Barrel Fever is particularly notorious in that it contains Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries, the account of an elf working at a Macy’s department store during the Christmas season (the elf being Sedaris himself). It was this essay that made Sedaris truly popular as a humorist.

Beyond SantaLand Barrel Fever is split into two halves. The firt is composed of a series of short fictional stories and the second is made up of autobiographical sketches on Sedaris’ life, of which SantaLand is a part.

Here’s a complete listing of the tracks found on Barrel Fever:

Stories

1. Parade
2. Music for Lovers
3. The Last You’ll Hear from Me
4. My Manuscript
5. Firestone
6. We Get Along
7. Glen’s Homophobia Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2
8. Don’s Story
9. Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!
10. Jamboree
11. After Malison
12. Barrel Fever

Essays

1. Diary of a Smoker
2. Giantess
3. The Curly Kind
4. SantaLand Diaries

The theater’s 2008 and 2009 season is going to include one of Sedaris’ biggest off-Broadway hits, “The Santaland Diaries”. The “Diaries” have played at Home Made Theater before in 2005, with Jonathan Whitton as the lead, and he’ll be returning again to reprise the role. “The Santaland Diaries” will be playing between December 18 and the 21st.

The theater’s schedule will also include renditions of “Into the Woods”, “A Little House Christmas”, “Beyond Therapy” and “Enchanted April”. All will be playing between October 2008 and May 2009 at varying intervals, and all are good for families of all ages. For more information and ticket ordering, visit www.homemadetheater.org.

The book is composed of 17 different essays in roughly chronological order. The essays include:

- Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out!: An account of Sedaris’ grandmother who is froced to live with the family as her physical condition deteriorates. She is eventually moved into a nursing home and dies, mourned only by Sedaris’ father.

- Cyclops: A series of cautionary tales passed down through the Sedaris family. Named from a story told by his father who claims to have accidentally blinded another boy in one eye.

- I Like Guys: The retelling of Sedaris’ realization that he is gay at a summer camp.

- Naked: Sedaris’ visit to a nudist colony, and the final essay in the book.

The book quickly became a best seller and was lauded for its dark humor and candid tone.

That’s why you need to hear Sedaris read his stories aloud. How? By getting hold of one of his audio collections, of course. Sedaris has released several audio collections of his performances to date; but the best selling thus far has been David Sedaris at Carnegie Hall.

Don’t listen when you’re driving. Not when you’re at work. Not when you’re mowing the lawn, or cooking food, or even clipping your nails. You’re going to have an accident when you’re laughing while listening to this audio book. Sedaris is at his finest and has his listeners at Carnegie howling with delight; so when you’re listening, do so in a quiet, safe place. That way you can laugh along without endangering yourself.

The story involves various details of the Christmas myth in Holland, where Saint Nicholas is a more eccentric character than Santa Claus, reported to travel with “6 to 8 black men”. The story can be heard on the Sedaris audio CD Live at Carnegie Hall.

Sedaris read his essay on a program called Morning Edition, which detailed his experiences working as an elf at Macy’s department store in New York City. The broadcast was an immediate success, and Sedaris soon began recording a monthly segment for NPR, based on entries in his diary.

Published in 2000, the book is separated into two parts, with the first section consisting of essays written about his life before his move to Normandy, France, including his upbringing in Raleigh, North Carolina and time spent living in New York City.

The second section details events that occurred after his move to France, including his attempts to learn the French language, and time spent with his lover Hugh. In April 2001, Sedaris entered into talks to turn the book into a feature film with American director Wayne Wang, but Sedaris later changed his mind and the project was cancelled.