David Sedaris is back with his latest collection of essays, Happy-Go-Lucky, which are, of course, about his life yet again but a number are focused on two topics: the last days and death of his elderly father Lou and, inevitably, COVID.
When I first discovered Sedaris, I expected to laugh through most of his essays because a lot of those early collections turned out to be genuinely funny - Santaland Diaries, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family… all have comedy gems in them. Those books contained stories from Sedaris’ early life and, more recently, having exhausted his bank of funny stories about his childhood and early adulthood, his stories have been about his more-or-less present day life.
Which isn’t to say his latter books are bad - I don’t think he can write a bad book - but that they’re much less funny. They also have this unexpected appeal to them. Because I’ve read so many books featuring Sedaris’ family, picking up his latest book where we check in with them all once again is (as corny as it sounds) like catching up with old friends.
A bit like a literary version of Keeping Up With The Kardashians (maybe not the best comparison given I’ve never seen the show), you’re interested in the people, so, even if they’re not doing anything especially riveting or witty, it’s still sorta compelling to read about them because you feel you know so much about them already.
Which is the case with Happy-Go-Lucky: there’s nothing here that’s hilarious or even standout, but Sedaris’ easy charm, relaxed storytelling, and amiable observations produces an undeniably magnetic pull on me. The COVID essays - The Vacuum, Fresh-Caught Haddock and Lucky-Go-Happy - were the most fun if only to see the pandemic through Sedaris’ eyes (he’s terrible at food-hoarding).
The essays on his dad Lou - Father Time, Unbuttoned, Happy-Go-Lucky, A Better Place, Pussytoes, and Lady Marmalade - were also mildly entertaining, if not for bringing together Sedaris’ many siblings. They’re not particularly sentimental pieces either as Sedaris and his dad had a fractious relationship for decades, though he’s also not bitter about things either.
Lady Marmalade is the best essay on the subject, about how creepy Lou was when they were kids, which led to Sedaris’ youngest sister Tiffany accusing him in later life of molesting her (he didn’t - she was just nuts and a drug addict; readers of previous books might remember that she ended up committing suicide).
There were only two essays I really didn’t like: A Speech to the Graduates is a boring commencement speech at a university, and To Serbia with Love, about a trip Sedaris took (pre-COVID) with his friend Patsy to Serbia where they shopped and took cabs around the place.
There are various subjects covered in the other essays: Themes and Variations is about touring stories (also pre-COVID); Active Shooter is Sedaris’ thoughts on guns when he and his sister Lisa go to a shooting range for a lark; Bruised recounts a story from years ago when he was living in France and a young boy, just discovering his sexuality, repeatedly throws himself at Sedaris; Hurricane Season and Pearls are both love letters (of sorts) to his longtime partner Hugh; Highfalutin is similarly about his beloved sister Amy; and Smile, Beautiful is about the resolution of his longtime saga on his crooked teeth (“Play-Doh gums” is a great line).
None of the above are especially bad, nor are they especially good - they’re a mix of both, though ultimately their common feature is their un-memorability.
Do you like David Sedaris and have been reading him for years like I have? You’ll probably get something out of Happy-Go-Lucky. It’s not great but it’s also nice to see what he’s been up to recently too. If you’ve not read him before, I wouldn’t start here as it’s unlikely that you’ll see quite why he has such a large fanbase - start with Santaland Diaries, Me Talk Pretty One Day or Dress Your Family… instead.
Grandmother!
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