David Sedaris' new collection of essays - including live recordings! - is the funniest goddamn thing you might ever listen to, and I say listen, because while the written word is remarkable, Mr. Sedaris’ delivery is a masterpiece. Hands down David Sedaris has one of the most hilarious families in American history, but unlike the Marx brothers or any other staged family menagerie, the Sedarises are the genuine article.

It begins with a North Carolina childhood filled with speech-therapy classes ("There was the lisp, of course, but more troubling than that was my voice itself, with its excitable tone and high, girlish pitch") and unwanted guitar lessons taught by a midget.

From budding performance artist ("The only crimp in my plan was that I seemed to have no talent whatsoever") to "clearly unqualified" writing teacher in Chicago, Sedaris' career leads him to New York City and eventually to Paris, posing a number of challenges, chief among them his inability to speak the language. Arriving a "spooky man-child" capable of communicating only through nouns, he undertakes language instruction that leads him ever deeper into cultural confusion. Whether describing the Easter bunny to puzzled classmates or watching a group of men play soccer with a cow, Sedaris brings a view and a voice like no other to every unforgettable encounter.

Sedaris has to be one the best storytellers of the distorted family dynamic one could be lucky enough to encounter.