crazy about david sedaris. give me your recs!

[kangamitroo]

i need more humor in my life. i adore david sedaris, and wouldn't exactly want imitators...
but tell me which writers make you laugh out loud, holding your belly and rolling on the floor, tears running down your cheeks, beverages squirting out your nose.

all that good stuff.

(and yes, i already have found his fellow this-american-life reader, sarah vowell)

thanks!

[St. Margaret]

Laurie Notaro's We Thought You Would Be Prettier is great. She has a few books out.

[UptownZoo]

Dave Barry - Not quite as dry as Sedaris, but very funny.

Bill Bryson is not as funny in general, but he writes really fun and interesting essays.

[Freud]

Anything by Augusten Burroughs or Dave Eggers, although I think both can be a bit darker than David Sedaris.

I'm reading Sedaris' newest book right now...its a great addition to his other writings.

[lauradbg]

Originally Posted by UptownZoo

Dave Barry - Not quite as dry as Sedaris, but very funny.

Bill Bryson is not as funny in general, but he writes really fun and interesting essays.

I was going to say him too. His travel books are good fun. They can be a little redundant, but I love his discomfort and irritation and inability to communicate when he's in certain places around the world. That is hilarious.

He really appreciates what he's seeing, but is pissed off at bureaucracies and arbitrary rules around the world. He points out cultural idiosyncrasies in different countries or cities. It's funny.

[NiteNicole]

Jennifer Lancaster has several books - Bitter is the New Black is the first and funniest. I loved it. It can be a tad trying-too-hard sometimes, but often she's just hilarious.

[fremontmama]

Anne Lamott, Ayun Halliday, Ariel Gore, and I just finished The Passion of Hausfrau by Nicole Chaison, which was totally hilarious.

[delicious]

ayun halliday is very funny. david rakoff and sarah vowell are excellent as well. and i will 2nd dave eggars, but he can get kind of tiring. i do <3 him, though.

no one is as good as david sedaris, though. he is really nice in person, too!

[natty529]

i second the Augusten Burroughs rec

[MysteryMama]

Definitely read Augusten Burroughs. And I LOVE Chelsea Handler's "Are You There Vodka? It's me, Chelsea" and her "My horizontal Life" HILARIOUS!!

[babybun]

Shalom Ausslander - the darker, straighter, more Jewish version of David Sedaris. Wonderful, talented, funny writer.

[aprons_and_acorns]

Originally Posted by delicious

no one is as good as david sedaris, though. he is really nice in person, too!

That last part is nice to know! I would love to hear how you met him.

[heatherweh]

Christopher Moore is HILARIOUS imho. I recommend his newest, Fool, but then some of his oldest are awesome as well: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Bloodsucking Fiends.

Carl Hiassen is so funny too, before he started doing all this mediocre YA fiction. Any of his older stuff is really funny.

Janet Evanovich is pee your pants funny as well, I literally fell off my chair laughing when reading Seven Up. Her Stephanie Plum series is about it though, she has some sort of horrific romance novels as well- just stick with the Plum books.

[kangamitroo]

thanks for these great recommendations.

did ayun haliday do some mamazine stuff?...i have seen her name but can't place it...

when i read ariel gore (the mother trip), i was laughing and apparently talking back to the book. dp thought i was on the phone.

Originally Posted by heatherweh

Christopher Moore is HILARIOUS imho. I recommend his newest, Fool, but then some of his oldest are awesome as well: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Bloodsucking Fiends.

ok, "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" has to be one of the more wacky and intense titles i have ever seen! i will have to find that description on amazon.

[lorijds]

Originally Posted by St. Margaret

Laurie Notaro's We Thought You Would Be Prettier is great. She has a few books out.

I second Laurie Notaro. My personal favorite are some of the essays in The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germaphobia, and Laser Hair Removal. With a title like that, what's not to love?

[lorijds]

Okay, so I am a total geek. I saw this thread when it was first posted and didn't really have much to add. Then I was at the library and saw the following poster:

If you like David Sedaris, you might enjoy these other authors as well:

Paul Feig
Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence
Superstud, or, How I became a 24 year old Virgin

Hollis Gillespie:
Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tale from a Bad Neighborhood
Confessions of a Recovering Slut and Other Love Stories

Davie Rakoff
Fraud: Essays
Don't Get too Comfortable

Haven Kimmel
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana
She Got Up Off the Couch & Other Heroic Acts from Moorelnad, Ind.

Laurie Notaro
Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club
I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies)

Steve Almond
Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America
Not That You Asked: Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions

Sarah Vowell
Assassination Vacation
Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World

Hope this helps!

[Caneel]

Laurie Notaro
Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club

Pee your pants funny, especially when you can (as I did) recognize yourself in her stories.

Augusten Burroughs Year of Magical Thinking. A lot of his stuff makes me sad but some of these essays in this book made me howl, especially the one about the cleaning lady.

I Was Told There Would Be Cake - can't remember the author