Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Calypso by David Sedaris

6 reviews

ssummar's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

bookwitch's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

2.0

Some of this was really funny, but some of it was REALLY terrible and cringey. I don't think I will be reading anything else from this author; our sense of humor doesn't completely line up, and if his other books are anything like this one, I will not enjoy any of them.
His one essay about his mother, and how even with such a large family (of outspoken people), NO ONE said anything to her about her alcoholism. That felt pretty personal, as did his essay about how depressed he was after the 2015 election results.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Suicide

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Cancer, Rape, and Suicide attempt

abigailgrims's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

geraldinerowe's review

challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced

4.75

This is possibly David Sedaris's darkest collection of essays, covering among other topics his sister's suicide and his father's decline into old age. It also has very moving passages: remembering his last conversation with his sister, his changing relationship with his father, and the way he dealt (or rather didn't) with his mother's alcoholism. And yet it also manages to be one of his funniest. Be prepared for some frank lavatorial humour though. And worse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Rape

taylor_annotates's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

3.5

this was simultaneously uninteresting and yet very interesting to me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia

bookishinteriors's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

3.0

This was selected for my book club and I wasn't expecting there to be much to talk about in response to a comedic collection of essays but it actually spurred some wonderful conversations. The pacing was inconsistent and it was hard to find the appropriate reaction/mood to many of the stories, but it definitely provided family drama, shock value, and some dark humor.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Rape