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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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About this listen

 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

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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I have been waiting for this book for years. I am a huge fan, own most of his actual books and have seen him live, but what I love best are listening to his audiobooks. I own all of them and the BBC specials and have listened to many of them several times. They are my go to whenever I need to decompress or want to feel like I'm just chatting with an old friend while I clean the house or do some gardening. In order to bring that feeling, though, I need David Sedaris to do the readings.

It reminds me of when his dad said he was more of a reader than a writer (or something like that). In a way he was right, because the thing I most love is listening to David read his stories. When he reads them his unique cadence and even which word he emphasises in a sentance makes the stories come alive in a way that they don't when one reads the words on a page.

Tracey Ullman is great at accents and voices, but the decision to have anyone other than David read his stories was a horrible one. She doesn't capture his essence at all, and it's jarring to listen to, especially as it constantly switches back and forth between her and David. There is no flow.

I am about an hour in, and as much as I love David and his stories, I am not sure how much more I can take. For an avid listener and huge fan it is just such a disappointment. I do hope David re-record the parts Tracey did.

Ruined by narration

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I adore David Sedaris and never tire of listening to him. It’s a pity that he has chosen to have parts of his diaries read by Tracy Ullman. She’s a great actor and does a good enough job but no English person would say ‘twenty eight hundred’ and it is his voice that gives life to the diaries so the sections not read by him feel dull and wrong. Apart from that, thank you David.

Wonderful David!

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