Happy-go-lucky

More about the book

David Sedaris returns with a new collection of personal essays, reflecting on life before and during the pandemic. As "Happy-Go-Lucky" begins, he shares experiences like learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting flea markets in Serbia, and making jokes with his elderly father. However, everything changes when the pandemic strikes, forcing him into lockdown and halting his beloved tours. To cope, he walks through a nearly deserted city, vacuums his apartment frequently, and ponders the lives of those struggling during quarantine. As the world adapts to a new normal, Sedaris finds himself transformed. After an awkward encounter while trying to help a stranger, he gains newfound confidence and reflects on being newly orphaned in his seventh decade. Venturing back into a changed America, he observes a landscape marked by weariness, empty storefronts, and graffiti that captures the complexities of contemporary life—messages like "Eat the Rich," "Trump 2024," and "Black Lives Matter" abound. In this collection, Sedaris masterfully conveys the unexpected humor and poignancy of recent upheavals, both personal and societal, while articulating the misanthropy and longing for connection that resonate with us all.