Naked
A Little, Brown paperback of David Sedaris's 1997 essay collection, his first full book of nonfiction and the one that established the voice: deadpan, confessional, willing to make his family famous without exactly asking permission. The essays move from a speech-therapy childhood to a nudist colony to the death of a mother, all delivered with the timing of someone who has learned that the best way to survive embarrassment is to control it. The Little, Brown cover is the early trade paperback design, before Sedaris became a reliable bestseller.Ideal reader: the reader who thinks the most honest memoirs are the ones that make you laugh before you realize you should not, or the sibling who has been waiting for permission to tell the truth about Thanksgiving.
