Person
David Sedaris's book recommendations
Key facts
- David Sedaris has recommended or discussed 8 books on podcasts, as of June 14, 2026.
- David Sedaris has talked about books on 2 podcasts, as of June 14, 2026.
- Those books came up in 4 episodes, as of June 14, 2026.
- The 3 books David Sedaris has mentioned in the most episodes, as of June 14, 2026: MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE, Game Change and Our story begins.
- The latest episode with a book mention from David Sedaris aired on June 14, 2026.
Updated
Across 2 podcasts. Every show David Sedaris appears on, in one place — not just one.
David Sedaris’s most recommended books
- MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville
- Game Change by John Heilemann
- Our story begins by Tobias Wolff
- The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis
- Joan Didion by Joan Didion
- The hollow man by John Dickson Carr
- The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
David Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay Santaland Diaries, and he published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. During appearances on podcasts such as Pod Save America and The Book Review, Sedaris has discussed several books and authors. He recommended an audiobook version of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, noting with amusement that it was narrated by Burt Reynolds. Sedaris also talked about reading John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's Game Change regarding the 2008 election, and Édouard Louis's book The End of Eddy. Additionally, he mentioned Tobias Wolff's story collection Our Story Begins to praise his writing. Discussing his own work, Sedaris identified his book Calypso as a favorite among his publications. He also mentioned going to see a film called Hollow Man as recorded in his diaries, and he noted that reading Joan Didion in his early diary entries helped him appreciate her as a strong stylist who influenced his own writing.
Books recommended by David Sedaris
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is an epic American novel that chronicles the obsessive, self-destructive quest of Captain Ahab to hunt down the giant white whale that maimed him.
Discussed“college professors are assigning fewer books and more excerpts because their students have lower attention spans. Uh gosh. That makes me sad, you know. Um but that said, if I were in college and then I had to read Moby Dick by tomorrow, I'd be like, "Fuck, I got to read Moby Dick by tomorrow." You can skip the whaling”
Where to get it
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Game Change
Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin is a bestselling piece of political journalism that provides an inside look at the dramatic 2008 United States presidential election.
Recommended“well right now I'm reading game change which I never read when it came out about the 2008 election”
Where to get it
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Our story begins
Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff is a comprehensive, career-spanning collection of masterfully crafted short stories that explore moral ambiguity, human vulnerability, and the turning points of everyday lives.
Recommended“I don't know Tobias wolf he put out a big collection of his stories Our Story begins and I absolutely love him”
Where to get it
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The End of Eddy
The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis is a raw and uncompromising autobiographical novel that chronicles the author's brutal childhood growing up in a poverty-stricken, homophobic, and violent working-class town in France.
Recommended“and the book I read with my eyes was by Edward Louie and it was the end of Eddie which is interesting”
Where to get it
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Joan Didion
Discussed“I can go back through my early Diaries and I can say oh look who discovered Jon didan because she know she's such a strong stylist”
Where to get it
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The Best of Me
Discussed“just because I Calypso you know event I'm going to hate everything but I've only had like two and a half years to hate the last book so yeah Calypso would probably be the one that I I like the most”
Where to get it
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The hollow man
Discussed“Hugh and I went to see Hollow Man the worst movie I've seen in a long time it opened with Kevin Bacon around on his computer”
Where to get it
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The Princess Diarist
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher is a candid and reflective memoir compiling the late actress and writer's personal journals from her time filming the original Star Wars trilogy.
Critiqued“like I really liked Carri Fischer right I thought Carrie Fisher was really funny and I I enjoyed books and then she had that book where it was The Princess Diaries and she had her Diaries from when she was working on Star Wars”
Where to get it
Books by David Sedaris
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Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
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Me Talk Pretty One Day
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Naked
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Holidays on Ice
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
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Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
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Barrel Fever
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Theft by Finding
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The Best of Me
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A Carnival of Snackery
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Happy-Go-Lucky
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Children playing before a statue of Hercules
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Santaland Diaries
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David Sedaris
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David Sedaris Diaries
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The body
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David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall
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Pretty Ugly
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Sedaris is Mostly Bark, Some Bite | Pod Save America | 2026-06-14 | 2 |
| David Sedaris’s Diaries | The Book Review | 2022-09-02 | 2 |
| David Sedaris’s Diaries and Paul McCartney’s Songs | The Book Review | 2021-12-23 | 1 |
| David Sedaris on a Career-Spanning Collection | The Book Review | 2020-12-04 | 4 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“you know I just looked at The Count of Monte Christo because my sister Amy had read it that's 54-hour audio book where could you walk with that”