Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris

I brought this book on our vacation last week, and read several chapters on the train from Vienna to Prague. I laughed so many times, and even read passages out loud to Jeff. When we got to Prague we went on a private walking tour with a guide. About noon he said, "Now we stop for beer." We ducked into a small cafe, and I said, "I don't drink much beer, so I'll just have a small one." Our guide said, "That is the size we give the children. When they are babies we give them beer foam to familiarize them with the taste of ber. And when they can walk, then we give them small beers." This could literally have been in David Sedaris' new book, "Happy-Go-Lucky." He mines his own life for small, quirky conversations like this and then riffs on them until you are in stitches. These personal essays focus on his life since the beginning of the pandemic when he was robbed of his favorite activity: being on a book tour. His father, Lou, is a prominent character in the book, after he gets hit on the head by a grandfather clock and moves into an assisted living. His partner, Hugh, and his sisters are part of the narrative, especially his sister Amy, who has a flair for dressing oddly. He gains weight during Covid, and loses it quickly on a self-imposed Jell-O diet. As the restrictions are lifted, we find him traveling once again, and reporting on his rich interactions with his fans, which are the best. He remains one of my favorite writers and during this difficult times in our country, we need a witty, and talented historian on our side. The New York Times summed it up best, "It's a neat trick that one writer's preoccupation with the odd and the inappropriate can have such a wide spread appeal." To buy this book on Amazon click here.