Thanks to everyone who attended the Book Lovers’ Group today to discuss Calypso by David Sedaris! The afternoon session was just Ayako and myself, and the evening session had four in attendance (Sona, Lin, Judith, and myself).
For many of us, this was the first time that we had read a David Sedaris book so there was a nice variety of opinions. Calypso was called hilarious, dark, refreshing, weird, and overall it was a unique experience. Much of the discussion switched between the funny scenes and observations that Sedaris included, such as his odd determination to feed a lipoma (“a fatty harmless tumor”) to a turtle, and the complex reflections on his dysfunctional family and, particularly, his sister Tiffany. One questions was, why do dysfunctional families enjoy getting together so often if they are just going to hurt each other. In response to that question, one voiced opinion was that this is a very ‘American’ thing. Do you think this is true?
Those who have read much of Sedaris felt that he had grown up more, and that this book exhibits a lot more honesty than his others. Another line I wrote down is that, in multiple places throughout the book, it felt like Sedaris was struggling with how to be sympathetic when you just can’t do it anymore— I think many of us can relate to that kind of exhaustion.
We agreed that there must have been something cathartic about writing this book, and we wondered how he feels now that it is out in the world.
Our next meeting will be on April 18th and it will be an open discussion. Feel free to bring in a book or five to share and critique.
On May 16, we have decided to read Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. We are going to go with this as our nonfiction read for the year, and discussing the merits of these 21 lessons should be great material for discussion. Has anyone read it yet?
Good Evening Bibliophiles,
Thanks to everyone who attended the Book Lovers’ Group today to discuss Calypso by David Sedaris! The afternoon session was just Ayako and myself, and the evening session had four in attendance (Sona, Lin, Judith, and myself).
For many of us, this was the first time that we had read a David Sedaris book so there was a nice variety of opinions. Calypso was called hilarious, dark, refreshing, weird, and overall it was a unique experience. Much of the discussion switched between the funny scenes and observations that Sedaris included, such as his odd determination to feed a lipoma (“a fatty harmless tumor”) to a turtle, and the complex reflections on his dysfunctional family and, particularly, his sister Tiffany. One questions was, why do dysfunctional families enjoy getting together so often if they are just going to hurt each other. In response to that question, one voiced opinion was that this is a very ‘American’ thing. Do you think this is true?
Those who have read much of Sedaris felt that he had grown up more, and that this book exhibits a lot more honesty than his others. Another line I wrote down is that, in multiple places throughout the book, it felt like Sedaris was struggling with how to be sympathetic when you just can’t do it anymore— I think many of us can relate to that kind of exhaustion.
We agreed that there must have been something cathartic about writing this book, and we wondered how he feels now that it is out in the world.
Our next meeting will be on April 18th and it will be an open discussion. Feel free to bring in a book or five to share and critique.
On May 16, we have decided to read Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. We are going to go with this as our nonfiction read for the year, and discussing the merits of these 21 lessons should be great material for discussion. Has anyone read it yet?
Cheers,
-Drew