue they find with his voice. However, "Theft by Finding" is the most "Being John Malkovich" of them all, as we're catapulted into fragments of his life over nearly three decades. Initially I could only stand it in pieces, waiting in line at the airport for sandwiches, but I finally decided to finish it in one, big gulp. It's a window into his writing process, but also "It's my head, Sedaris. It's my head!"

urn reviewed Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

Review of 'Theft by Finding' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Pepys is next :-P

But actually: I love this. It's wonderfully uneven. Boring, funny, sad, scatological, and gay. But not all at once.

Maika reviewed Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

Review of 'Theft by Finding' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

As far as I’m concerned, the release of any new book by David Sedaris is cause for celebration. I don’t care if it’s another collection memoirs, fiction, or just one long account of him catching flies to feed to his house spiders in Normandy (yes, please). I don’t need to know anything about it ahead of time, my pre-order is placed at the first mention. In this case it’s 25 years of Sedaris’ diary entries. If you’ve read his books of autobiographical essays, this tome provides fascinating glimpses of periods and events you’ve read about before, from various forms of drug abuse, odd jobs, and faithful nightly visits to IHOP to interactions with his parents and siblings, life in France with his partner, sobriety, and life on seemingly endless book tours. Only this time it’s more personal, because – at least originally – these diary entries were simply written for …

As far as I’m concerned, the release of any new book by David Sedaris is cause for celebration. I don’t care if it’s another collection memoirs, fiction, or just one long account of him catching flies to feed to his house spiders in Normandy (yes, please). I don’t need to know anything about it ahead of time, my pre-order is placed at the first mention. In this case it’s 25 years of Sedaris’ diary entries. If you’ve read his books of autobiographical essays, this tome provides fascinating glimpses of periods and events you’ve read about before, from various forms of drug abuse, odd jobs, and faithful nightly visits to IHOP to interactions with his parents and siblings, life in France with his partner, sobriety, and life on seemingly endless book tours. Only this time it’s more personal, because – at least originally – these diary entries were simply written for Sedaris himself. It’s a pretty amazing thing to read what a person chose to record for and about themselves from age 21 to 46. I also thoroughly enjoyed all the mentions of David’s sister, Amy Sedaris. It’s clear she’s always been the glorious and talented weirdo she is today. I hope Sedaris intends to publish more of his diaries someday. I’ll be ready.

Jack 💜 reviewed Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

Review of 'Theft by Finding' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Not to be read in one sitting, David’s diary comes off as raw and brutal. There’s a lot to parse

pithypants reviewed Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

Review of 'Theft by Finding' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

If you're looking for Sedaris's tight, well-constructed essays, you'll leave disappointed. But if you're a nosy voyeur who wants a glimpse behind the curtain, this is a fun read. In his opening remarks, he says that he doesn't picture this as a book that's to be read from cover to cover - but because I'm a rebel, that's what I did. And I was glad I did, because while entire clumps of entries are more mundane than amusing, when viewed chronologically, they offer up a compelling portrait of a man I'd consider among the top of this generation's humorists. I've long said that Sedaris would be one of my guests at a dinner party of interesting strangers, and this book did nothing to dissuade me from that notion. He's as lovely as he is twisted, and I'll continue to attend every reading he hosts in DC.