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A Carnival of Snackery

Diaries: Volume Two

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A Carnival of Snackery

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris, Tracey Ullman
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There's no right way to keep a diary, but if there's an entertaining way, David Sedaris seems to have mastered it.

If it's navel-gazing you're after, you've come to the wrong place; ditto treacly self-examination. Rather, his observations turn outward: a fight between two men on a bus, a fight between two men on the street; collecting Romanian insults, or being taken round a Japanese parasite museum. There's a dirty joke shared at a book signing, then a dirtier one told at a dinner party-lots of jokes here. Plenty of laughs.

These diaries remind you that you once really hated George W. Bush, and that not too long ago, Donald Trump was a harmless laughingstock, at least on French TV. Time marches on, and Sedaris, at his desk or on planes, in fine hotel dining rooms and Serbian motels, records it. The entries here reflect an ever-changing background-new administrations, new restrictions on speech and conduct. What you can say at the start of the book, you can't by the end.

Sedaris has been compared to Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams, Lewis Carroll and a 'sexy Alan Bennett'. A Carnival of Snackery illustrates that he is very much his own, singular self.©2021 David Sedaris Comedy Funny Witty
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Critic reviews

Grumpy, bitchy, sympathetic, sad and welcoming all at once
A rich trove for hardcore Sedaris fans
The humorist's eye for the peculiar is as sharp as ever
Sedaris' evolution will be fascinating to longtime fans; they'll love these insights into his life.
The second volume of the American humorist's diaries is full of his trademark wit
Sedaris is a singularly talented humorist who lands acerbic zingers with the calculating precision of a kamikaze pilot... Throughout the colorful, caustic yarns that fill his best-selling essay and story collections, he's maintained league-of-his-own status by staying light on his feet: Just when you're expecting a wry jab, he clocks you with a poignant gut punch.
Like Sedaris's exquisitely crafted personal essays, his diary entries explore odd hairstyles, blandly aggressive post office interactions, airport bureaucracy and the non sequiturs of small talk: micro-topics he elevates to their own pedestals of meaning and humor.
Uproarious... a must for Sedaris fans.
All stars
Most relevant
Great book although some of it was from books I have already purchased, I didn't realise that. Didn't enjoy the sections read by Tracey though, I prefer it when David does it himself.

Another gem

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This second volume of David Sedaris’s diaries (2003-) follows on from “Theft by Finding” (1977-2002). His life is much more settled. He lives in France, England, and New York; and travels widely across the US, Europe, and east Asia. His career as a writer and performer is routine, with regular book tours. Much of his material comes from his travels (particularly his drivers) and from his interactions with people who stand in line to get their books signed. This audiobook version is narrated both by David Sedaris and Tracey Ullman. Initially I found the switching between two voices a bit uneven and distracting, but I eventually got used to it and appreciated that Tracey Ullman could do a more varied range of non-US English accents. A very enjoyable and funny listen, which made me laugh out loud numerous times. The 17+ hours whizzed by.

A very enjoyable and funny listen

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I feel bad complaining about this, and I’d have bought it anyway, but adding Tracey Ullman detracts from the recording. The whole point, for me, in David Sedaris audiobooks I’d to hear him talk. It’s frustrating to suddenly switch to Tracey Ullman and then back to him. She’s very talented and all that, but she’s not very convincing as David Sedaris.

Great book, but Tracey Ullman reads about 30% of this

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Prefer David's voice -
(No disrespect to wonderful Tracy Ullman) but David's excellent as narrator.

Slightly off

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Let's face it, 50% of why you get a David Sedaris audio book is the audio. Had I read any reviews and not been ploughing through his entire catalogue, I might have listened to the sample and made a better choice.

The person co-delivering this book has a voice that will grate your ears. Not because they're British, this isn't a representation of the average accent here either. No, it's the massive over- annunciation, the terrible and pretty racist accents and the delivery that suggests she thinks she is inside the head of someone she is poorly imitating.

And don't be claiming this was a choice in order to represent those in the stories more accurately. It's laziness, or at best, trying to give someone an opportunity. Sadly it ruins the whole book.

Would've skipped this had I realised half of it would make my skin crawl

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