Theft by Finding

Diaries (1977-2002)

De: David Sedaris, Gary Carpenter

Narrado por: David Sedaris

David Sedaris tells all in a book that is, literally, a lifetime in the making.

For forty years, David Sedaris has kept a diary in which he records everything that captures his attention-overheard comments, salacious gossip, soap opera plot twists, secrets confided by total strangers. These observations are the source code for his finest work, and through them he has honed his cunning, surprising sentences.

Now, Sedaris shares his private writings with the world. Theft by Finding, the first of two volumes, is the story of how a drug-abusing dropout with a weakness for the International House of Pancakes and a chronic inability to hold down a real job became one of the funniest people on the planet.

Written with a sharp eye and ear for the bizarre, the beautiful, and the uncomfortable, and with a generosity of spirit that even a misanthropic sense of humor can't fully disguise, Theft By Finding proves that Sedaris is one of our great modern observers. It's a potent reminder that when you're as perceptive and curious as Sedaris, there's no such thing as a boring day.

One of the most anticipated books of 2017: Boston Globe, New York Times Book Review, New York's "Vulture", The Week, Bustle, BookRiot

An NPR Best Book of 2017
An AV Club Favorite Book of 2017
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2017
A Goodreads Choice Awards nominee

Reseñas de la Crítica

PRAISE FOR THEFT BY FINDING:

"Starve and Struggle. Feast. Bloat. These are the three stages that all artists - with some variation - go through in their careers...So it's encouraging to read 25 years of David Sedaris's diaries, and not just because he manages to defeat Bloat. It's helpful to see that a voice as original, hilarious and sometimes as infuriating as his was put through the same Struggle and Starve meat grinder that most of us go through...No one escapes Bloat, but many survive it. Maybe not with the grace, whining, hilarity and eye-rolling that Sedaris does. But through all 25 years of "Theft by Finding" - of soap opera addictions and spider feeding, family kookiness and language lessons - Sedaris's developing voice is the lifeline that pulls him through the murk."
—Patton Oswalt, New York Times Book Review

"If it's hard to be funny, it's an astounding feat to stay funny--wildly, wickedly, ingeniously so--for more than twenty years. Yet David Sedaris has somehow pulled it off, in exhilarating essays that zero in on the absurd and the poignant with eviscerating wit and radiant humanity....Fans will no doubt delight in the entries that will turn into Sedaris's most beloved essays...We're treated to a portrait of the artist as a young man, albeit one with an old and singular soul."
—Fiona Maazel, O, The Oprah Magazine

"A standout... Whether he's in an IHOP in Raleigh or his apartment in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, his eye for the absurd and the vulgar is infallible and his deadpan prose style inimitable...Here, the relatively artless diary entries, short and long, sequenced and non sequitur, add up to something we've never gotten before--a big, juicy narrative arc. It comprises 25 years of an essentially heartwarming success story, any potential ickiness kept in check by Sedaris's judicious minimalism."
—Marion Winik, Newsday

"Mesmerizing... Delightful... Sedaris describes the world around him... the vast and splendid array of human life that can be observed at IHOP, or the vagaries of fruit picking... Reading Theft by Finding is like watching a favorite play from behind the scenes, in the company of a friend who can identify what is absurd and heartbreaking and human about every person on stage."
—Annalisa Quinn, NPR

"Sedaris, a master of incisive and comic cultural criticism, is about to get more personal than ever...Theft by Finding reveals intimate details of this literary luminary's life and mind--all told with his singular sense of humor."
—Harper's Bazaar

"Sedaris fans will thrill to this opportunity to poke around in the writer's personal diaries, which he has faithfully kept for four decades and used as raw material for his hilarious nonfiction as well as his performances."
—Paul S. Makishima, Boston Globe

Great Listening!! Also nice sleep aid!!

Ok! I like what I had read by Sedaris before buying this. I enjoyed this as well!
I do recommend if you like Sedaris, his style, and/or if you like the inside story of someone’s life. I found the sociocultural climate that accompanied the times over which this stretches. Example - hitchhiking to get places in the 1970’s.

As a bonus, I have found that Sedaris’ voice is so smooth, calming and nicely paced, and it is a great sleep timer listen to help fall asleep.

So I definitely recommend

So Happy, Loved it!

First of all, I am a very serious fan of David Sedaris and it would be sacrilege for me to rate it anything less than 5 stars.

That being said, because I have read all his other books and am already acquainted with his personality and life, Theft By Finding felt like being reacquainted with and old friend. This book is different than the others and shouldn't really be compared to his previous memoirs. It's a different kind of animal but, I expected it to be.

After all, these are his actual diary entries and that's the context. This is great if you are familiar with his work because fragments or seedlings of his previously critically acclaimed stories pop up here an there in this book. It also painted a fuller picture of David's life and I enjoyed noticing how much he evolved from the first entries to the last.

I can't wait to read it again❤️

slow beginning then picks up at the end

I downloaded because I enjoy Sedaris and find his material is enhanced when he reads it himself. I found the beginning to be slow because all he talks about is being broke. Things pick up in the middle and end. I dislike certain production aspects...if Sedaris mentions that a woman farted in a restaurant, they insert a fart noise. It's unnecessary and distracting - we all know what a fart sounds like. Also, they break each chapter with music - they play it over David while he's talking the last few minutes of the chapter. Just leave the story alone.

How Can Anyone Not Love David Sedaris

Is there anyone who doesn't enjoy these stories? Do they ever get old? I think not.

Master of absurdity!

Loved the anecdotes and loved hearing the progression of his writing and point of view over the years.