Themes and Variations
An Essay
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Narrated by:
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David Sedaris
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Written by:
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David Sedaris
About this listen
2020 SOVAS Award Winner for Audiobook Narration—Author Performance—Best Voiceover
An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
In this surprising essay, international bestselling humor writer David Sedaris shares the rewards of a book tour and his devoted readers’ worst-kept secrets.
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.
©2020 David Sedaris (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.You may also enjoy...
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Naked
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Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked, Sedaris turns the current mania for the memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview, a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable.
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Happy-Go-Lucky
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Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.
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disappointed
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David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall
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- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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If you are driving, pull over. If you are at work, close your door, unless you don't mind your colleagues seeing you doubled over, in tears, on your office floor. With this recording, taped before a delirious sold out audience at Carnegie Hall, you are there as David Sedaris performs new stories from his upcoming book. A parrot who mimics an ice maker, lovers quarreling over a rubber hand, and a Santa Claus who moonlights from his job as bishop of Turkey, the cast of characters is like no other.
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Love! Love! Love! 👌
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Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
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From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking his listeners on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, from the squat-style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveler's experiences.
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another great David sedaris book
- By Amazon Customer on 2022-01-19
Written by: David Sedaris
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The Best of Me
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 25 years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to listen without laughing.
-
-
Be Careful
- By Q on 2022-06-13
Written by: David Sedaris
-
Naked
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked, Sedaris turns the current mania for the memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview, a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable.
-
-
Heartfelt and hilarious
- By Jennifiend on 2023-01-25
Written by: David Sedaris
-
Barrel Fever and Other Stories
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris
- Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In David Sedaris' world, no one is safe and no cow is sacred. A manic cross between Mark Leyner, Fran Lebowitz, and the National Enquirer, Sedaris' collection of essays is a rollicking tour through the national Zeitgeist: a do-it-yourself suburban dad saves money by performing home surgery; a man who is loved too much flees the heavyweight champion of the world; a teenage suicide tries to incite a lynch mob at her funeral; a bitter Santa abuses the elves.
Written by: David Sedaris
-
Happy-Go-Lucky
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.
-
-
disappointed
- By Thought this would be a brilliant efficient time saver, but after a few uses found it more frustrating than helpful, and just went back to handwashing brushes on 2023-01-06
Written by: David Sedaris
-
David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you are driving, pull over. If you are at work, close your door, unless you don't mind your colleagues seeing you doubled over, in tears, on your office floor. With this recording, taped before a delirious sold out audience at Carnegie Hall, you are there as David Sedaris performs new stories from his upcoming book. A parrot who mimics an ice maker, lovers quarreling over a rubber hand, and a Santa Claus who moonlights from his job as bishop of Turkey, the cast of characters is like no other.
-
-
Love! Love! Love! 👌
- By Anonymous User on 2019-07-15
Written by: David Sedaris
-
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking his listeners on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, from the squat-style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveler's experiences.
-
-
another great David sedaris book
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In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives, a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.
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David Sadaris is a national treasure
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Theft by Finding
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For nearly four decades, David Sedaris has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events he witnesses. Anyone who has attended a live Sedaris event knows that his diary readings are often among the most joyful parts of the evening. But never before have they been available in print. Now, in Theft by Finding, Sedaris brings us his favorite entries. From deeply poignant to laugh-out-loud funny, these selections reveal with new intimacy a man longtime fans only think they know.
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I really wanted to like it.
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
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- Narrated by: David Sedaris
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him all over again. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the water in a vase of fresh cut flowers to fill the coffee machine.
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Witty and Poignant
- By Michelle Holmes on 2018-02-15
Written by: David Sedaris
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Calypso
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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 it's 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 - and dark humor - toward middle age and mortality.
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Great Narration
- By designaholic on 2019-01-16
Written by: David Sedaris
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A Carnival of Snackery
- Diaries (2003-2020)
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Tracey Ullman
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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, pedestrians being whacked over the head or gathering to watch as a man considers leaping to his death. 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.
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Very nice
- By Stephen Sooley on 2021-10-25
Written by: David Sedaris
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Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
- A Modest Bestiary
- Written by: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Sian Phillips, Dylan Baker, and others
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This collection of sharply observed animal-themed tales is a delight, told with David Sedaris's trademark blend of hilarity and goodnaturedness. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of our own everyday interactions.
Written by: David Sedaris
What the critics say
“Author David Sedaris delivers this honest, funny essay with his usual flair…This is a short look at the crazy world we live in by one of its most talented observer-humorists.” (AudioFile Magazine)
What listeners say about Themes and Variations
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Anonymous User
- 2020-11-04
There is no trivial or dull moment....
I've been reading Sedaris since "Me talk pretty one day" and continue to be amazed by his sense of observation, his ability to reflect on what is worth reflecting on in every situation, and his unique style to convey his conclusions with humor and wit.
The anecdotes lived through his book signing tours, which are the theme of this essay, are no exception. He left me wondering, among other things, on what is the purpose of book signing tours? selling more books or connecting with your readers? or both, none or other?
This was my first audiobook narrated by Sedaris. He speaks fast, I had to replay some phrases a few times, but nothing really annoying. Other than that, great performance.
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