Whether by nature or by nurture, Ma and Pa Sedaris certainly knew something about raising funny kids. Amy Sedaris has built a cult following for he...
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reviews
Jun 04, 2010
Michelle
rated it: 
I thought I was over David Sedaris. I don't mean that I don't like him. I do. His essays are funny, but after a while they all seem to run together. He mines the same territory again and again -- stories of growing up with his dysfunctional, quirky, yet lovable family. Stories of himself as the odd and awkward kid growing up and trying to figure out how to live in this world.
I wasn’t going to buy Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in print, but I saw the audio version, read More...
I wasn’t going to buy Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in print, but I saw the audio version, read More...
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Dec 16, 2009
David
rated it: 
So. David Sedaris.
Well, let's be clear. Nobody with a funnybone can hate David Sedaris. And neither do I. But it has to be said - that last book ("Dress your family in corduroy and denim") was quite a disappointment. Judging by the number of people showing up for his readings here in San Francisco, and its lengthy sojourn on The New York Times bestseller list, it obviously did pretty well commercially. And, based on the enormous amount of accumulated goodwill from his earlier bo More...
Well, let's be clear. Nobody with a funnybone can hate David Sedaris. And neither do I. But it has to be said - that last book ("Dress your family in corduroy and denim") was quite a disappointment. Judging by the number of people showing up for his readings here in San Francisco, and its lengthy sojourn on The New York Times bestseller list, it obviously did pretty well commercially. And, based on the enormous amount of accumulated goodwill from his earlier bo More...
Jul 26, 2007
Sarah
rated it: 
This book makes me laugh myself sick every time I read it. Blood Work and La Nuit of the Dead are put together so perfectly. Sedaris creates a series of misguided attempts at human connection that seem doomed to fail through selfishness or insecurity, but somehow don’t. Sedaris is so good at exposing the frailty of those emotional connections without ever doubting that they can still sustain our relationships. He makes me relate to even the most impossibly awkward and painful situations. Every t
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Apr 30, 2010
karen
rated it:
this is a book by david sedaris.
shrug.
i mean, what else am i supposed to say? it's not like he went out on a limb here and wrote a space opera or a bodice ripper. it's david sedaris. if you like him, you will probably like this one. if you don't, you probably won't.
this is not my favorite of his collections, but i laughed out loud three times, which i think is pretty good. i like laughter.
**one time, connor made david sedaris laugh. he has yet to w More...
shrug.
i mean, what else am i supposed to say? it's not like he went out on a limb here and wrote a space opera or a bodice ripper. it's david sedaris. if you like him, you will probably like this one. if you don't, you probably won't.
this is not my favorite of his collections, but i laughed out loud three times, which i think is pretty good. i like laughter.
**one time, connor made david sedaris laugh. he has yet to w More...
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May 16, 2008
Jon
rated it:
A collection of writings by David Sedaris.
Quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read.
(There's a little language and stuff, so I don't recommend reading it out loud to the kids. But I guarantee you will laugh out loud to anyone sitting near you. Which means don't read it on a crowded airplane.)
Quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read.
(There's a little language and stuff, so I don't recommend reading it out loud to the kids. But I guarantee you will laugh out loud to anyone sitting near you. Which means don't read it on a crowded airplane.)
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Aug 05, 2011
Angus
rated it: 
Disclaimer: This is not a review. This may have spoilers. Read at your own risk. Visit original post at Book Rhapsody.
***
Intro
If you’ve been following this blog closely, you will realize that I picked this up right after finishing Me Talk Pretty One Day. I have this habit of fangirling over stuff that got me. A victim of this habit is Sedaris. Or maybe I am the victim? Either way, the fangirling usually doesn’t last. It rarely lasts.
Thus said, this is the More...
***
Intro
If you’ve been following this blog closely, you will realize that I picked this up right after finishing Me Talk Pretty One Day. I have this habit of fangirling over stuff that got me. A victim of this habit is Sedaris. Or maybe I am the victim? Either way, the fangirling usually doesn’t last. It rarely lasts.
Thus said, this is the More...
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Jul 31, 2011
So, I got about 7% into the book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim before just not being able to listen to it anymore. It, quite literally, was making me sick to listen to it. The main characters are shallow, "broken," and... well, the stuff of sitcom characters. They're (to me) sick, but "normal" which was making my head explode. I suppose, in a way, you could say that the book was "dark humor," which is pretty hit or miss to me.
The family really More...
The family really More...
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Sep 25, 2008
Lucy
rated it:
What if you could write about whatever you wanted? What if no topics were off limits, no person's feelings or privacy taken into consideration, no personal flaws purposely left unmentioned in order to be protected from ridicule?
You would probably write exactly like David Sedaris.
To actually write like David Sedaris, however, you'd also have to be intelligent, impeccably attentive to details and most importantly - uncommonly funny. With that winning combination, Sedaris's More...
You would probably write exactly like David Sedaris.
To actually write like David Sedaris, however, you'd also have to be intelligent, impeccably attentive to details and most importantly - uncommonly funny. With that winning combination, Sedaris's More...
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Jul 26, 2008
Michael
rated it:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim delves further into the fascinating, hilarious, and otherwise utterly bizarre life of David Sedaris and his family. This collection of his essays is quite good--among my favorites of his--because throughout most of it, he manages to find a moving balance between the tragic and the comic.
Take, for instance, "The Ship Shape," about how his family almost bought a summer home, but ultimately lost out on the chance because of his father's More...
Take, for instance, "The Ship Shape," about how his family almost bought a summer home, but ultimately lost out on the chance because of his father's More...
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Dec 17, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
oh so hilarious...
"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered, but my mouth was too full to answer...as she closed the door and behind her and moved toward my bed, I began breaking the wax lips and candy necklaces pulled from pile no. 2. These were the second-best things I had received, and while it hurt to destroy them, it would have hurt evern more to give them away. I had just started to mutilate a miniature box of Red Hots when my mother pried them from my hands, a More...
"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered, but my mouth was too full to answer...as she closed the door and behind her and moved toward my bed, I began breaking the wax lips and candy necklaces pulled from pile no. 2. These were the second-best things I had received, and while it hurt to destroy them, it would have hurt evern more to give them away. I had just started to mutilate a miniature box of Red Hots when my mother pried them from my hands, a More...
Jun 17, 2011
K.D.
rated it:
This is a funny book! It contains real life anecdotes experienced by the author in various stages of his life. I bought this book in LAX when I got stranded for a missed flight in Columbus in 2005. I remember that there was a funny anecdote about Christmas which made me laugh all by myself and I could relate to it because it was December and I was looking forward to going back home to Manila.
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Mar 24, 2010
Aaron
rated it:
This seems to be the book that people most point to when highlighting Sedaris' talent. Like his earlier works, it is a collection of essays (27 this time) with some of them having been previously presented in various publication.
As you have probably guessed from the title, this collection focuses primarily on the various members of his families. Funny tales include examinations of his brother's wedding and sharing the experience of his brother's first child being born. His moth More...
Mar 22, 2008
Shelly
rated it:
The only thing more entertaining than reading one of David Sedaris's (sp;i've always had a hard time with the possessive apostrophe on 's' ending words)books is listening to one. I'm so picky about books on tape/cd/mp3/whatever. But Sedaris is great.
After the whole James Frey controversy I was doing some 'googling' and found some articles where folks were questioning Sedaris's authenticity too. This was sort of reassuring to me because I'm so jealous of his work. Not only is Sedaris fu More...
After the whole James Frey controversy I was doing some 'googling' and found some articles where folks were questioning Sedaris's authenticity too. This was sort of reassuring to me because I'm so jealous of his work. Not only is Sedaris fu More...
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May 19, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a hilarious book about David Sedaris's life and family. It starts off when he was a young boy and he has to give up his Halloween candy to the neighbors. He then stuffed as much candy in his face as possible so he wouldn't have to share it. I knew right after this chapter that I was going to like this book. As you read further in the book you learn all about his family like his brother, Paul, the rooster. Different events occur in this book that tell yo
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Sep 26, 2007
Lauren
rated it:
I love David Sedaris. I'm actually really glad that I'm reading his works somewhat sequentially. I read Naked first and then this. And yes, I will have to read Me Talk Pretty One Day out of order.
Naked is really about growing up. It's told almost in order of events that happened in his life. Dress Your Family is more about when he's older, and I think the stories are a little less funny and exaggerated, and more poignant. I'd probably have to read it again to say for sure. My favori More...
Naked is really about growing up. It's told almost in order of events that happened in his life. Dress Your Family is more about when he's older, and I think the stories are a little less funny and exaggerated, and more poignant. I'd probably have to read it again to say for sure. My favori More...
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Mar 11, 2008
kimberly
rated it:
I don't think I can even list all my favorite moments of this book - but two stand out the most, merely because of timing. one, his description of his brother's baby. i had the same reaction at the hospital on friday while meeting Grace Trinity Faith Jones (i don't think even that many religious names will save this child). two, his description of the need to touch people, not inappropriately but unwelcome, relates to a long drawn out discussion with my judge regarding sexually battery and mole
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Jun 10, 2009
Jackie
rated it:
I don't ususally do audio books--I generally don't have the attention span to "just" listen to a story. But this week David's been keeping me company while I sort through years worth of former treasures and wishful thinking preparing for an upcoming move this spring. There was something poetic about him telling me about his past while I was sorting through mine. I definitely prefer the live recordings to the somewhat sterile "read by author" stuff, but Sedaris is funny no
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 01, 2007
Adam
rated it: 
Honestly, I tried to like this book. Maybe it's one of those that, at page 100, kicks everything glorious into overdrive, making you gleeful and giddy and full of delight at reading it. Maybe I should have read further and waited longer. But, you see, I only really started to read this because it seemed hip at the time to do so. I'm not too sure that I care enough about maintaining some form of imagined quasi-hipness to make myself sit through the rest of it. There. I'm admitting I didn't
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Jan 16, 2009
Carol
rated it:
Good, quick read but not as good as Me TAlk Pretty.
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Jan 16, 2009
Scott
rated it:
My first encounter with David Sedaris was the audio version of “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” my second was the reading and signing at Davis-Kidd Bookseller in Nashville of “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” and my third was reading the latter. Of the three, hearing Sedaris himself intone his own work was the most enjoyable. His cadence and emphasis (“FIRE ISLAND”) are much the source of his humor.
Then again, reading “Dress Your Family” rather than hearing it strips out just enoug More...
Then again, reading “Dress Your Family” rather than hearing it strips out just enoug More...
Jan 01, 2009
Edward
rated it:
Another example of my favorite genre, the "Read by the Author" audio. This couldn't be read by someone else anyway, right? Would someone else perform a Bill Cosby comedy album? And David Sedaris started on NPR, right?
Well, the book was published first, so I suppose it could have been read by anybody. But it wasn't and I almost wish it had been. I'm thinking specifically about his rendering of his brother's voice. It might be dead-on accurate but it came off, at least for m More...
Well, the book was published first, so I suppose it could have been read by anybody. But it wasn't and I almost wish it had been. I'm thinking specifically about his rendering of his brother's voice. It might be dead-on accurate but it came off, at least for m More...
Oct 05, 2011
Pam
rated it:
http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2011/...
The very first time I heard the name David Sedaris, was from one of the girls on my hall, freshman year. She said the book she was reading was incredibly funny and offered to lend it to me but I turned it down as I really don’t do pop-memoir, nonfiction types. That stigma stuck with me, along with the name, until this past week. In a super gift basket from my families at school, packed with magazines, snacks and other fun entertainment, was Se More...
The very first time I heard the name David Sedaris, was from one of the girls on my hall, freshman year. She said the book she was reading was incredibly funny and offered to lend it to me but I turned it down as I really don’t do pop-memoir, nonfiction types. That stigma stuck with me, along with the name, until this past week. In a super gift basket from my families at school, packed with magazines, snacks and other fun entertainment, was Se More...
Sep 20, 2011
Annemieke
rated it:
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Next Sunday I will go to the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam to see David Sedaris. It's a first, before him no writer has ever performed in Carré, which orginally was a circus theatre. A friend asked me to join her and being curious I agreed. Booked the tickets and after paying realized that I never actually read something by Sedaris. So this is preparation.
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a collection of stories about th More...
Next Sunday I will go to the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam to see David Sedaris. It's a first, before him no writer has ever performed in Carré, which orginally was a circus theatre. A friend asked me to join her and being curious I agreed. Booked the tickets and after paying realized that I never actually read something by Sedaris. So this is preparation.
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a collection of stories about th More...
Sep 16, 2011
Gwyn
rated it:
First off, I'm a fan. I joined Audible just to get the This American Life episodes Sedaris stars in, went to see him read at my local theatre, have all his books and consider Me Talk Pretty One Day to be one of the funniest collections of stories on self-loathing and misanthropy ever committed to paper. Suffice to say, I've been looking forward to this book for a fair while...
Almost every story here will make you laugh in some way. And if you're particularly susceptible to black humour, som More...
Almost every story here will make you laugh in some way. And if you're particularly susceptible to black humour, som More...
Jul 31, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
This is my second attempt at Sedaris, and I found myself enjoying it, despite the fact that I usually do not like books that are supposed to be humorous. While, I didn't laugh out loud (which is quite a feat), I was amused by some of the stories, and his writing is easy to read. I liked the fact that the collection was not chronological, or apparently themed, and the only connection between each essay was the writer's voice, and of course, the consistency of characters. I liked the honesty in
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Dec 16, 2010
abo
rated it:
Una lunga raccolta di racconti autobiografici in cui Sedaris racconta episodi di vita quotidiana, visti attraverso la lente deformante dell’ironia.
Il rapporto con i genitori e le sorelle, esplorando tic e manie di ognuno, il rapporto con il fidanzato Paul, la ricerca di una casa, con tutto lo stress che il trasloco comporta, la gioventù e la maturità.
Con piglio dissacrante e grande sensibilità, Sedaris prende in giro se stesso e la gente che gli sta attorno, in una comica critica dei More...
Il rapporto con i genitori e le sorelle, esplorando tic e manie di ognuno, il rapporto con il fidanzato Paul, la ricerca di una casa, con tutto lo stress che il trasloco comporta, la gioventù e la maturità.
Con piglio dissacrante e grande sensibilità, Sedaris prende in giro se stesso e la gente che gli sta attorno, in una comica critica dei More...
Nov 26, 2010
14naomif
rated it:
David Sedairs, how i love thee. his book can be read end to end or in no paricular order, if you chose the random order a great story is SIX TO EIGHT BLACK MEN, which is halarious and almost as quotable as mean girls, as the imagined saying goes. i am not going to pretend that the text will embed in you some haunting moral, but what will stay with you forever is the skill in which Sedaris regales the rather ordinary happenings of his life, how he depicts others and most amusingly how he shows hi
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Nov 04, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
First, I have to admit, I didn't actually read this book. I bought the audiobook when I was preparing to make my first solo drive from my parents house to my college in eastern Indiana, a 13.5 hour drive. The copy I bought was read by Sedaris and that's what made it fantastic. For those of you who either don't listen to NPR or just haven't heard him on there, he's just a wonderful a storyteller as he is a writer an is voice is perfect for storytelling and it made the long drive much more enjo
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