‘LOL’ is an acronym I usually avoid, however, when reading David Sedaris it is apt. Calypso, the long-awaited new collection of twenty-one stories from one of the world’s most-loved humorists is an absolute cracker!

Focusing on middle age, mortality and, as always, family, Sedaris has once again deftly woven seemingly meaningless everyday observations with deeply personal and often moving anecdotes. A nostalgic devotion to family and stories of their time together at the beach house he purchases, naming it ‘Sea Section’ no less, are particularly hilarious. His genius lies in recounting conversations with strangers and slaying them with the sharpest of one-liners, making you wish you could have had similar wit and foresight in such moments. However, Sedaris does not spare himself, either. His self-deprecating admission of the consequences of an unhealthy attachment to his much-loved Fitbit had me literally suppressing snorts of laughter.

Calypso is Sedaris’s darkest yet warmest collection to date, and it’s definitely his funniest. It will delight fans and first-time readers alike.

Danielle Mirabella is a book buyer at Readings Hawthorn.