Thank you for smoking

Proclaimed "master of nothing," essayist and adroit observer David Sedaris has a knack of turning the mundane into the disturbing. In this collection, subjects of interest include pet spiders, fashion advice, cranky neighbors, bad baby-sitters, and nothing less than contemplating our own suffocating mortality. But not to worry: Sedaris is more than capable of guiding us with his dry humor and deceptively plain prose. Mostly, it's the little details that inspire him - the tiny corners of everyday life that reveal bigger, darker, weirder themes of our existence. Whether learning how to speak Japanese or coveting his parents' tacky lawn ornament or setting down an irrepressible cabbie, Sedaris captures the small awkward moments that speak to life's funny - and not so funny - truths.

This is an odd book for me personally to review. I have written about nonfiction in the past - I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but I've been lucky to find some real gems. Sedaris's work is an entirely different beast altogether. Maybe now I should mention that actually reading the book is a breeze, thanks to his conversational style of writing and snappy, stinging wit. While there's not much of a reoccurring theme in the essays (except that they all reveal the wonderful weirdness of the writer), the big thing I noticed was the tone and atmosphere. It's very off-kilter without being completely alienating, and this is because Sedaris's writing often come back to some pretty universal truths. For example, the underlying theme of "Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Toadstool" is the power of nostalgia and reconnecting with one's childhood. And in "April in Paris," one of my favorites, we see how quickly one can attach oneself to even an insect simply by giving it a name and attributing a personality to it. So, yes, he is silly and bleak and cynical - sometimes all within the same sentence - but a bittersweetness clings to some of his observations that gives his writing another dimension. His subjects might at times be strange or off-putting, but Sedaris himself never is.

Rating: 4 early Christmas shoppers out of 5.