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Calypso
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
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Fraud
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The wry and the heartfelt join in David Rakoff's prose to resurrect that most neglected of literary virtues: wit. As he finds himself in all the far-flung hinterlands of our culture, this fish out of water winds up satirizing himself more than his subject matter, to hilarious effect.
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Beautiful writing wonderfully performed
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Tony's life story no cunning plan!
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Dismissed by a bored author at a book signing, a betrayed young man named David Sedaris made a vow. Someday, when it was his turn at the table, he’d connect with his readers. The experience has been even more revealing than he’d hoped.In this hilarious and perceptive essay, the celebrated humorist reflects on the unusual patterns of forced socialization between author and audience, and the obligations and sometimes surprising returns of not-so-chance encounters with strangers: jokes, secrets, insights, and even charity.
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Brilliant Brilliance
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Hiroshima
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On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).
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Nina Simone's Gum
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On Thursday, 1st July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag. The gum remained with him for 20 years—a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year.
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amazing
- By A on 19-12-2023
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Fraud
- By: David Rakoff
- Narrated by: David Rakoff
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
The wry and the heartfelt join in David Rakoff's prose to resurrect that most neglected of literary virtues: wit. As he finds himself in all the far-flung hinterlands of our culture, this fish out of water winds up satirizing himself more than his subject matter, to hilarious effect.
-
-
Beautiful writing wonderfully performed
- By Anonymous User on 28-12-2021
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No Cunning Plan
- By: Sir Tony Robinson
- Narrated by: Tony Robinson
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over 50 years. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-size pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder.
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Tony's life story no cunning plan!
- By Robin P Pereira on 03-04-2017
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Dishonesty Is the Second-Best Policy
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
David Mitchell’s 2014 best seller Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse must really have made people think - because everything’s got worse. We’ve gone from UKIP surge to Brexit shambles, from horsemeat in lasagne to Donald Trump in the White House, from Woolworths going under to all the other shops going under. It’s probably socially irresponsible even to try to cheer up.
-
-
A refreshing tonic to the madness
- By Kai1 on 15-12-2019
-
Themes and Variations
- An Essay
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dismissed by a bored author at a book signing, a betrayed young man named David Sedaris made a vow. Someday, when it was his turn at the table, he’d connect with his readers. The experience has been even more revealing than he’d hoped.In this hilarious and perceptive essay, the celebrated humorist reflects on the unusual patterns of forced socialization between author and audience, and the obligations and sometimes surprising returns of not-so-chance encounters with strangers: jokes, secrets, insights, and even charity.
-
-
Brilliant Brilliance
- By Anonymous User on 01-01-2021
-
Hiroshima
- By: John Hersey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).
-
-
great perspective
- By Anonymous User on 15-03-2021
-
Nina Simone's Gum
- A Memoir of Things Lost and Found
- By: Warren Ellis
- Narrated by: David Noonan, Francis Upritchard, Warren Ellis, and others
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Thursday, 1st July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag. The gum remained with him for 20 years—a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year.
-
-
amazing
- By A on 19-12-2023
Publisher's Summary
A New York Times Notable Book of 2018
If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong.
When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And life at the Sea Section, as he names the vacation home, is exactly as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself.
With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality. Make no mistake: these stories are very, very funny - it's a book that can make you laugh 'til you snort, the way only family can. Sedaris's writing has never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.
This is beach reading for people who detest beaches, required reading for those who loathe small talk and love a good tumour joke. Calypso is simultaneously Sedaris's darkest and warmest book yet - and it just might be his very best.
Critic Reviews
"Unquestionably the king of comic writing...Calypso is both funnier and more heartbreaking than pretty much anything out there." (Hadley Freeman, Guardian)
“In Calypso, David Sedaris’s essays marry meditations on family, suicide, grief and mortality with the hazards of bodily functions and frequent travel for his massively popular public readings. Sedaris is as much standup comic as writer, making this a great audio and one for the car journey.” (Aminatta Forna)
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What listeners say about Calypso
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vikki
- 01-10-2018
What’s not to like ?
I must be one of those bias people. I really enjoy David’s writing and narrating. I don’t think anyone else could read his stories. As l was listing to this book I had to stop walking as I laughing to myself and thought I would pee my pants. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-10-2018
Solid Sedaris. Hilarious late middle age memoir.
Excellent as expected. I prefer Sedaris's memoirs on Audio because his narration adds so much more intimacy and performance to it.
Covering his late middle age issues Calypso isn't my favourite but is none the less very memorable and full of chuckles.
There are plenty of heavy topics in this serving. The suicide of his sister, his deteriorating father, his own failing health. Covered with the right mix of pathos and perspective they are still light enough for a laugh.
There are also many highlights on lighter topics such as an international survey of road rage slurs, unexpected bowel movements and David's determined mission to feed a snapping turtle a pound of his own flesh... For whatever reason. I laughed out loud numerous times at the gym while listening to these chapters.
You simply cannot go wrong with Sedaris. While not his most jovial or insightful, it is a new, more mature (sometimes), era of his writing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- HF
- 07-09-2018
Loved it, loved it, loved it
I've glanced at the bits and pieces of David Sedaris's writing before and enjoyed it well enough, but never got the absolute devotion of his fans. Well I do now.
To be frank, when I listened to the sample I wasn't sure I would want to listen to his delivery at length, but then I laughed and laughed again, and went ahead and got the audiobook. I absolutely loved it. So much so, I bought a copy of the book as a birthday present the next week. I eked it out towards the end so it wouldn't be done with, and now I'm about to get more of his audiobooks.
It has made me laugh aloud so many times, but there's also touching and revealing sections, which are brilliantly judged. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rob Steyn
- 13-08-2018
Fun "read"
I enjoyed David's prose and use of language. The honest and touching rendition of inside one's family.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chris Dawson
- 29-07-2018
Chris Queensland
Sedaris at his best, funny and touching and very thought provoking, a family we all can
Relate too
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 27-06-2018
I loved this so much
Brilliant, touching and hilarious. The authors narration was perfection. I can't wait to listen again.
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- sarah
- 18-06-2018
Loved it !
Absolutely loved this book. I could listen to Sedaris talk forever :) I heard a couple of the stories before but I didn’t mind, still had me laughing out loud
As a Book publicist - he would be my dream author to go work a tour with.
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1 person found this helpful
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- RCF
- 16-06-2018
Total joy
For fans, there really is nothing to say really except David wrote another collection of stories and he’s reading them himself.
For newcomers I’d say start with his book ‘Naked’ so you have some context for the family Sedaris.
How rare and wonderful to know, with absolute certainty, that you will love a book, and more importantly the voice that is reading it will be perfect. And it is.
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- Giulia
- 03-06-2018
David’s latest morsel is delicious!
I love David‘s life observations and how he makes the minutiae appear fascinating. His take on gay marriage (chapter 10) particularly resonated... nobody has distilled the issues so clearly, had me cheering in agreement and laughing all the way!
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- Michael Sigley
- 03-07-2023
Typically entertaining
Really enjoyed this work. I've never been disappointed by a David Sedaris book. Totally relatable and reliable. Loved it.
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