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  • Theft by Finding

  • Diaries: Volume One
  • By: David Sedaris
  • Narrated by: David Sedaris
  • Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (619 ratings)
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Theft by Finding cover art

Theft by Finding

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
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Summary

'He's like an American Alan Bennett, in that his own fastidiousness becomes the joke, as per the taxi encounter, or his diary entry about waiting interminably in a coffee-bar queue.' (Brian Logan, Guardian review of An Evening with David Sedaris)

The point is to find out who you are and to be true to that person. Because so often you can't. Won't people turn away if they know the real me? you wonder. The me that hates my own child, that put my perfectly healthy dog to sleep? The me who thinks, deep down, that maybe The Wire was overrated?

For nearly four decades, David Sedaris has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events he witnesses. Anyone who has attended a live Sedaris event knows that his diary readings are often among the most joyful parts of the evening. But never before have they been available in print or audio.

Now, in Theft by Finding, Sedaris brings us his favourite entries. From the family home in Raleigh, North Carolina, we follow Sedaris as he sets out to make his way in the world. As an art student and then a teacher in Chicago, he works at a succession of very odd jobs, meeting even odder people, before moving to New York to pursue a career as a writer - where instead he very quickly lands a job in Macy's department store as an elf in Santaland....

Tender, hilarious, illuminating, and endlessly captivating, Theft by Finding offers a rare look into the mind of one of our generation's greatest comic geniuses.

©2017 David Sedaris (P)2017 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about Theft by Finding

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not what you might be expecting...

I am a great fan of David Sedaris’ work, both the written and the performances, in which he shows an uncanny eye for finding the ridiculous and absurd in everyday people and events. Listen to any of his books, and you will find yourself smiling, a lot.

Not so with this title in which, through his personal diaries, Sedaris draws a picture of an America far darker and more dangerous than Hollywood ever let on, populated by bigoted and ignorant people who’s only thought is ‘What’s in this for me?’

David is in his 20s, and has relocated from the family home in North Carolina to the big, bad city of Chicago. Financial pressures mean he has to consider every penny when scouting for a rental apartment, and thus he ends up living in a very run-down and dirty part of town. He learns early on that if you want the cops to come to your aid you need to use the word ‘Gun’ when you call them, otherwise they just ain’t coming.

A typical day for Sedaris starts with the physical and verbal abuse he experiences from passing cars or strangers on the street pretty much every time he steps outside, followed by witnessing repeated abuse toward waiters in his favourite diner, then having his possessions snatched from him by vagrants as he walks along. This is then compounded by the dark, awful stories of abuse, addiction and squalor he hears from random people he encounters. A nation of helpless, hopeless people who have given up, and now spend their days with only one aim, to get as high as possible at someone else’s expense. People with nothing, who have nothing to lose…

The writing, and Sedaris’ delivery, is as brilliant as ever, even though I do find I take a deep breath every time I take off my headphones, just to clean the dirt out of my system.

A very different listening experience…

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I'm a big fan but this one is boring

I'm a massive fan of David Sedaris and I listen to his other books again and again. However this one is just an endless list of observations and events in chronological order. None of the great storytelling that he is known for.
Also, because it is chronological, it lingers forever in his early years of addiction, poverty and hopelessness. I don't know if I'll make it past chapter one!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Big fan Sedaris fan but this is just dull

There's ten years of diaries here and they become boring fairly quickly. It's a long audio book and there's none of the lightness of story of his other work. In fact as they're diaries, there's no story at all.

this is very much simply the inside of his head without much humour. As he's depressed, broke and a heavy drug user for all the parts I listened to, it's also fairly depressing

There is an interest in seeing what interests him - what he remembers and comments on. You can see how those themes come out in his more structured work.

But as his other books areso autobiographical anyway, i found this repetitive and dull. I tried really hard but i could only get through a few hours before wanting to throw it out the window. if you're looking for story any of his other works are superb.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Different in every way

No real storyline, but small snaps from diaries
so you need to know all his previous books. Not funny but maybe interessant for some people.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Amusing anecdotes though faintly irritating...

The truth is, you have to be 'in the mood' for Sedaris; sometimes whimsical, sometimes mildly amusing; occasionally slightly dark and bereft of humour and frequently irritating - it has taken me 6 months to listen to this in bite size pieces. That is an advantage in that you can pick it up and put it down without penalty or any need to scroll back as the narrative really just rambles on. Sedaris's reading is actually very pleasant and welcome but again can become something of a whinging irritation. Worth a credit but certainly not worth 'real money.' His half hour radio shows on the BBC are just the right-bite sized and do seem to have s start and an end where as this book just.... ends.... seemingly mid-flow; as if the publisher just said 'right time's-up just give us what you've done.' A little bizarre I guess....

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Eclectic, humorous and warm

I love to listen to David Sedaris, his writing is wonderfully eclectic yet very well balanced. At times he can make my dysfunctional family seem far more normal. His reading style is relaxed and comfortable yet humorous and warm. This was easy on the ears indeed so I will head happily now to his next book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

like listening to a friend...

As the years (in the book) went by my enjoyment grew. Having come across David ten years ago on Radio 4, he's been a reliable source of amusement and insight through a tough period.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

A diary. Not as good as I thought it was going to be. I downloaded it after watching an interview with David Sedaris. In it, Sedaris was incredibly funny. I thought the collection of daily stories was going to be just as funny. Not at all. Some bits are incredibly sad (that's life). All in all, though, I didn't find that many funny moments or humours anecdotes.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not what I was hoping for.

I'm a big fan of his work so had high expectations. I found these collections of early diary notes lacking the observational sharpness of his other works. I guess it shows he grew a lot since then but struggle to finish it while I ripped through his others works in one breath.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Impossible to 'follow'

I love David Sedaris but find this boring - the format is little glimpses of a life with no narrative and therefore one really can't care too much about the characters who drift in and out without us knowing them. I wanted to like it but couldn't

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