Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays by David Sedaris was a recent read. I was accustomed to reading his non-fiction stories and for some reason I though this book would be more of the same. So during the first story, I was very confused. I finally figured out this was fiction. Each chapter was a short story. I had to do a mind re-set to be able to read them for what they were.
Then half way through, the tone changed and his essays began. Ah, this was the non-fiction I was looking for. The most famous essay is the “Santaland Diaries” where he describes his time being a Macy’s elf. I had heard this a couple times on NPR and reading it gave a different feel to the story. I could see the details in a new light by reading rather than hearing the story.
One can not be homo-phobic to read Mr. Sedaris’ work. He is raw and uncompromising in is descriptions. He also makes you laugh out loud.
