A new collection from David Sedaris is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris has inspired hilarious pieces, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, about his attempts to learn French. His family is another inspiration. You Cant Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers and cashiers with 6-inch fingernails. Compared by The New Yorker to Twain and Hawthorne, Sedaris has become one of our best-loved authors. Sedaris is an amazing reader whose appearances draw hundreds, and his performancesincluding a jaw-dropping impression of Billie Holiday singing I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weinerare unforgettable. Sedariss essays on living in Paris are some of the funniest hes ever written. At last, someone even meaner than the French! The sort of blithely sophisticated, loopy humour that might have resulted if Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had had a love child. Entertainment Weekly on Barrel Fever Sidesplitting Not one of the essays in this new collection failed to crack me up; frequently I was helpless. The New York Times Book Review on Naked
David Sedaris's short stories have me laughing out loud with people turning the heads to look. I can just hear them saying/thinking "What's wrong with that girl?" Nothing is off limits for this author, his parent's dog replacing their children, being taught to play guitar by a midget so his father can put a jazz bad together, unclogging a toilet and his father's thrifty ways.
It's hard to pick a favorite story but I really enjoyed "I'll Eat What He's Wearing" in which he recounts his father's ability to save food/clothing etc long past the expiration date with the excuse of "it's fine". As stated in his book, you could say this accounted for the depression, but it's not and I quite agree as my grandfather is very similar. (I've actually seen mold grow on bacon). I think because I could so relate to this it made it ten times funnier.
David Sedaris can be incredibly politically incorrect, sometimes hilariously so and other times you're unsure whether it's proper to laugh or disapprove. I saw him speak a few years ago and he told a story about flying on an airplane over Christmas time. He went on to explain how rude and pushy people could be at airports and upon arrival of said destination the stewardess came on wishing "everyone sitting down a Merry Christmas, and to everyone standing up, Happy Hanukkah."
Reading updates
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Started reading
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5 September, 2010:
Finished reading
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5 September, 2010:
Reviewed