BARREL FEVER AND OTHER STORIES

These essays humorously report on contemporary American life and the author's experiences as a young homosexual male. He makes himself the butt of his own jokes as often as not. Under the surface rage great anger and greater pain, but monologuist Sedaris and his collaborators don't assault us with them or milk us for pity. The laughs, often earthy and supplied abundantly, aren't bitter. An acute sense of the absurd and basic goodwill permeate the entire exercise. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 99]