David Sedaris' CALYPSO Is Just so Funny it Masks Just How Sad It Is

David Sedaris is a memoirist humorist whose material is taken from his upbringing, family & his life; past & present.  Sedaris' writing is a gift to viewing life with a curious impish eye and an outlook for finding absurdity in humanity.  Born in America (1956) with 5 siblings (including comedian Amy Sedaris) David's mass appeal is his candid & comical observations within the nucleus of his eccentric family and his unabashed questioning & commentary on people he encounters in his multitudinous travels domestically & internationally.  The numerous book tours & readings demand a lot of time traveling and take their toll, to alleviate the monotony, David will turn the tides on his fans.  "I'm constantly surprised and delighted by some of the things I hear while traveling across the US."  Sometimes he likes to feign psychic abilities and guess an Astrological sign.  If that proves correct he will try to shock further by saying the person has a sister.  "I can't help it.  I told her her. 'I know things.  I see them.'  I don't of course.  Those were just guesses pulled out of my ass in order to get a rise out of someone."  Another favorite pastime is to inquire of foreigners what the most offensive thing one can say to someone else.  The responses are almost as shocking as David's silent evaluation of their impact.  The wry humor is omnipresent and mitigates the tragedies from his life; a beloved alcoholic mother who died, a cantankerous, obdurate father in his 90s and an estranged sister who recently committed suicide.  David tells his siblings the reason for their father's longevity.  "The secret to dad's longevity isn't diet or exercise or even his genes.  He's just late for death the way he's been late for everything else all his life."  The explanation for his mother's drinking, "It's almost laughable this insistence on a reason.  I think my mother was lonely without her children, her fan club. But I think she drank because she was an alcoholic."  As for his sister's suicide David is somber "When you're in the state that my sister was in, and that most people are in when they take their own lives, you're not thinking of anything beyond your own pain."  David peripatetic ponderings are melancholy mixed with warmth & wit that make his memoirs endearingly memorable.  "Maybe ours wasn't the house I'd have chosen had I been in charge of things.  It wasn't as clean as I'd have liked.  From the outside, it wasn't remarkable. We had no view, but still it was the place I held in mind, and proudly when I thought, Home."  Reading CALYPSO is akin to the best to be said of one's own family gatherings.  They may not seem as amusing as Sedaris finds his reunions.  Nonetheless, it's always reassuring to have family to fall back on.  "I've often lost faith in myself, I've never lost faith in my family.