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David Sedaris

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Audio CD – Unabridged, March 29, 2005

by David Sedaris (Author, Editor, Reader), Cherry Jones (Reader), Mary-Louise Parker (Reader),

4.3 490 ratings

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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories-some classic, others impending-selected and introduced by David Sedaris.

With this audiobook a careful listener can discover the truth about loneliness, betrayal, love and hope.

Where the Door is Always Open and the Welcome Mat is Out

by Patricia Highsmith, read by Cherry Jones

Bullet In the Brain by Tobias Wolff

read by Toby Wherry

Gryphon by Charles Baxter

read by David Sedaris

In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried by Amy Hempel

read by Mary-Louise Parker

Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma

read by the Author

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Product details

Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743550196
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 5.75 inches; 4.37 Ounces
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 29, 2005
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Audio; Abridged edition
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743550192
Run time ‏ : ‎ 3 hours and 30 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ March 29, 2005

Best Sellers Rank: #3,029,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12,587 in Books on CD
- #27,977 in Short Stories Anthologies
- #114,495 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 490 ratings

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David Sedaris

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David Sedaris lives in Paris. Raised in North Carolina, he has worked as a housecleaner and most famously, as a part-time elf for Macy's. Several of his plays have been produced, and he is a regular contributor to ESQUIRE and Public Radio International's 'This American Life'.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

490 global ratings

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Karen Lea Hansen

Wonderful Collection of Shorts

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012

Verified Purchase

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to see David Sedaris speak at UCLA. In my haste to make sure that I had read all of Sedaris' books, I bought " Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules" on my Kindle. It turns out, that this a collection of Sedaris' favorite short stories and he edited the compilation.

I am not the slightest bit disappointed that this wasn't a collection of Sedaris stories, because the selections he picked are fantastic. In fact, this is probably the best collection of short stories that I have ever encountered. Not a bad one in the bunch. Most of them are really depressing and downright hard to read. In particular, "In The Cemetery Where Al Jolsen in Buried" by Amy Hempel and "People Like That are the Only People Here" by Lorrie Moore. Both stories deal with different aspects of cancer and both are honest and heartbreaking.

I think the only story that I had previously read, was Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies." It's such a well crafted story, that I really enjoyed a second read of it. Really, this is an outstanding short story collection and I cannot praise it enough. Read it!!!

20 people found this helpful

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Kilian85710

Four stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

If you were expecting a series of humorous short stories collected by David Sedaris, think again. This is a carefully selected, thoughtful assortment. All make you think and give some insight into Sedaris' mind. They are all unusually serious and stay with the reader long after the end of the book.

10 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Interesting group of tales

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

It's interesting to read something that someone you admire has read and enjoyed. Some stories were not my favorite but some were interesting and thought provoking. I'm glad David Sedaris is in this world and is able to communicate his fantastic ideas.

4 people found this helpful

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Lilacblue

Enjoyable stories

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

I had heard a lot about David Sedaris, so I thought I'd try this. Turns out it is a collection of his favorite stories, not any of his writing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the stories he liked. Only one I had read before long time ago, so it was nice to read new things, even though most of them wouldn't have made my best stories list. Different taste, is all. All good stories anyway.

4 people found this helpful

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Tom

An Incredibly Pleasant Surprise

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2008

Verified Purchase

Like some others that reviewed the book, I hastily ordered it and failed to realize that the collection was simply edited and introduced by Mr. Sedaris, not written by him. But I decided to read the book despite my mistake, and I was rewarded instantly. From the first story by Richard Yates to the last by Tobias Wolff, I was entranced; I had to limit myself to a story or two a day so that I could savor the collection longer. Of all the books I have ordered on Amazon, this is the first I have felt compelled to review.

5 people found this helpful

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Christine Weller

I love David Sedaris

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

I love David Sedaris. Haven't yet read all the stories he's picked out for this book but am looking forward to it. Book arrived on time. Used and not as in good a shape as advertised, but ok.

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

I'm not much of a reader, but i'm getting into it more and more, and I have really found myself loving this book. It's a great cross spectral reader. different writers with different styles and different takes on life. In my eyes they're not all winners, but its fun, relatively quick to read, and I am always left with something more after I finish these stories.

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A. Oertel

Most not as good as David's work

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

While waiting for David Sedaris' book to come out I succumbed to this book. Most of the stories were appealing and I could see why he decided to include them. Most not as good as David's work, but still worth a read on their own.

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

hypatiamarshall

Excellent short stories.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

Very interesting choice of short stories.

J A F

I love David Sedaris and will always buy everything he writes ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

I love David Sedaris and will always buy everything he writes or publishes without a second thought. This isn't my favourite book of his .. perhaps because it's a collection of his favourite short stories... but at least half of them really stuck with me and opened me up to new authors. I was really happy to be introduced to other brilliant authors of short stories.

3 people found this helpful

Karl-Artur Korsar

So many different feelings in one book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

Its truly an emotional rollercoaster of a book. The mood of the stories is quite different but there seems to be something in them that combines and turns it into a must- read series of stories!

Alix Dunham

j

Reviewed in Canada on April 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

.nice

Amazon Kunde

Perfect collection of short stories!

Reviewed in Germany on May 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

I purchased this book originally as a gift, she got it twice though so I kept that one. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of short stories but those put thogether by David Sedaris are lovely, funny and just overall great.

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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Audio CD – Unabridged, March 29, 2005

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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Audio CD – Unabridged, March 29, 2005

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