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Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) by Sedaris, David Paperback / softback The

FREE US DELIVERY | ISBN: 0316154733 | Quality Books
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Last updated on 04 Jul, 2025 01:51:18 AESTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
Very good: A book that does not look new and has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious ...
ISBN
0316154733
EAN
9780316154734
Publication Name
N/A
Type
Paperback / softback
Release Title
Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002)
Artist
Sedaris, David
Brand
N/A
Colour
N/A

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Little Brown & Company
ISBN-10
0316154733
ISBN-13
9780316154734
eBay Product ID (ePID)
239607342

Product Key Features

Book Title
Theft by Finding : Diaries (1977-2002)
Number of Pages
528 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2018
Topic
Personal Memoirs, Literary, Lgbt, Form / Essays
Genre
Biography & Autobiography, Humor
Author
David Sedaris
Format
Trade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height
1.4 in
Item Weight
15.7 Oz
Item Length
8.2 in
Item Width
5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
Reviews
"Diary entries shouldn't be this good, but considering Sedaris's output, it's not surprising that this collection is a worthy addition to his name...Like much of Sedaris's deceivingly simple prose, the enjoyment comes not from its very basic conceit but its sharp observations and bone-dry humor."-- Caitlin PenzeyMoog , A.V. Club, "Of course you're going to buy, read, laugh, ponder, read. He is one of our best comic writers, one of our most thought-provoking, and--who knew?--a dedicated diarist." -- John Timpane , Philadelphia Inquirer, "Here, in these as-it-happened accounts and jottings, is a rich chunk of the mother lode from which David Sedaris has mined his personal essays and performances. The extracts in Theft by Finding cover what may be called the disconsolate IHOP years, when he was a college dropout, rootless casual worker and aspiring artist, and those during which he became a celebrity.... The appeal of these diary entries lies in their spareness and in Sedaris's boundless relish for the absurdity of life.... The Sedaris of these diaries is, above all, a connoisseur of annoying things and of bothersome and downright dreadful people." -- Katherine A. Powers , Washington Post, "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 David Sedaris book is always a welcome addition to any personal library - his hilarity, his self-deprecation, his compassion for (and amusement with) the human condition, and his clear joy at making his readers laugh out loud are all what make a David Sedaris book great."-- E. Ce Miller , Bustle, "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, 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, "For those curious about the mind of a comic genius, this is a great place to start." -- Melissa Kravitz , amNewYork, "Peak Sedaris...A real journey, and catnip for his most loyal fans." -- Jinnie Lee and Maura M. Lynch , WMagazine.com, "Randomly open to any page of Theft by Finding and you'll find a gem... Sedaris's gift is to make you stop and think one moment and laugh out loud the next."-- Rob Merrill , Associated Press, "Filled with rich and unfailingly sharp observations...There are moments of sadness...but this is not a sad book; instead, it's a gloriously weird one...This is a diary that shows us how Sedaris's powers of observation and his intense investment in his own perspective have enriched his life and, by extension, ours."-- Kelly Blewett , BookPage, "The Sedaris diaries are laced with snark, wit and trenchant observations, personal and public."-- Jim Higgins , Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "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, "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, "This is Sedaris, who can be wickedly funny as well as deliciously insightful about modern mores - so the nuggets are big and shiny and well worth panning for... His eccentric existence is eminently enthralling."-- David Holahan , USA Today, "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, "The thrill of Sedaris's nonfiction lies in the absurd details of his memories, burnished with...polish and comic timing...Now we'll finally have access to the raw material -- fragments of the writer's personal diaries that you might recognize from the banter in his prolific and hilarious live readings." -- Boris Kachka , New York, "As brilliant and hilarious as anything Sedaris has previously published." -- Zack Ruskin , SF Weekly, "A summer in which there is a new Sedaris book is the very definition of a good summer."-- Ann Patchett , author of Commonwealth, "Sedaris's diaries are the wellspring for his cuttingly funny autobiographical essays, and he now presents a mesmerizing volume of deftly edited passages...Sedaris is caustically witty about his bad habits and artistic floundering...A candid, socially incisive, and sharply amusing chronicle of the evolution of an arresting comedic artist." -- Donna Seaman , Booklist (starred review), "If you've had the good fortune of seeing Sedaris on tour, you've probably heard him read from one of his snarky and hilariously solipsistic diary entries. Finally, they're collected in one place for the first time." -- Entertainment Weekly, "Scintillating... Sedaris is a latter-day Charlie Chaplin: droll, put-upon but not innocent, and besieged by all sorts of obstreperous or menacing folks... Sedaris's storytelling, even in diary jottings, is consistently well-crafted and hilarious."-- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review), "Raw glimpses of the humorist's personal life as he clambered from starving artist to household name...Though the mood is usually light, the book is also a more serious look into his travails as an artist and person...A surprisingly poignant portrait of the artist as a young to middle-aged man." -- Kirkus (Starred Review), "Wildly entertaining....This book is flat-out memerizing." -- Laurie Hertzel , Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Synopsis
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 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 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 2017A Goodreads Choice Awards nominee 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.

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World of Books USA

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  • n***d (49)- Feedback left by buyer.
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    Excellent seller. Package was delayed ( by bad weather) and then misplaced at PO( placed in wrong box #) but I contacted the seller and they responded quickly and I got my item today. This seller went the extra mile and I would highly recommend them and will shop here again. I also want to say the price for this complete hard to find item was way below most of the other listings. Condition was good as stated, and although I've only watched the first disc it's quality is good. Thank you!!
  • r***d (274)- Feedback left by buyer.
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    Item in great condition 😁 SELLER communicated any time I had a question 😍 Good value 😊 packaged securely 🙂 Shipping said 7-14 days which is correct , would purchase again from rhis seller ... Thank You
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    Purchasing form this company can at times be frustrating due to items never arriving, very low shipping time and the inability to track the items. But I gave them another chance and purchased many maps and books over the past few months and have received all of them. Last year, it was hit and miss. All items were in the condition as described. Packaging is minimal. The only downside is extremely slow shipping. I rate them a C+. Nothing to gloat about but eventually you will get what you wanted.

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  • David Sedaris Diary Entries.

    David Sedaris diary entries. Hysterical. Good fun.

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-ownedSold by: second.sale

  • Perfect, thanks!

    Perfect, thanks!

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-ownedSold by: second.sale