From armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds to the awkwardness of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a sleeping fellow passenger on a plane, David Sedaris uses life's most bizarre moments to reach new heights in understanding love and fear, family and strangers. Culminating in a brilliantly funny account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, Sedaris' sixth essay collection will...

Relates the adventures of the strongest girl in the world and her two friends Tommy and Annika, as Pippi goes to school, rescues a horse, captures a tiger, and they all visit Pippi's father, the king of an island in the South Seas.

The unexpected delivery of a large crate containing an Antarctic penguin changes the life and fortunes of Mr. Popper, a house painter obsessed by dreams of the Polar regions.

After filling the bathtub too full one night, William goes sailing through his apartment building floor by floor in his tub, collecting neighbors in his wake.

With "Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim", David Sedaris returns to his deliriously twisted domain, hilarious childhood dramas infused with melancholy; the gulf of misunderstanding that exists between people of different nations or members of the same family; and the poignant divide between one's best hopes and most common deeds.

Alexander could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair. When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running. He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Nothing at all was right. Everything...

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in their own way.

Black, absolute. That's what I saw at first, and so I leaned in closer to the glass, expecting something more. There was nothing more. It was seamless, glintless, fearless, indifferent black -- no stars. The curve of the glass cornea reflected the faint light, the green lampshades and oak-paneled tones of the room behind me, my own wondering expression, gin-blistered nose, gleaming pate.

A talking dog, the Mack children, and the small elf-like Gigglers themselves must try to stop the prank that the Gigglers have mistakenly set in motion to punish Mr. Mack for being mean to his children.

A little boy provides instructions for properly "babysitting" a grandfather, such as offering him tasty treats and entertaining him with special games.