Naked is a 1997 essay collection by American humorist David Sedaris. His second book after 1994's Barrel Fever, it details his life, from his unusual upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, to his booze-and-drug-ridden college years, to his Kerouacian wanderings as a young adult. Many of the essays originated from his time on NPR's This American Life but were rewritten for publication to include more "unpleasant mental pictures." Naked was released by Little, Brown and Company, and it reached No. 6 on the New York Times best-seller list for Hardcover nonfiction.
The book was acclaimed for its wit and dark humor, with especial praise heaped on the stories about Sedaris's family, and particularly his portrayal of his mother in the months leading up to her death. A New York Times review found Sedaris to be in transition from the style of Barrel Fever, ambitiously revealing himself to the reader via the sour pain that lurked beneath many of his jokes. and two of its essays were reprinted in later collections of Sedaris's.
Background
After the success of his 1994 debut book Barrel Fever, David Sedaris was thrust into the public spotlight. He initially held onto his apartment-cleaning job in New York City, but when working on Naked, his followup essay collection, he regretfully quit the gig to focus on writing. Not wanting to be cooped up at home all day, he wrote the book in a variety of places, including France, Chicago, the Yaddo artists' community, and the nudist colony that informs the titular essay "Naked."
Much of Naked is about Sedaris's family and childhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. When asked how much of it was true, he admitted that he could not perfectly remember twenty-year-old conversations, and that he tended to be prone to exaggeration.
Although he slightly tweaked his family in his presentation of them, It spent seven weeks on the list, peaking at the No. 6 spot during its third and fourth weeks. The New York Times review of the book, penned by Craig Seligman, praised it for its sidesplitting humor that also showcased the bleaker side of life. Seligman revealed that all seventeen of the essays cracked him up, and Susanna Baird of Spine Magazine classed it as one of "the book world's most famous cover images."
Two of Sedaris's own family members objected to the book: his sister Tiffany wondered why she was not featured more prominently, despite having initially told her brother that she did not want to be in it at all; while his father was upset at how his late wife—Sedaris's mother—was portrayed. Sedaris, for his part, maintained that if she were still alive, she would have loved her portrayal and ended up going on the book tour with her son.